Once home to the CIA, this tiny Southeast Asia runway was considered ‘the most secret place on Earth’
Long Tieng, LaosCNN — original article. By Isaac Yee, CNN, Published 6:00 AM EDT, Mon June 9, 2025 Deep in the sweltering jungles of central Laos, a 4,500-foot stretch of cracked concrete cuts through the trees — an airstrip without an airport, in a village where many have never been on a plane. But behind its crumbling […]
Laos, News, Secret-War, UXO
The Majestic Elephant Procession of Pi Mai Lao in Luang Prabang
Every April, as the scorching heat of Laos reaches its peak, the ancient royal capital of Luang Prabang transforms into a vibrant celebration of Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year). Among the most captivating traditions of this three-day festival is the elephant procession—a spectacular display that honours both the cultural heritage of Laos and these […]
Sleepy little Luang Prabang no more
Ron Gluckman, Published: 12:00pm, 8 Mar 2025 As the small plane banks, then dives steeply towards rugged hills below, I feel a familiar thrill, seeing rivers loom closer on a scenic descent to one of my favourite destinations, Luang Prabang, the charming old capital of northern Laos. For several decades I’ve been happily revisiting one of Asia’s […]
Nam Khan Riverbank Protection: Securing Luang Prabang’s Heritage and Future
Project Background and Urgency The Nam Khan Riverbank Protection Project emerged from urgent concerns about riverbank erosion threatening Luang Prabang’s historic core. During recent monsoon seasons, significant erosion has compromised sections of the riverbank, putting historic structures and infrastructure at risk. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) recognized that without intervention, continued erosion could threaten both […]
Luang Prabang Takes Bold Step Toward Sustainable Tourism with Free Transit Launch
In an exciting development for both residents and visitors, Luang Prabang is launching a groundbreaking free transportation initiative this week. Starting February 24th through March 2nd, 2025, the UNESCO World Heritage city will offer complimentary bus and tuk-tuk services throughout its historic peninsula area, marking a significant step toward sustainable urban transportation. A New Vision […]
Laos: challenges from geopolitics, volatile prices
A farmer tends their fields in stifling temperatures as surrounding hills are choked by smoke from field and hill fires across the region, Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Luang Prabang, Laos. Financial officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were meeting in the city to discuss ways to secure financing to help shift to […]
Laotian city transformed by investment
The old Laotian royal city of Luang Prabang, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, has long been a quiet tourist destination. But with recent Chinese investments, including a new high-speed railway, it has become easier for tourists to admire the city’s golden temples. While more tourist money is welcome, many residents are unhappy with […]
Laos, Luang Prabang, News, Travel, Video
Laos confident COVID-19 pandemic under control with one case recorded
June 26, 2022 VIENTIANE (LAOTIAN TIMES/THE STAR) – Laos reported just a single case of COVID-19 and zero deaths across the country on Friday night, the Laotian Times reported. The daily COVID-19 tally from the Centre of Information and Education for Health showed that only one case of COVID-19 had been recorded in Vientiane Capital, […]
Surge in travel from Laos
More than 2,000 Lao people are arriving in Nong Khai province every day after the Thai-Laos border checkpoint reopened. Some Thais have smuggled petrol into Laos to profiteer from fuel sales there, said Nongkhai Customs House. Pakin Tiabkam, head of customs control at Nong Khai Customs House, said 2,000 people are crossing the border checkpoint […]
Laos Inflation hits 12.8%
The rate of inflation in Laos reached 12.8% in May, the highest point in 15 years. In reality it seems the rate of inflation is over 250% on many items. However, according to information provided by the Bank of Laos, inflation has now increased to a five-year high after reaching 10% in January 2016. Increases […]
Nong Khai-Laos border checkpoints finally reopen after two years
From 9 May the Laos borders fully open Three border checkpoints in Nong Khai were reopened on Sunday, more than two years after they were sealed in March 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The main checkpoint is the First Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge in Nong Khai’s Muang district, which connects with the Laos capital […]
Continued support for Chansy
I know you are interested in how Chansy is progressing. With the help of John and other locals in her village and your support, Chansy has received regular food and toiletry supplies over the last year. She is still interested in moving into a blind center house when she can. This has been delayed because […]
COVID-19 Vaccination rates in Laos
A total of 5,136,399 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Laos, (70% of the country’s population), according to the Lao Ministry of Health. A total of 4,367,592 people had been given a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, equal to 59.52% of the population. In addition, 953,825 people have had […]
Hunger remains a major problem in Laos
One-third of children in the country have limited access to food, World Food Program says. In a file photo, students eating lunch at a school in a remote area of Oudomxay province in northern Laos. Citizen Journalist Despite economic growth, one-third of Lao children and about 20 percent of the country’s population as a whole continue […]
Laos Cuts Quarantine times
Quarantine times slashed as health system no longer under pressure
224 new species in Mekong region identified
A monkey with ghostly white circles around its eyes is among 224 new species listed in the World Wildlife Fund’s latest update on the greater Mekong region.
Is Walmart moving into Laos?
Hopefully not but the word is that Walmart might be moving to Laos. An American multinational retail conglomerate, best known for its hypermarket and grocery store chains across the States, has shown its interest in Laos as a group of Lao-Americans met yesterday, including the Lao Overseas Affairs Department and the Lao National Chamber of […]
20 tonnes of smuggled pork from Laos seized
About 20 tonnes of pork was seized from an 18-wheel lorry that crossed the second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge over the Mekong river to this northeastern border province from Savannakhet province of Laos on Saturday night, according to a media report. The lorry was stopped at 7.30pm for a search at the animal quarantine centre on […]
Lao authorities urge people to get vaccinated
The Covid-19 vaccination campaign in Laos achieved good results last year, with at least 50 per cent of the population vaccinated. The government urges people in all at-risk groups to come forward and be vaccinated to minimize the impact on people’s health and the economy.
Train exports potash fertilizer and rubber
VIENTIANE, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) — Just after one month’s operation, the China-Laos Railway has demonstrated its advantages and favorable effects in passenger and freight transportation. The China-Laos Railway, which connects Kunming, the capital city of southwestern China’s Yunnan Province, and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, was opened on Dec. 3. In the past month, the […]
Laos, Laos Train, News, Travel
Laos makes huge drug bust
Police in Laos have made one of Asia’s biggest-ever drug busts, seizing more than 55.6 million methamphetamine pills in a single raid. The drugs were found in the northern province of Bokeo, the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper reported on Thursday. The drugs were found on Wednesday in sacks in a house that police searched after […]
Laos Launches Covid-19 Vaccination Certificate
Health authorities in Laos have launched a new enhanced Covid-19 vaccination certificate with a QR Code that will allow for greater authenticity and digital verification. According to a report by the Center of Information and Education for Health, the QR code on the Covid-19 vaccination certificate will ensure that the certificates are authentic and can be more […]
Man is Electrocuted Cutting Cables on Laos-China Railway
A man has died after being electrocuted while cutting cables at a Naxaythong section of the Laos-China Railway in Vientiane Capital. It is believed the man had been attempting to steal electrical cables. The incident occurred in Chengsavang Village, Naxaythong District yesterday when a local man attempted to cut cables, presumably stealing for sale as […]
Laos First Train Gets Name – Langxang
The Lao flag symbol with it’s three colors inspires the new passenger train design for the Laos-China Railway. The passenger train has been named Lanxang and is due to arrive this week, ahead of the grand opening on 2 December 2021. The Prime Minister’s Office on Monday issued a notice that named the historic passenger […]
Laos COVID Vaccine update
The sixth batch of China-donated Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines has been handed over to Laos this week upon arrival at the Lao capital Vientiane on Wednesday. A million doses were donated. China is trying to donate 6.8 million doses in 2021. Laos has a population of approximately 7 million people. The Republic of Korea will also […]
Villages Locked down for COVID-19
Today an order was issued to lock down Luang Prabang to stop the spread of COVID-19. Authorities in several Lao provinces have ordered lockdowns with travel banned between some districts due to a surge in Covid infections. All Covid rule-breakers will be fined. This includes anyone who comes into contact with a known COVID case […]
Laos The Cryptocurrency Capital of Asia?
Mining requires massive amounts of power. Cheap power pitches rely heavily on ambitious dam-building projects as Laos heads towards becoming the battery of Asia and perhaps along with the Cryptocurrency Capital of Asia as well.
Covid-19 feeds child labour in Laos
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the poverty level of Laotian families and denied the right to education of a growing number of children, pushing them into the arms of those who exploit child labour. Most of them are employed in the fields and farmland by their parents and, in the worst cases, some of the little ones start working before they even go to elementary school.
Injecting pus from a milkmaid
For 200 years vaccines have been developed the same way since 1796 when a patient was injected with pus from the sores of a milkmaid to cure smallpox – until last year in 2020. The past 14 months have been uncertain, rapidly changing and especially in the field of medicine. The COVID-19 vaccines are the […]
Mocking the haka: The Haka Party Incident and ‘casual’ racism in New Zealand
For 20 years Māori had written to the engineering school at Auckland University asking them to stop an annual event where students would dress up in grass skirts and perform the university haka ‘Akarana’ as a capping day lark. By the 1970s it had morphed into a grotesque mimic, where the engineers would draw penises and curse words on their body – a caricature of tā moko – get very drunk, charge around the university causing chaos, and stop traffic up and down Queen Street to perform the haka.
Vientiane Opthamology Centre
It’s almost been 12 month since I rushed down to Vientiane to the Opthamology centre after losing sight on one of my eyes. Looking back, I was surprisingly calm throughout the whole ordeal which took about 4 months with professionals to try and get to the bottom of the situation. At the time I thought […]
The Dammed Nam Khan River
I took this photo of Novices washing in the Nam Khan river on the way home today. It’s one of my favourite landscapes and I don’t stop to appreciate it enough. The bamboo bridge is up at the moment as it is dry season. It will come down when the monsoon season arrives in May. […]
Bamboo bridge, Business, China, Culture, Dam, Laos, Luang Prabang, Monks, Nam Khan, News, School
Watch the new covert war doco through the stories of Hmong elders
Not many people know about the secret war in Laos and the way it affects local people’s lives today in 2018. Many centres have a UXO centre which have information, bombs, and interesting videos. If you visit Luang Prabang you can be sure I’ll take you to the small, interesting UXO centre. The recent documentary by […]
China-Laos ties rise to a new level
An Asian elephant from Laos is off landed to begin its life in a zoo in Dongguan, South China’s Guangdong Province on May 7, 2016. Photo: VCG Laos and China ties are strong and continue to increase. Article published in globaltimes.cn “Speaking Chinese will open up new opportunities for me. With many Lao people keen […]
Vietnam Secret Ops Army Medic to Receive Medal of Honor from Trump
President Donald Trump on Oct. 23 will award the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Gary Rose, an Army medic who was involved in secret operations in Laos during the Vietnam War. The Huntsville, Alabama, man during an assault on his unit in the jungles of Laos continued to treat wounded troops after being wounded himself, […]
Laos, News, Secret-War, UXO, Vietnam
Laos and Cambodia eliminate trachoma
September 21, 2017, Helio.com Trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide, has been eliminated as a public health problem in Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, according to a WHO press release. WHO launched the Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020 in 1997, and in 1998 the World Health […]
Cambodian Fishermen Hanging Up Nets as Laos Presses Ahead with Another Dam
At the local fish market here along the banks of the Tonle Sap, the morning harvest is enormous. Prized catfish, among other species, dominate sales as buyers for restaurants pile in for the biggest and best on offer. Early business is brisk for the fish farmers who bred and reared their fish securely in ponds. […]
Skill gap hurdle as Laos attracts Southeast Asia’s spotlight
This article posted this week highlights the importance of Lao people getting the right education and opportunities for advancement – the very goal of my work in Laos. Article taken from the Financial Express, 6 August 2016 The chance to tap into the promise of increasing prosperity and spending power among the 600 plus million […]
Laos implementing UN Education goals
Efforts to escape being a Least Developed Country The Lao government takes graduation from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as its key long-term objective, a high-ranking Lao official said, according to local daily Vientiane Times on Wednesday. Graduation from LDC status has been a key long-term objective of the Lao government since the early 2000s. The […]
People dying in Laos from US bombs
Unexploded ordnance (UXO) are explosive weapons (bombs, grenades and land mines) that did not explode when they were dropped and still pose a risk of detonation, decades later. About one third of Laos remains contaminated with UXO left behind from the Vietnam War – the most heavily bombed country in the world. Cluster munitions are the […]
Laos, News, Secret-War, UXO