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Category: Laos

  • Laos grapples with high dengue infection rates amid rainy season

    More than 8,400 people have been infected with dengue during the first seven months of the year, eight of whom have died of the mosquito-borne illness, according to figures issued by Lao health authorities in late July.

    Though this year’s infection rate is high, it is a dramatic decrease from the 15,851 reported infections during the same seven-month period in 2023, according to the Centre of Information and Education for Health under Laos’ Ministry of Health. No reasons were given for this year’s lower figure.

    The actual number of infections could be higher because not all Laotians seek help from medical centers or hospitals that would record and report their illnesses.

    The country’s capital, Vientiane, has seen the most reported infections this year with 2,138 cases and three deaths, compared to 1,461 cases and one death during the first seven months of 2023.

    Sekong province in southern Laos has the second-highest infection rate with 2,045 cases and three deaths, compared to 96 cases and no deaths during the same period in 2023.

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    The number of dengue infections, caused by the bite of infected female Aedes species mosquitoes, is usually higher in central and southern provinces of Laos because these areas are warmer and have higher humidity levels than other parts of the country, said an official who works in the infectious disease control office under the Health Ministry.

    A persistent threat

    Despite the decrease in this year’s infection rate, dengue continues to pose a threat to residents of the tropical, landlocked country. Monsoons during the wet season from May to November bring significant rainfall and high humidity that are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

    Exacerbating the problem are growing populations in cities with poor sanitation systems and ineffective preventive measures, said the infectious disease control official.

    “It is because it is quite crowded in some cities now as many people move to live in the city,” he said.

    A lack of sanitation means mosquitoes spawn in stagnant water that collects in discarded bottles and other containers as well as in canals without proper water flows, he said.

    Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, July 22, 2024. (Josue Decavele/Reuters)
    Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, July 22, 2024. (Josue Decavele/Reuters)

    Dengue infections plague Sekong city where many Laotians have moved to seek jobs in sectors such as construction, said an official from Sekong province’s Department of Public Health.

    Residents and workers often carelessly discard cans and bottles, which sit in the open, fill with water and draw mosquitoes, he added.

    “Also, water tanks without proper closures in restrooms are ideal places for the spread of mosquitoes,” he said.

    Preventing the spread

    During the rainy season, authorities in Vientiane usually spray insecticides in communities, but one villager observed that they have not yet done so this year in her community and others.

    “There are many mosquitoes around our communities this year, and this rainy season the numbers of them is getting much too high,” she said, citing poor water flows in canals and an abundance of discarded bottles and cans.

    The woman, however, said she saw workers spraying insecticide around hotels, hospitals and large buildings in the city.

    A technician examines Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, July 22, 2024. (Josue Decavele/Reuters)
    A technician examines Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, July 22, 2024. (Josue Decavele/Reuters)

    Many provincial health departments send public health workers to villages to educate residents about preventing dengue infections and destroying places where mosquitoes lay eggs.

    In 2023, Laos’ Health Ministry and Vientiane’s public health department with support from Save the Children launched a pilot program in two districts of Vientiane to reduce the spread of dengue by releasing mosquitoes with the Wolbachia bacteria to mate with domestic mosquitos.

    The natural bacteria that is harmless to ecosystems and humans makes it difficult for the bugs to transmit viruses, including dengue, to humans.

    But the effects of the program would not be immediate, according to Save the Children.

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Parents urge Laos’ state-run media to publish more human trafficking news

    Laos’s state-run media outlets should regularly publish news items about human trafficking victims to better publicize the issue in a country where young people continue to fall victim to cyberscam operations in neighboring countries, several parents of trafficking victims told Radio Free Asia.

    If government officials talked to newspapers and broadcast outlets about individual cases – or about the general issue of human trafficking – there would be more awareness among younger Lao people, the parents said.

    “Up until now, everything has been silent and human traffickers are not charged with any law,” said one parent who asked for anonymity because of safety concerns. 

    “My daughter recently told me that human traffickers are still looking for young Lao people to work as scammers in Burma.”

    The parents spoke to RFA ahead of Tuesday’s World Day Against Trafficking.

    In recent years, secret sites have proliferated throughout Southeast Asia as the COVID-19 pandemic forced criminal networks to shift their strategies for making money. Vast networks of human trafficking claim over 150,000 victims a year in the region.

    In one case, several dozen young Laotians were trafficked and held captive in a nondescript building on the Burmese-Thai border, isolated from the outside world, tortured and forced into a particular kind of labor: to work as a cyber-scammer. 

    “They are lured to work with promised high paid jobs in town,” a northern Laos government official told RFA. “It is because they are from countryside areas, and they lack awareness of anti-human trafficking.”

    But even with a wider understanding of the risks, young people in Laos’ rural areas are still tempted by work outside the country because of high inflation and a lack of high-paying jobs at home, the official said.

    “Even with regular publicity about anti-human trafficking, economic hardship makes people have no choice,” he said. “They have to take risks to get jobs.”

    In May, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes set up an Emergency Response Network to help Laos and other countries in the region combat human trafficking and scamming activities.

    In the past, Laos has relied on other forms of foreign aid to address human trafficking and scamming crimes.

    But a Ministry of Public Security official told RFA that the government just doesn’t have enough money or personnel to investigate every case of human trafficking or to investigate the traffickers who visit rural areas to recruit young people under false pretenses.

    The government’s anti-human trafficking committee reported in December there were 24 human trafficking cases last year, with 53 victims rescued and transferred to rehabilitation centers, according to Lao Deputy Minister of Public Security Khamking Phouilamanyvong, who is a vice chairman of the committee.

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Laos, Thailand mark first direct passenger train between Bangkok, Vientiane

    The first direct passenger train between Bangkok and Vientiane arrived earlier this month. 

    Previously, passengers could ride from Bangkok to the Thai city of Nong Kai on the border with Laos. But now they can travel straight into Vientiane – and also have the option of transferring to the high-speed rail line that travels north to Kunming in southwest China. 

    The first State Railway of Thailand train began servicing the route on July 19. A return train on July 20 left Vientiane at about 6:25 p.m. and arrived in Bangkok at about 7:35 a.m. the next day. 

    Prices ranged from between 158,000 kip (US$7) to 530 million (US$24) kip. It was so popular that officials added an additional carriage after passengers bought most of the available tickets.

    “I always commuted by train when I was studying,” one Lao passenger told Radio Free Asia. “I wanted my kids to take this train, so they could experience it.”

    Eventually, passengers could travel from Bangkok and Vientiane on a high-speed rail line.

    ENG_LAO_THAILAND TRAIN_07222024.3.png

    Earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thailand’s prime minister that he hopes to speed up construction of a high-speed rail line in Thailand that would connect with Laos’ high speed line, which China built in 2021 as part of its Belt & Road Initiative.

    China has said that it plans to construct and connect a 3,000-kms (1,864-miles) pan-Asian railway network, in which Chinese rail lines would extend all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore.

    Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Laos, Thailand mark first direct passenger train between Bangkok, Vientiane

    The first direct passenger train between Bangkok and Vientiane arrived earlier this month. 

    Previously, passengers could ride from Bangkok to the Thai city of Nong Kai on the border with Laos. But now they can travel straight into Vientiane – and also have the option of transferring to the high-speed rail line that travels north to Kunming in southwest China. 

    The first State Railway of Thailand train began servicing the route on July 19. A return train on July 20 left Vientiane at about 6:25 p.m. and arrived in Bangkok at about 7:35 a.m. the next day. 

    Prices ranged from between 158,000 kip (US$7) to 530 million (US$24) kip. It was so popular that officials added an additional carriage after passengers bought most of the available tickets.

    “I always commuted by train when I was studying,” one Lao passenger told Radio Free Asia. “I wanted my kids to take this train, so they could experience it.”

    ENG_LAO_THAILAND TRAIN_07222024.3.png

    Eventually, passengers could travel from Bangkok and Vientiane on a high-speed rail line.

    Earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Thailand’s prime minister that he hopes to speed up construction of a high-speed rail line in Thailand that would connect with Laos’ high speed line, which China built in 2021 as part of its Belt & Road Initiative.

    China has said that it plans to construct and connect a 3,000-kms (1,864-miles) pan-Asian railway network, in which Chinese rail lines would extend all the way to the tip of the Malay Peninsula, linking Beijing to Singapore.

    Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • 280 Chinese arrested in Laos for alleged online scamming

    Lao and Chinese police have arrested and deported 280 Chinese who allegedly worked in an online fraud operation at an illegal call center in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northern Laos, state media and people familiar with the situation said.

    The murky Chinese-run special zone along the Mekong River in Bokeo province is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese visitors as well as a haven for online fraud, human trafficking, prostitution and illegal drug activities.

    Scamming operations run by Chinese nationals who try to trick people into fake investments are rife in the zone and usually employ Laotians and other Asians trafficked to the area to work in the call centers. Many of the workers are mistreated and prevented from leaving the premises.

    During the arrests on June 20, authorities seized nearly 460 computers and 1,345 mobile phones from the suspects, according to a Lao Security News report. 

    An officer at the SEZ’s Security Department told Radio Free Asia that his department was not ready to comment on the arrests and deportations, which took place three days after the Chinese were apprehended.

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    A Laotian who works in the SEZ, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for safety reasons, said authorities recently stepped up patrols there and likely had arrest warrants from Beijing to apprehend the Chinese because they allegedly scammed their own countrymen.

    Legal experts told RFA that the Chinese were deported right away because Laos and China have an extradition treaty, and that they would be tried in China because they allegedly committed crimes against fellow nationals.

    Root causes

    But some Laotians said the latest round of arrests would not eradicate the root cause of the problem.

    “Wiping out all these scamming activities is almost impossible because some Lao officials must be behind the schemes,” said a Bokeo province resident, referring to rampant corruption among Lao authorities. 

    “So many Chinese live in the SEZ and many of them are bad elements,” he added. “It’s very hard to get rid of all the bad guys.”

    A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)
    A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)

    Hundreds of other Chinese nationals have been arrested since September 2023 for suspected involvement in scamming operations in the SEZ.

    In January, Laos repatriated 268 Chinese citizens suspected of scamming while living or working at the SEZ.

    In November 2023, Lao authorities arrested more than 430 Chinese nationals who appeared to be involved in fraudulent call center operations in the SEZ, and handed them over to their Chinese counterparts for deportation. 

    And that September, the Lao Ministry of Public Security deported 164 Chinese arrested in Vientiane and other Lao provinces, including Bokeo. Nearly 50 of them were arrested in the Golden Triangle SEZ and believed to be involved in running call centers.  

    Facebooker intimidated

    A Lao Facebook user who posted an online comment criticizing the government’s failure to rescue victims of human trafficking from the SEZ’s Chinese-run call centers told RFA on Wednesday that police showed up at his house and demanded he remove the post, saying it defamed the government.

    “They wanted to cover up that story or they didn’t want me to say anything about that,” he said. “For me, I just wanted to tell the truth.”

    The man said he knows many other Facebook users whom police have warned or arrested and detained for three to six months for posting comments on social media about the country’s worsening economic and financial conditions.

    “Some of them were so scared that they fled to other countries,” he said.

    A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)
    A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)

    An employee at a state-run media outlet told RFA the same day that Laotians are afraid of posting criticism of the government online because authorities will come after them, order them to remove the content, and may seek to punish them.

    “They’ll look for you, and you won’t be safe,” he said. “That’s why our Lao people are afraid to speak out.”  

    “Our laws might state that people are free to express themselves but in practice, they can’t,” he added.

    Article 44 of the country’s constitution guarantees citizens freedoms of expression, assembly, association and protest. 

    But Article 117 of the Penal Code states that those who conduct propaganda activities against and slander the state or distort the policies of the one-party state and government can be jailed for up to five years and be fined 5 million-20 million kip, or US$225-900. 

    Individuals who have their own social media accounts must register with the government and are obligated to report the truth and not to criticize the party or government, said another employee at a state-run media agency in southern Laos.

    In 2019, the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism mandated that all individuals and legal entities that post news stories on social media had to register with it or face legal consequences.

    Two years later, the Lao government set up a committee to monitor content and news posted on social media. 

    Translated by RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Beijing pressed Laos to include Taiwan in visa policy for Chinese visitors: Taipei

    A decision by Laos to include Taiwan in a policy to attract more Chinese tourists was made under pressure from Beijing and is aimed at giving the false impression that Taiwan is part of China, said Taiwan’s foreign ministry. 

    The Lao government announced on Wednesday that Chinese nationals may visit without a visa for up to 15 days as part of a group tour. It also provided an itinerary approved by its Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

    The policy, valid from July 1 to Dec. 31, also applies to tourists from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the government said in its announcement.

    Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Taiwan and China were not subordinate to each other and Laos should not collaborate with China to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty and international standing.

    Taiwan had shared its position regarding the issue with the Lao government through Taiwan’s representative office in Vietnam, it added. 

    The ministry explained that there has been no change to a rule requiring Taiwanese tourists  traveling to Laos to obtain an electronic or on-arrival visa. 

    China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that should be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. Since separating from mainland China in 1949, Taiwan has been self-governing.

    Tensions have increased since the administration of the island’s then-president, Tsai Ing-wen, took power in 2016, refusing to acknowledge the “one China” principle. 

    During a January presidential election in Taiwan, China took various actions, including floating balloons through Taiwanese airspace and deploying aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Strait, exacerbating tensions and increasing public unease.

    China has convinced several of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to switch their recognition to Beijing in recent years, leaving only 12 countries maintaining official relations with Taiwan.

    Chinese influence on Laos

    In recent years, China has sought to increase its influence in Laos’ mostly rural economy.

    China has created a political and economic strategy to persuade Laos to sign agreements for important infrastructure. This plan, known as the Ten-Year Long-Term Program (2016-2025), aims to connect major cities in Laos, maintain a growth rate of at least 7.5%, and reduce poverty to less than 10% of the population.

    But partly as a result of the major infrastructure projects,  Laos has become burdened with debt of about US$12.2 billion, equal to  64.8% of its gross domestic product..

    In its political and economic strategy for Laos, China emphasizes the importance of expanding trade by strengthening market relations and establishing special economic zones.

    China exports primarily high-tech goods like computers, cars, and insulated wires to Laos, with an aim, analysts say, of increasing Laos’ dependence on Chinese technologies.

    Edited by Mike Firn. 


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Taejun Kang for RFA.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Laos agrees to build dam in remote, mountainous area near Vietnam border

    Government officials have signed an agreement with a joint venture company to build a US$184 million dam in northern Laos that will send most of its generated electricity to neighboring Vietnam, a Ministry of Energy and Mines official told Radio Free Asia.

    The hydropower project on the Nam Neun river in a mountainous area near the Vietnam border will generate 124 megawatts and is the latest dam planned for the impoverished, landlocked country, which has already built dozens with the aim of selling 20,000 megawatts of electricity to neighboring countries by 2030 and becoming the “battery of Southeast Asia.”

    The dam will be built in an area that straddles Xiengkhouang and Houaphan provinces and is expected to be completed by 2027, according to the ministry official who requested anonymity to speak freely about a government matter.

    The concession contract for the Nam Neun 1 Dam project was signed at a ceremony in Vientiane on June 19. 

    The project will be overseen by Vientiane-based Phongsubthavy Group Sole Co. Ltd., but a Vietnamese company will conduct the feasibility study and carry out the construction work, the ministry official said. The total cost is estimated to be.

    Power generated by this dam will be exported to Vietnam through a 220 kilovolt transmission line, according to the agreement.

    A preliminary study determined that some reserved forest will be cleared, and the reservoir behind the dam will flood other areas of reserved and protected forest, according to the ministry official. 

    Because the dam will be built in a remote area, no residents will have to relocate – a common source of complaints from Laotians on other hydropower projects.

    The Nam Neun flows into a tributary of the Mekong River – the Nam Ngiep river – in Xiengkhouang province.

    A Xiengkhouang province villager told RFA that the dam could still affect the lives of people downriver who depend on the river as a food source.

    “Once the dam construction is completed, it will absolutely affect the environment and everything will not be the same,” he said. “The government and the relevant organizations and companies should conduct a feasibility study on its impacts to local people and the environment.”

    Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the country’s economy, many of the projects have been controversial because of their environmental impact, displacement of people without adequate compensation and questionable financial and power demand arrangements.

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Drug runners in Laos shoot at police, abandon vehicles packed with meth and heroin

    Alleged drug runners in northwest Laos shot at police and fled on foot into dense jungle leaving behind two vans packed with meth and heroin, a police social media post said.

    At about 9 p.m. on June 21, officers noticed that the two vehicles did not have license plates and ordered them to pull over for inspection. The occupants of the vehicles allegedly shot at the police and abandoned the vehicles, fleeing into the forest, the Bokeo province police department said on its Facebook page.

    After inspecting the vehicles, they found around 5.8 million meth pills and 225 kilograms (almost 500 pounds) of heroin.

    It’s the latest incident in Laos’ struggle to eradicate drugs from proliferating inside the country.

    Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone reported on June 10 to the Lao National Assembly that cracking down on drugs remains a national priority and in the first half of this year, the government was able to arrest 2,616 drug suspects. 

    “Most of the drugs are from either Myanmar or China because they can’t be produced here in our country,” an officer of the Bokeo Police Department, who like all unnamed sources in this report requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA Lao.

    He said that part of Laos is prone to drug smuggling, and that by law, samples of the seized drugs would be sent to a lab to verify that they are indeed meth and heroin. The rest will be destroyed.

    The officer explained that they did not pursue the suspects because they were armed and it was very dark in the forest, so they didn’t want to take unnecessary risk.

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    A resident who lives near where the incident occurred told RFA he heard gunshots at around 9 a.m.

    “It was at night and nobody at my house had gone to bed yet,” he said, “The next morning, I found out that there was a clash between police and drug smugglers.”

    He said he and his neighbors were disappointed that the suspects were not apprehended.

    Another resident said that he wished the police would have brought the suspects in because it is likely they are smuggling drugs in from other countries.

    There is a large market for drugs in Laos, particularly among younger people, an employee of a rehab center in the province said.

    “Many Laotians, especially youths aged 15 or 16 have become addicted to drugs and are admitted to the rehab center. Sometimes, the center has up to 30 of them,” she said. 

    “Drugs, particularly meth, are available anywhere in our village and region,” she said. “Drugs destroy people’s lives. If the government can’t stop this, many more people will be affected.”

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Police in Laos find 19 girls and women selling secret sex during restaurant raid

    Police discovered that 19 teenage girls and women were selling surreptitious sex at a restaurant during a raid in central Laos that resulted in the arrest of the restaurant’s two owners, a police officer told Radio Free Asia.

    Some of the girls were as young as 13, according to a village official in Khammouane province’s Hinboun district, who like many other sources in this report requested anonymity for security reasons.

    “The restaurant has been shut down,” the police officer said. “For the girls and women, we just told them to go back home to their parents. We didn’t fine or punish them.”

    The restaurant owners will be charged with human trafficking, he said.

    Authorities went to the restaurant on June 7 because of its loud noise, the village official said. There are three other restaurants in the village that are also suspected of offering prostitution, he said.

    Before they were sent home to their families, the girls and women underwent a re-education session in which they were told that providing sex service is against Lao tradition and law. 

    “The purpose of today’s session is to make sure that the participants understand the guidelines and policy of the government and Party,” Soukkhaseum Sitthideth, president of the Lao Women’s Union of Khammouane province said in a video of the session seen by RFA.

    “Lao women are traditionally conservative but nowadays in a digital era, our girls and women have changed,” she said. “Our tradition and culture have been affected by the changes. A great number of our girls and women have adopted a new lifestyle.”

    Laos faces many challenges when it comes to fighting human trafficking, including not having the resources to properly fund enforcement against those who trick or force young people into illicit work.

    Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have left many Laotians in desperate financial situations amid a faltering economy and rampant unemployment.

    In February, police near Vientiane raided nightclubs, restaurants and karaoke bars along a busy highway and found 47 sex workers, including four girls under 18 years old.

    In that case, police also determined that most of the girls and women were from poor, rural families, an officer said at the time.

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Mekong fishermen react to chemical spill in Laos | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Mekong fishermen react to chemical spill in Laos | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • As Chinese tourists flock to Laos, illegal Chinese tour guides fill language gap

    Chinese travel companies are illegally hiring Chinese to be tour guides in Laos to meet growing demand for Chinese speakers as visitor numbers surge after the pandemic border closures were lifted in 2022, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

    While many Lao citizens speak Chinese, most choose to work in other industries, and the Chinese companies actually prefer to hire their own, even if they lack work permits and are not registered with the police, the residents said.

    “Yes, we lack Chinese-speaking Lao tour guides these days,” said a Lao guide, who like other sources in this report insisted on not being identified for security reasons. “Some of them found something else to do when COVID hit Laos and they’re not coming back to work as tour guides anymore.” 

    Laos is a popular destination for Chinese visitors – many from neighboring Kuming province – because the two countries are connected by rail and have good diplomatic relations, sources said.

    ENG_LAO_CHINESE TOUR GUIDES_05132024.2.jpg
    Chinese tourists visit Luang Prabang, Laos, March 2024. (RFA)

    According to official statistics, nearly 700,000 Chinese visited Laos in 2023, the third-highest number behind Thailand and Vietnam. In the first quarter, that trend continued, with more than 240,000 Chinese visited the landlocked Southeast Asian country.

    There is no reliable data on the number of illegal Chinese tour guides, but many are known to work in Luang Prabang province and in the capital Vientiane, both popular tourist spots. 

    As of May, there are 270 registered Chinese-speaking Lao tour guides nationwide; 140 work in Luang Prabang province and 60 in Vientiane.

    Chinese package tours

    Chinese tourists, who typically are herded around on buses from site to site, prefer to use Chinese tour companies based in Laos, the guide said. Those companies arrange transportation into and around Laos with other Chinese companies, lodging with hotels run by Chinese owners, and meals with restaurants owned by Chinese. 

    The tour companies sometimes will hire only one or two Lao guides to hide their many illegal Chinese guides, the sources said. 

    A third guide said that sometimes the Chinese companies will hire Lao guides who speak languages other than Chinese, but they rarely ever do their jobs as guides and are only there to bail out the illegal Chinese guides.

    ENG_LAO_CHINESE TOUR GUIDES_05132024.3.jpg
    Chinese tourists visit Luang Prabang, Laos, March 2024. (RFA)

    If police approach a tour group to ask if they have a guide registered with the police, the Lao tour guides will show up with their credentials, while the Chinese guides lay low, another guide, who is registered, told RFA. 

    Local guides are skeptical that Chinese guides explain Lao history and culture accurately.

    “I have seen that when the Chinese tour guides explain something, sometimes the tourists will laugh,” she said. “When the Chinese tour guides lead the tour groups to temples, I am not sure if they explain about the Buddha statues with the correct information or not.”

    Despite the growing number of Lao youths interested in learning Chinese, most of them choose to work as interpreters in other sectors rather than to work as tour guides. 

    ENG_LAO_CHINESE TOUR GUIDES_05132024.4.jpg
    A steakhouse with a Chinese-language menu in Luang Prabang, Laos, March 2024. (RFA)

    And while some Lao youth speak Chinese language, they do not know Lao history and culture well enough, an English-speaking Lao guide told RFA.

    To deal with the shortage and encourage those who left the industry during the pandemic to return, the Lao Mass Media, Culture and Tourism Institute recently announced plans to conduct training for national level Lao tour guides from May to July, an official said.

    “Now, Chinese tourists are visiting Laos more and more, but we still do not have enough Chinese-speaking Lao tour guides,” the official said. “Thus, we will have tour guide training for those who want to be tour guides as priority to fill this gap.”

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Counterfeit bills spread in northern Laos

    A gas station in northern Laos reported that a customer passed 14 fake 50,000 kip bills (worth US$2.34 each) to fill up the car’s gas tank, the owner of the establishment told Radio Free Asia.

    It’s one of many incidents of counterfeit bills surfacing at businesses in the region since the national bank’s April 26 warning that fake bills were circulating in the country.

    The problem seems to be most acute in the north, around the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, a de facto Chinese-controlled tourist zone centered on the Kings Romans Casino in Bokeo province.

    “When we touched the bank notes, we could feel the difference. They also don’t look authentic,” the gas station owner, from the same province, who like all anonymous sources in this report requested anonymity for security reasons, told RFA Lao.

    He said shortly afterward, bank employees came to receive a payment from the business. When the bills were run through a counting machine, they did not pass muster. The bank confiscated all but one of the counterfeit notes.

    “We kept only one for future reference,” he said.

    In Laos, the 50,000-kip note is the most frequently used, and the 100,000 kip note (worth $4.68) is the highest denomination. 

    With the rapid depreciation of the kip and soaring inflation, people now have to carry around large numbers of bills for many purchases or transactions.

    Seems widespread

    One day after the visit from the bank, the bank employees returned to the gas station with police to investigate. They said they were still not sure who was behind the counterfeiting scheme, which seems widespread.

    A storekeeper in Bokeo said eight counterfeit bills were discovered at her store.

    “Somebody must have spent them at our store. I don’t remember who it was because we have so many customers,” she said. “I found out when I deposited the money at our bank.”

    The bank double-checked all the notes in her deposit and called her with the bad news, she said. She gave all the information she had to the bank to help with their investigation.

    A bank employee from Bokeo said that every single note, either Lao or foreign is carefully checked.

    “In the time since the national bank issued the warning, we luckily haven’t received any fake bank notes,” the bank employee said.

    Tips on how to detect them

    A national bank official confirmed that they issued the warning and offered tips on how to detect counterfeit currency.

    “First, touch it. The fake ones are softer,” he said.  “Second, look at it through light. You’ll see a series of dark lines embedded in the real bank notes, while the fake ones don’t have lines.”

    The national bank last year issued similar warnings about counterfeit 100,000-kip, 50,000-kip and 1,000 Thai baht ($27) notes surfacing nationwide.

    In April 2019, police in the town of Luang Prabang in northern Laos arrested three Chinese nationals for spending counterfeit 50,000-kip and 100,000-kip banknotes at a market.

    According to Lao law, those caught making fake bills can be jailed between five to 15 years and fined between 50 million to 500 million kip ($2,340-$23,400). Those caught using the bills can be jailed between three months and five years, and fined between 2 million and 5 million kip ($94-$234).

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Fishermen in Laos use explosives to catch fish | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • 16 Indians rescued from scam operations in Laos

    Sixteen Indian nationals who said they were lured in Mumbai to work as online scammers in Laos were rescued this week from the Chinese-run Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, an official with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

    The zone, which sits along the Mekong River in northwestern Bokeo province, is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese tourists and has been described as a de-facto Chinese colony. 

    It has become a haven for cyber scams, prostitution, money laundering, drug trafficking, and human and wildlife trafficking by organized criminal networks.

    The Indians had been told by recruiters in Mumbai that they would get jobs related to cryptocurrency in Thailand’s Chiang Rai province, said the official, who like others in this report, did not want to be identified so he could speak freely. 

    But when they arrived, the Chinese bosses loaded them on a boat that crossed the Mekong River to Bokeo province, where the Indians said they were forced to work as online scammers or fake call center workers in the zone.

    Their plight came to light after one of the Indians managed to escape and return to India, where he filed a complaint with Mumbai police on March 24, The Laotian Times reported.

    One Lao official said that they had received a tip-off email from someone who knew about their predicament, and “took action right away to help these youngsters.”

    Hurt and abused

    An official involved in anti-human trafficking efforts said the Chinese running the operations physically abused some of the Indians, denied them food, and locked them up if they didn’t generate revenue. 

    “The Chinese bosses physically hurt the Indian nationals with hammers and sticks,” he told RFA. “They simply had to work for free or without getting paid.”

    Anti-human trafficking agents in India arrested two people believed to be in charge of agents who recruited up to 40 young Indian nationals so they could be sent to Laos to work as online scammers, said the official.

    The Indian Embassy in Laos posted on its website an advisory for Indian youths to beware of fake job offers from Laos. (India Ministry of External Affairs)
    The Indian Embassy in Laos posted on its website an advisory for Indian youths to beware of fake job offers from Laos. (India Ministry of External Affairs)

    Other Indians in the zone who find themselves in the same predicament contact Lao government officers daily for help, said a second official involved in anti-human trafficking activities.

    Since the beginning of the year, about 30 Indians have contacted a Lao anti-human trafficking office, which can help them find a safe temporary place to stay and send them home once authorities receive a tip about them, he said.

    Some information comes from India’s Ministry of External Affairs asking for help to get Indian nationals out of the zone, the second official said.

    It is unknown how many Indians are still working in the zone, he added.

    South Korean and Malaysian nationals have also fallen victim to traffickers who hand them over to Chinese in the zone to engage in cyber fraud, said the official with knowledge of the situation.

    The Embassy of India in Vientiane issued a recent notice on its website that it was aware that Indian nations were being lured for employment in Thailand or Laos as “digital sales and marketing executives” and “customer support services” by dubious companies involved in call-center scams and cryptocurrency fraud in the Golden Triangle SEZ.

    Translated by Phouvong for RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcom Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • 16 bear cubs rescued in latest Laos wildlife trafficking case | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Health authorities on alert as anthrax infects 14 in southern Laos

    More than a dozen people have been infected by anthrax in two districts in southern Champassak province and authorities have responded by placing restrictions on the movement and slaughtering of some farm animals, several officials told Radio Free Asia. 

    Provincial health officials announced on March 12 that anthrax – a rare, serious infectious disease caused by bacteria – was found in the carcasses of 97 cows, buffaloes and goats. 

    Three people in Champassak tested positive for anthrax last week, but that number jumped to 14 on Tuesday, according to the provincial Health Department.

    The 14 patients all have large, dark scabs and are receiving treatment, a health official told RFA. Authorities believe they contracted anthrax – or what’s known as “black blood disease” – by eating meat from infected cows or buffaloes..

    Anthrax usually affects livestock like cattle, sheep and goats, but humans can be infected if they are exposed to contaminated animal products or animals. 

    According to the World Health Organization, anthrax isn’t generally considered to be contagious between humans, although there have been some cases of person-to-person transmission.

    The provincial health department has issued a notice asking local medical centers and authorities to report any new cases and urging anyone who develops black bumps on their body to see a doctor as soon as possible.

    “We’re concerned. We have stopped eating meat,” a Soukhoumma district resident told RFA. “Now, we eat only pork and fish.”

    Transporting and slaughtering farm animals has been temporarily banned, and people are required to properly bury their dead animals, the department said.

    A slaughterhouse worker told RFA that they are complying with the order and have stopped buying animals from local farmers. 

    An agricultural official in Pathoumphone district said authorities have stepped up surveillance efforts and have officially warned the public not to eat locally slaughtered meat.

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • Laos’ highest court aims for special court in lawless Golden Triangle

    Laos’ highest court is working to set up a special court in the notorious Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone to directly clamp down on an area that has attracted scam-related businesses and human trafficking, a government official told Radio Free Asia.

    Lao state media reported last week on the planned special court. A government official who works in the zone said the idea was first proposed several months ago.

    “There is now an agreement to open the People Court’s office in the zone,” he said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. 

    An office site and a place where court officials would live has already been selected, he said. Relevant officials in nearby Bokeo province have agreed to coordinate in forming the new court. 

    The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, or SEZ, was established in 2007 in the northern province of Bokeo on a 3,000-hectare (7,400-acre) concession along the Mekong River where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet. 

    It’s become a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese citizens where investors – exempt from most national-level economic regulations – have built hotels, restaurants, casinos, a hospital, markets and factories.

    But it has also earned a reputation as a haven for criminal activities, including prostitution and drug trafficking.

    In August, a report from the International Crisis Group called for a “coordinated regional approach” – including through law enforcement – to combat the outsized impact illicit businesses have in the Golden Triangle SEZ and across the river at another special economic zone in Myanmar’s Shan state.

    Lao authorities currently do not have the right to enter special economic zones to conduct investigations.

    In June, however, the Golden Triangle SEZ management board handed oversight of a detention and rehabilitation center located inside the zone to Bokeo provincial police. And in January, officials from the Office of People’s Supreme Prosecutor visited the zone to discuss logistics for establishing a prosecutor’s office.

    ‘Money is god there’

    Laos’ judicial system includes a People’s Supreme Court that is located in Vientiane as well as local People’s Courts and Military Courts throughout the country. The special court would be directly overseen by the People’s Supreme Court.

    A former Lao government official told RFA that the special court could speed up criminal cases, which would help authorities tackle the zone’s large volume of crime.

    “This zone has almost become its own country already,” he said. “There are too many people who break the law.”

    But a resident of Bokeo province said a better approach would be to strengthen the current system of transferring criminal cases to the local People’s Court in Bokeo province.

    A lawyer in Vientiane said that court officials located inside the zone would be even more unlikely to resist bribes from wealthy Chinese business people who dominate the zone.

    “Everything will be difficult,” he told RFA. “In Laos, officials are afraid of rich people. If the rich people committed crimes in the zone, who would sue them in this court? It seems impossible to do so.”

    Another Lao resident of Bokeo province agreed with this sentiment. 

    “I have seen that when something bad happens in the zone, law enforcement’s response is weak,” he said. “These days, money is god there.”

    RFA contacted the People’s Supreme Court in Vientiane for comment on the planned special court, but a relevant official said he wasn’t able to comment.

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • Laos hotel apologizes for waitress ‘ring toss’ game | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • ‘Waitress game’ controversy in Laos | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

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  • Despite eradication efforts, opium poppy cultivation persists among Hmong in northern Laos

    Ethnic Hmong villagers in remote areas of northern Laos are continuing to grow opium poppies despite government eradication efforts, due to long-held beliefs about the crop’s medicinal properties, according to officials and residents.

    In recent weeks, Lao authorities announced that they had destroyed 2,590 square meters (two-thirds of an acre) of Hmong-grown opium poppy fields in Luang Namtha province, which lies along the border with China and Myanmar, and another 11,000 square meters (2.7 acres) in Xieng Khouang province, on the Vietnamese border.

    However, they acknowledged that there are many poppy fields that are too remote to access in other areas of Xieng Khouang, as well as in Phongsaly province, which borders China and Vietnam.

    In its World Drug Report 2023, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, said it had documented 5,700 hectares (14,100 acres) of opium poppy cultivation in Laos, mostly in the country’s seven northern provinces of Phongsaly, Hua Phane, Luang Prabang, Oudomsay, Bokeo, Xieng Khouang, and Luang Namtha. Opium can be used to make heroin.

    An official from the National Defense Unit in Luang Namtha who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA Lao that the cultivation and consumption of opium remains common among the Hmong in rural northern Laos, and is “difficult to control.”

    “There is a lot growing for local consumption and even though the region has set up rehab centers for people, there aren’t enough,” he said. “There are also still a lot of people who use opium as a medical treatment when they are sick.”

    The official said that the Hmong communities that continue to grow opium poppies and smoke opium are extremely remote, preventing authorities from accessing them or regularly patrolling the areas.

    “The areas where they live are far from other communities; 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles) off the main roads, and only motorbikes can navigate the paths, so it’s hard to carry out inspections” he said. “It’s mostly ethnic villagers living there.”

    Use in treating sickness

    An official from the Natural Resources and Environment Unit in Xieng Khouang said that part of the reason ethnic communities still grow opium poppies and smoke opium in the province is due to their belief that it can help cure them when they are ill.

    Opium has a long history of medical use in relieving pain, inducing sleep, and treating bowel conditions.

    ENG_LAO_OpiumFields_02092024.2.jpg
    A Hmong tribesman takes a puff of opium at his village in Houaphan province, northern Laos, June 27, 2018. (Aidan Jones/AFP)

    The official said ethnic communities in Xieng Khouang mostly grow opium for personal consumption, and not in large quantities.

    While the overall amount that is grown can vary, he said, “the Hmong grow opium for use, not for sale.”

    A villager from Hua Phane told RFA that cultivation of opium poppies had decreased significantly in the province in recent years due to government and NGO campaigns educating residents about the dangers of opium.

    But he said that while the use of opium is down in Hua Phane, “that doesn’t mean it has ended.”

    “Some [ethnic] groups … grow it in remote areas, far away from the cities,” he said. “They grow it to use as medicine for their families.”

    Laos was the third-largest illicit opium poppy producing country in the world until 1998, but the UNODC says eradication efforts by the government and international partners “have reduced cultivation to marginal levels.”

    Nonetheless, the agency said, the northern part of Laos remains known as one of two opium producing countries in Southeast Asia, with the main driver of cultivation in the region being “primarily related to poverty.”

    Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Laos to reap little profit from growth of farm exports

    A 20% year-over-year increase of agricultural exports from Laos in 2023 was largely on the back of Chinese plantations, according to trade officials, meaning that the country will reap few of the profits.

    Members of the business community told RFA Lao that the government needs to review its approach to foreign investment while improving its agricultural output to avoid a deepening trade deficit and improve the living standards of farmers in Laos.

    The Lao Ministry of Industry and Trade recently reported that last year Laos exported 9.5 million tons of agricultural products worth US$1.4 billion – an increase of just over 20% from 2022.

    However, the ministry acknowledged that most of the exported goods were produced by Chinese investors who leased land and grew vegetables and fruit in Laos to sell to China.

    Produce exports from Laos are largely cassava, potatoes, coffee, bananas and sugar. The country exports most of its products to China, Vietnam and Thailand, respectively.

    Chinese nationals run 933 projects in the agricultural sector in Laos, and their investments in the country are on the rise. Most of the projects adhere to what the Lao government refers to as the “2+3 System,” in which Laos provides land and labor, while foreign investors supply capital, expertise and a market for goods.

    Laborers at a Chinese-invested banana plantation in the Sing district of Luang Namtha province in northern Laos, in May 2019. (RFA)
    Laborers at a Chinese-invested banana plantation in the Sing district of Luang Namtha province in northern Laos, in May 2019. (RFA)

    An official with the Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed to RFA that most agricultural products in Laos – including cattle, vegetables and fruit – are produced by Chinese nationals for export to China, rather than by Lao farmers.

    “China won’t allow goods produced by Lao farmers to enter China,” said the official who, like other sources interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. “They only accept goods produced by Chinese factories and investors that meet their quality standards.”

    The Lao government will only receive a small portion of the US$1.4 billion in exports last year through taxes, tariffs, land concession fees and transportation fees, he added.

    Real value of foreign investment?

    A Lao businessman in Luang Prabang province said the government and the people of Laos “will only get 10% of [the export value] because most goods were produced by the Chinese.”

    He questioned whether the Lao government – and by extension, the people – gains more than it loses from foreign investment.

    “The government must be more competitive by improving the quality and increasing the quantity [of agricultural products]; if not, Laos can expect to face a large trade deficit every year,” the businessman said. “To do that, the country must increase its knowledge, budget and access to modern technology.”

    A laborer at a Chinese-invested banana plantation in the Sing district of Luang Namtha province in northern Laos, in May 2019. (RFA)
    A laborer at a Chinese-invested banana plantation in the Sing district of Luang Namtha province in northern Laos, in May 2019. (RFA)

    The Lao Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that in 2023, Laos imported US$6 billion worth of products and exported $5.3 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of US$700 million.

    Laos can export 33 agricultural products to China – most of them fruits, vegetables and cattle – 15 products to Vietnam and 15 products to Thailand. China is the main market for Lao exports and the market is growing annually.

    An official with the Asian Development Bank, or ADB, told RFA that in order to grow its exports, Laos must produce more of its own goods and improve their quality.

    “China has opened up its market for Lao products – particularly bananas, cassava, corn and fruit,” the ADB official said. “Laos exported about 300 million tons of bananas last year. These export can boost the Lao economy.”

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • ‘Get out!’ protest villagers over Laos government land grab | Radio Free Asia (RFA)


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  • Fuel pumps again running on empty in Laos

    Laos is again running out of gasoline, an indication that the country is still too dependent on its neighbors for fuel supplies and has failed to build adequate reserves following severe nationwide shortages in 2022. 

    Specifically, diesel fuel is hard to come by these days, as station after station has put up makeshift signs saying they are all sold out, urging lines of hundreds of vehicles to turn back and refuel elsewhere.

    Diesel, as opposed to regular gas, is important for shipping and commerce and necessary to keep supply lines open.

    The Lao government raised the official price of fuel four times in January alone, even though gas prices have been falling in the rest of the world.

    “I waited at the gas station for half an hour for diesel,” a motorist in the capital Vientiane told RFA Lao on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “A few hours later the station was completely out.”

    He was only allowed to purchase 200,000 kip (US$9.66) worth of diesel at each station and had to drive to several stations to fill up the tank.

    The motorist compared the situation to 2022, when gas shortages were but one indication of the country’s severely ailing economy at the time. 

    He was only allowed to purchase 200,000 kip (US$9.66) worth of diesel at each station and had to drive to several stations to fill up the tank.

    The current price of diesel in Vientiane is 20,780 kip per liter ($3.76 per U.S. liquid gallon), up 600 kip (three cents) from last week. 

    A truck driver in the southern province of Savannakhet ran into a similar issue while trying to refuel there, saying he was turned away at several stations before finally getting a chance to refuel.

    “I put more than four-million-kip (US$200) worth of diesel into my truck,” he said. “I’m afraid that the shortage will soon get worse.”

    A gas station attendant in Vientiane told RFA that most stations do have regular gas to sell, but are out of diesel.

    “I just asked my boss, who said we don’t have any diesel right now and we have no idea when we’ll have more,” he said.

    An attendant in Savannakhet said they were running out at the station he works at.

    “We have only about 1,000 liters (about 266 gallons) of diesel left, so since yesterday, we aren’t selling diesel to large vehicles like tractor trailers, only to small cars.”

    An employee of a fuel import company in Vientiane said that to ease the shortage it distributed 4,000 liters of diesel to each gas station in the capital on Wednesday morning.

    But a gas station attendant said that the 4,000 liters would be sold in only two hours.

    We’re working on it

    The government has been frantically trying to fix the problem, an official from the Lao Ministry of Industry and Trade told RFA.

    “All relevant departments of the government are trying to solve the shortage,” he said. “They’ve already issued a couple of announcements this morning.” 

    A statement from the Lao Fuel and Gas Association on Tuesday said the reason behind the shortage was that key oil refineries in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam have suspended production to upgrade their production lines, and that they should resume production by the end of the month.

    The Interior Trade Department, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Lao Fuel and Gas Association have, meanwhile, been in talks with fuel importers and distributors to try to find solutions.

    On Wednesday morning, the Interior Trade Department said in a statement that Laos imports 140 million liters (37 million gallons) of fuel per month, 80% of which is diesel. In January alone, Laos imported 106 million liters (28 million gallons), not enough for the rest of the month – especially because demand is expected to increase as the shortage is prolonged.

    Price spike

    The prices keep going up because the kip is again depreciating against the U.S. dollar, an official from the Ministry of Industry and Trade told RFA.

    “We buy gasoline in U.S. dollars from other countries and sell it in kip,” he said. “When we want to buy more gas, we have to exchange the kip for U.S. dollars. To keep up with the depreciation we have to raise prices.”

    The kip had been only slightly declining against the U.S. dollar until late 2021, when it fell off a cliff. According to xe.com, in September 2021 $1 was worth about 9500 kip. By the end of 2022 it had passed the 17,000 mark. The kip stabilized in the beginning of 2023, but continued its decline in April and passed the 20,000 mark in September, before stabilizing again at around 20,500 in the last few months of the year.

    The nationwide gas shortage is partly due to a shortage in foreign currency, the English-language Vientiane Times, a mouthpiece for the Lao government, reported Wednesday.

    The report also mentioned the temporary closure of an oil refinery in Thailand, saying that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and the Lao Fuel and Gas Association were trying to buy diesel fuel from other sources to fill the gap.

    Translated by Max Avary. Edited by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • Escaping Xi’s China by paddleboard: ‘I rushed into the water and thought if they catch me, they catch me’

    Dissidents face an uncertain future in Taiwan and South Korea after fleeing

    When Li Cheng En pushed his standup paddleboard off the Xiamen beach on China’s Fujian coastline, a mother and son stood nearby, watching him. It was dark, and he moved quickly, but felt sure he’d be caught. Li had spent the day scouting for a secluded beach from which he could launch his bold plan to flee China. But everywhere he went there were fences or security guards and cameras.

    “At around 7.30pm, when I decided to go, I thought that there was no more choice for me,” he says. He waited for the security guard shift change. “I rushed into the water and thought that if they would catch me, they would catch me.”

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Corporate Media Eulogize Kissinger as a Statesman Instead of a War Criminal

    For U.S. mass media, Henry Kissinger’s quip that “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac” rang true. Influential reporters and pundits often expressed their love for him. The media establishment kept swooning over one of the worst war criminals in modern history. After news of his death broke on Wednesday night, prominent coverage echoed the kind that had followed him ever since his years with…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • IMF says exports, tourism will spur Laos’ economic growth by 4%

    Revenue from tourism, foreign investment and exports will help Laos’ struggling economy grow by 4% in 2024, the International Monetary Fund said in a forecast.

    But that won’t be enough to counter the continuing high inflation rates – more than 25% – that have put many Laotians on the edge of poverty, several Laotians told Radio Free Asia.

    “People in rural areas are still looking for food from forested areas,” a Saravane province resident said. “They don’t have the money to buy food in the market. They only buy the necessities.”

    If the government can’t get inflation under control, no one will benefit from economic growth, a Xieng Khouang province resident said.

    “People are getting poorer by the day,” he said. “They live paycheck to paycheck. Most products and merchandise sold in the markets are imported.”

    The Asian Development Bank also predicted this month that the Lao economy would expand by 4% next year. It said last month that the country would grow by 3.7 percent in 2023.

    But an ADB official told RFA that the rate of inflation would remain at 28% year over year – the same as it was in 2023.

    Price controls, wage increases

    Inflation has soared to as much as 40% in recent years following a depreciation in the Lao currency and declines in foreign investment.

    Earlier this year, Lao authorities imposed price controls on basic necessities such as pork, rice and natural gas. The government has also raised the minimum wage several times since 2022 to address the cost of living crisis.

    Last week, Lao Prime Minister Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone acknowledged at a conference in Vientiane that the economy has been sluggish due to high debt levels, inflation, high gasoline prices and several other factors. 

    But economic growth in Laos will strengthen as tourism, exports and service industries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and as investment from neighboring Thailand, China and Vietnam resumes, according to the ADB official.

    The IMF forecast was released on Oct. 18, but an updated prediction should be available next month, once officials look at more export and tourism data.

    “One issue is that the currency is still fluctuating,” an IMF representative told RFA on Friday. “That needs to be fixed quickly if they want the macroeconomy to stabilize.”

    The government must also entice more foreign investment, motivate locals to increase their export-oriented production and lower the amount of import if it wants more consistent growth, he said.

    Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

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  • Volunteer teachers quit in Laos amid weak job prospects

    At least 41 volunteer teachers in northeastern Laos have resigned, leaving many schools short-staffed as the former teachers seek paying jobs amid high inflation and a weak economy.

    There are more than 7,600 volunteer teachers across the country, but due to budgetary constraints the Lao government can only hire less than 1,000 each fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Education and Sport.

    In Laos’ centrally-planned economy, workers in schools and hospitals are generally government employees, and those who want jobs in their chosen fields are dependent on government quotas, as well as passing an examination. 

    Many young people therefore work as volunteers in classrooms and clinics until there is an opening for salaried staff.

    Xiengkhouang province, in the northeast, has 124 volunteer teachers compared to 165 volunteer teachers last year, an official at the province’s Department of Education and Sport told Radio Free Asia on Monday.

    “After the exam results were posted [in April and May], many of them decided to resign,” the official said. “This will affect the quality of education. Some teachers will have to teach in classes where students in different grades study together. Some will have to teach for more hours.”

    ‘Living in a hard time’

    One volunteer teacher who resigned this year told RFA she taught at a school in the province’s Kham district for nine years but finally gave up hope that she would be added to the government payroll.

    “My patience reached its limit,” she said. “I miss my students, but I cannot wait any further. I got married and have a child to take care of, and my husband doesn’t want me to teach anymore.”

    The long commute to the school, staying in a teacher’s dormitory on weekdays and the realization that she would probably have to wait several more years before she would be hired all contributed to her decision, she said.

    Across the country, administrators are merging schools and closing others because of a teacher shortage, which is largely driven by the government’s lack of funds.

    “Volunteer teachers are the true devotees, as they use their own resources and time to teach students,” said the father of a student in Xiengkhouang’s Paek district. 

    But the poor economy has brought hardship to everyone – even those civil servants who make a salary – so it’s understandable that volunteer teachers would want to look elsewhere for work, he said.

    “Everything now is three times as expensive,” he said.

    The mother of a volunteer teacher who recently resigned from a school in Xiengkhouang’s Phoukout district said her daughter has since left Laos for a job in South Korea, where several thousand Laoatians work in factories and on farms.

    “Our family is living in a hard time,” she said. “My daughter is now a legal migrant worker in South Korea and she is the only income earner for the family.”

    The provincial official told RFA that, even with a tight budget, administrators are looking for ways to pay the remaining volunteer teachers.

    “We had a meeting with relevant offices, and there is now a process to draft a policy for paying volunteer teachers,” he said.

    Translated by Phouvong. Edited by Matt Reed.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Lao.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Laos lied about repatriation of Chinese rights lawyer, wife says

    Authorities in Laos told American and United Nations diplomats that detained Chinese rights attorney Lu Siwei was still in the country, even after he was sent back to face detention in China, his wife told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.

    Lu, who is now being held in the Xindu Detention Center in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, was repatriated to China in early September after being arrested in Laos en route to join his family in the United States.

    His detention in Laos and subsequent repatriation is another example of transnational “long-arm” law enforcement by Beijing, rights activists and commentators have warned.

    Xindu Detention Center officials contacted his family on Oct. 4 informing them that he was being held there and requesting they send clothes, medication and money for him, but gave no details of his repatriation, nor of any criminal charges against him, his U.S.-based wife Zhang Chunxiao said.

    Lu suffers from a severe skin condition and has been without his regular medication for two months now, she said.

    Lu’s lawyer confirmed on Sept. 14 that his client had left Laos for China several days earlier. Yet the authorities in Laos were still claiming that he was still in the country, Zhang said.

    ENG_CHN_LuSiweiDetained_10052023.2.jpg
    Zhang Chunxiao, shown with her husband, Lu Siwei, says her husband suffers from a severe dermatological condition and has been without his regular medication for two months. They are seen in this undated photo. Credit: Provided by Zhang Chunxiao

    “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Laos kept telling the United Nations and American diplomats that Siwei was still in Laos,” Zhang said. “What I really don’t understand is how the Laos government would … be willing to deceive everyone.”

    “[My husband] had already been sent back, and they were still saying that he was still in Laos. Why would they do that?”

    The exact date of Lu’s repatriation on a bus along with dozens of other wanted Chinese nationals remains unclear.

    Laos ‘in debt’ to China

    According to an official notification dated Sept. 11 issued by the Chinese Embassy in Laos to the Lao Ministry of Public Security, Lu was “approved for criminal detention” by police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Sept. 3, on suspicion of “illegally crossing a border.”

    The document, a copy of which was circulating on social media at the time, and which has now been proven genuine, informed the Lao authorities that the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China “requires that the suspect Lu Siwei be transferred to China, to be brought to justice as soon as possible.”

    Taiwanese democracy activist Lee Ming-cheh, who has served jail time in China for his activism, said the Lao authorities are clearly willing to do as Beijing tells them.

    “Laos is in a great deal of debt to China under the Belt and Road [infrastructure] initiative,” Lee said. “Laos’ political system is also a dictatorship like China’s, so it’s pretty normal that Laos would send Lu Siwei back there.”

    It is unclear whether Lu will be allowed visitors, but could be denied visits from his family or lawyers if he is charged with a crime linked to “national security,” like subversion, Lee said.

    ENG_CHN_LuSiweiDetained_10052023.3.jpg
    One of the two activists [left] traveling with Chinese rights lawyer Lu Siwei [right] argues with police who were in the process of detaining Lu, near the Thanaleng dry port, 13 kilometers (8 miles), south of Vientiane, on July 28, 2023. Credit: Anonymous source via AP

    Zeng Jianyuan, chairman of the overseas-based New School for Democracy, agreed.

    “Today just proves that Laos has succumbed to Chinese power,” Zeng said. “It’s a betrayal of … the values respected in their society, which is Buddhist.”

    He said it was ironic that the news about Lu’s fate is only emerging around the Oct. 1 anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China under late supreme leader Mao Zedong.

    “They have arrested someone who really took practical action to achieve the revolutionary ideals of the Chinese Communist Party,” Zeng said. 

    “Repatriating Lu Siwei was an act of betrayal, and it’s very sad.”

    Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Hwang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Rights groups call on Laos to release lawyer held after fleeing China

    Sixty-eight organisations sign letter amid fears Lu Siwei could be deported at request of Chinese authorities

    Sixty-eight human rights groups have signed an open letter calling on the Laos government to release Lu Siwei, a Chinese former human rights lawyer detained by Laotian police near Vientiane last week.

    Lu was seized by police on Friday as he attempted to board a train from Laos to Thailand, where he planned to catch a flight to the US to join his wife and daughter. Nearly one week later, he appears to still be held in Laotian immigration detention, despite reportedly being told that he would be deported to China.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.