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Laos

Killer Asia floods swallow children who can’t swim

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — It took only a second for the murky floodwaters swamping parts of Asia to swallow Nguyen Phuoc Hien’s baby. His 3-year-old daughter had been playing happily while her aunt studied, but somehow, the girl slipped quietly outside the family home deep in Vietnam’s southern Mekong Delta.
When Hien’s [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 27, 2011

Attack on Chinese boats in Mekong River kills 11

Eleven Chinese were killed and two missing after their cargo boats were attacked in the golden triangle area of the Mekong River, state media said on Sunday.
The two ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, were attacked on October 5, according to the Xinhua news agency, which said China’s leaders were “paying close attention [...]

Read More » No commentOctober 10, 2011

Mekong awash with drugs

Traffickers look to new routes
Illegal drug smuggling along the Mekong River is growing rapidly with “mules” wearing special shoes and swimmers who carry guns and bombs.
Along the natural border between Thailand and Laos the US Drug Enforcement Administration is now engaged on a new battlefront to stem the flow of illegal substances.
The US DEA has [...]

Read More » No commentAugust 1, 2011

Rice exporters feel threatened

Cheaper neighbours’ supplies may be tapped
Thai rice exporters are already looking for alternative supplies from Vietnam and Cambodia in case the new government makes the price too dear for export, which could halve volume to only 5 million tonnes next year for a revenue loss of 60-70 billion baht.
The Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) has [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 28, 2011

China hammer magnificent seven past Laos

China smashed six second-half goals past Laos on Saturday to put one foot in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Lowly Laos gave the home team some nervy moments at Kunming’s Tuodong Stadium when strikes from Soukaphone Vongchiengkham and Visay Phaphouvanin put the visitors two-up after 31 minutes.
But substitute [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 24, 2011

US praises Laos for suspending Mekong dam project

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised Laos as taking a “forward-leaning position” after the tiny, land-locked nation said it had no immediate plans to resume work on a dam across the Mekong River.
The project Laos was considering would be the first dam across the river as [...]

Read More » No commentJuly 23, 2011

Vietnam, Laos Look To $2 Billion Trade by 2015

Vietnam and Laos have agreed to strive to bring their bilateral trade to US$2 billion by 2015. This was among what the two countries’ Party chiefs agreed upon on June 20 in Vientiane, the Lao capital.
Vietnam’s Party General Secretary and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Vientiane on June 20, beginning his three-day [...]

Read More » No commentJune 22, 2011

Drought drops Mekong River to nearly 2-decade low

BANGKOK – Severe drought has dropped the Mekong River to its lowest level in nearly 20 years, halting some cargo traffic and boat tours on the Asian waterway that is the lifeblood for 65 million people in six countries, a draft report said.
The decrease was caused largely by an early end to [...]

Read More » No commentMarch 3, 2010

Laos ‘moving toward’ Hmong access

HANOI (AFP) – Laos was “moving toward” allowing access to ethnic Hmong whose repatriation by Thailand in December sparked international outrage, a US diplomat said Saturday.
“I think the Lao have indicated that they’re moving toward allowing access but (it) may not be as quickly as we would like,” the diplomat, who asked not to [...]

Read More » No commentFebruary 7, 2010

Briton returned to UK after Laos drug sentence loses battle to be freed

UK judges reduce Samantha Orobator’s life sentence to minimum of 18 months
A British woman serving a jail sentence in the UK for drug smuggling after narrowly escaping a death sentence in Laos today lost her battle to be freed but had her original life sentence reduced.
Judges rejected Samantha Orobator’s claim she was being detained unjustly [...]

Read More » No commentJanuary 20, 2010