At speeds of almost 100 miles an hour, the Chinese-built train zips over the Mekong River and careers through dozens of newly bored tunnels as it travels north from the capital. At its last stop, near the Chinese border, brand-new residential towers rise out of the jungle. China funded much of the glistening new infrastructure Read more
For almost a decade, Laos has been warned that its extravagant spending spree on infrastructure carried enormous financial risks that threatened to undermine its sovereignty and efforts to raise living standards among the poor. Those warnings fell on deaf ears as Vientiane — hell-bent on becoming the “Battery of Asia” — borrowed heavily and built Read more
Christians in the communist nation of Laos continue to face discrimination, harassment and ridicule over their beliefs. “They say in our village that there is no Christian god and that our ancestors were all animist,” a villager living in mountainous northern Laos recently told Radio Free Asia. Christianity is little understood among many Laotians, most Read more
President Obama says the United States has a “profound moral and humanitarian obligation” to support efforts to clear bombs its forces dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War. Eighty million cluster munitions did not explode, instead settling on farmland and around villages, only to later kill or injure 20,000 people. Obama spoke of that legacy Read more
Converts to Christianity in Laos are facing eviction from their village because of their beliefs, according to a US rights group. Authorities in Huay village, Savannakhet province, accused the Protestant converts of conducting worship in their homes and said they must recant or be expelled, said Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The Read more