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Headlines:
Blockchain Backbone Takes Shape
Prices Steady but Wallets Still Hurt
Rural Health Gets Cash, Skills and Vision
New Dam Breaks Ground as Safety Rules Tighten
Dry Port and Upgraded Airport Expand Options
Solar Firms Shift Plants to Sidestep US Tariffs
Trafficked Workers Share Cyber-Fraud Tales
Bootleg Spirits Kill Tourists, Spark Campaigns
Tourism Reset: Hotels, Repairs, Training
Historic Sites Gain New Status and Access
Lao Tobacco Expands Contract Farming
Road Deaths Spike in April
Vientiane Starts Burying Overhead Cables
Diplomatic Week Packs Trade and Culture Events
Border Skirmish Closes Thai Viewpoint
Blockchain Backbone Takes Shape
The Ministry of Technology is running a feasibility study for a national blockchain that would handle asset verification, digital identity and a new research center, while the Ministry of Public Security has started rolling out digital ID cards and a central citizen data hub. Both projects include staff training, legal revisions and private-sector input. Officials say the systems will feed into online government services, new fintech products and fresh revenue channels, moving paperwork and cash transactions onto secure ledgers and mobile apps.
Read more: The Star (Blockchain Study), The Star (Digital ID)
Prices Steady but Wallets Still Hurt
April inflation eased to 11.1 percent, down fractionally from March, but food, fuel and medical costs unfortunately kept rising. The Consumer Price Index jumped 1.6 percent in a single month, lifted by Lao New Year spending and a fuel price hike. Housing and utilities stayed as the heaviest burden at 25 percent above last year, followed by medicines and household goods. The central bank wants single-digit inflation before year-end, officials say they need cheaper credit for producers and more local supply, but shoppers report no relief at in the local markets yet.
Read more: Laotian Times (Market Impact), The Star (Policy Response)
Rural Health Gets Cash, Skills and Vision
Australia has promised AUD 2.896 million for reproductive health services in two northern provinces, adding staff, clinics and outreach for 500,000 ethnic villagers. China's GX Foundation wrapped up a six-year cataract campaign that delivered 5,768 free surgeries. These programs build on a nationwide midwife drive that trained 3,000 practitioners and cut maternal deaths to 112 per 100,000 births, and UNICEF-backed data projects that nearly doubled anemia testing. The WFP reports that 62,000 people received food or nutrition support in April.
Read more: The Star (Reproductive Care), China Daily (Eye Surgery), UNICEF (Maternal Data)
New Dam Breaks Ground as Safety Rules Tighten
Construction has started on the USD 360 million Nam Neun 1 dam that is expected to export 124 MW to Vietnam by 2028. The project is being launched while the Lao-Swiss Dam Safety Technical and Institutional Assistance program expands with CHF 5.36 million in fresh funding. The partnership has introduced a dam engineering course, upgraded monitoring and helped enforce the 2022 Dam Safety Law to support the protection of a million and a half downstream residents. Energy planners say bigger exports demand better oversight, forcing developers to combine build-operate deals with local skills training and real-time inspections.
Read more: Construction-Property (Nam Neun 1), The Star (Safety Program)
Dry Port and Upgraded Airport Expand Options
The government has leased land for a dry port beside the 5th Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge in Borikhamxay, promising smoother customs checks and lower truck costs on the Bangkok-Vientiane corridor. Farther north, Xieng Khouang Airport will reopen in June after a Russian-funded renovation that lengthened the runway, added radar and revamped the terminal. The projects will provide exporters with a new logistics hub and travelers with a new air gateway to sites on the Plain of Jars circuit.
Read more: The Star (Dry Port), Laotian Times (Airport Upgrade)
Solar Firms Shift Plants to Sidestep US Tariffs
After Washington slapped heavy anti-dumping duties on panels from Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand, Chinese manufacturers are moving assembly lines to Laos and Indonesia. US imports from the two newcomers have climbed to nearly a third of the market, up from less than 1 percent last year. Analysts say the changes keep Chinese brands in the American supply chain while making trade policing more difficult, since modules stamped "Made in Laos" are, for the moment, blessed with lower duties.
Read more: Khmer Times
Trafficked Workers Share Cyber-Fraud Tales
Police in Maharashtra rescued six Indians forced to run romance-investment scams in Laos after recruiters reportedly held their passports and tortured holdouts. Similar stories came from Mumbai's Mira Road and a young Rwandan lured into a crypto syndicate, all tracing back to Chinese-run compounds that churn out "pig-butchering" fraud on iPhones and international SIMs. Victims work 16-hour shifts under guard, feeding AI-generated profiles to Western targets. Indian and Lao police say that many more people remain trapped.
Read more: Free Press Journal (Rescue), Mid-Day (Scam Methods), New Times Rwanda (Rwandan Victim)
Bootleg Spirits Kill Tourists, Spark Campaigns
British traveller Bethany Clarke survived methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng that killed her friend and two Australian teens. Now Clarke is working for alcohol-safety lessons in schools and warnings in hostels. Doctors Without Borders say that they estimate as many as 14,000 methanol deaths worldwide over the past 30 years, with Laos a hotspot because of unregulated distilling. Advocates want better testing of street liquor and signage at bars catering to backpackers. It is not clear what the signage would accomplish.
Read more: 4BC (Awareness), Courier-Mail (Personal Loss), 9News (Policy Call)
Tourism Reset: Hotels, Repairs, Training
Chinese giant Jin Jiang and partner RJJ plan 108 hotels across Southeast Asia with five brands planned for Lao UNESCO sites and main cities. In Luang Namtha, locals are fixing up the Typhoon-damaged Tad Nam Dee waterfall after its 35,000-visitor debut season. Trainees began a two-month national course that mixes classroom work with field trips before licensing exams. Authorities want 4.3 million foreign arrivals and USD 1 billion in tourism receipts next year, betting on fresh beds, repaired trails and better storytelling.
Read more: Travel and Tour World (Hotels), Laotian Times (Waterfall Repair), The Star (Guide Course)
Historic Sites Gain New Status and Access
Savannakhet has proclaimed That Nang Lao Stupa and ancient Mermaid Rice Fields to be local heritage, and Khammouane says it will convert former president Nouhak Phoumsavanh's home into a memorial complete with 35 km of new road. In the mountains, Long Tieng, once a CIA forward base housing 40,000 Hmong, has reopened to visitors, letting war refugees and their descendants see the airstrip and General Vang Pao's house for the first time in decades. Provincial officials expect these opportunities to lengthen stays and help to spread visitor money inland.
Read more: Laotian Times (Stupa), Laotian Times (Nouhak Home), Star Tribune (Long Tieng)
Lao Tobacco Expands Contract Farming
Lao Tobacco Limited is now working with 1,400 growers in four provinces, up from 900 last season, trying to get their hands on 2,000 annual tons of leaf. Thirty field technicians are providing seeds, fertilizer and biomass for curing, while community grants are helping to refurbish schools, toilets and waste sites. The company also runs child-labour checks and has piloted frog and fish ponds to help diversify farmer income, pitching the model as a cash-crop partnership rather than a buy-sell transaction.
Read more: Laotian Times
Road Deaths Spike in April
Traffic police logged 734 crashes and 109 fatalities last month, a 24 percent jump from March. Speeding led the tally, followed by drunk driving and unsafe lane changes, with most wrecks happening surprisingly early: between 6 p.m. and midnight. Vientiane Capital saw the worst numbers, and adults aged 31-50 made up the largest casualty group. Authorities want extra night patrols and public service messaging on drunk-driving in the run-up to the rainy-season holiday period.
Read more: Laotian Times
Vientiane Starts Burying Overhead Cables
Electricité du Laos signed an MoU with Sisan International to move low-voltage power lines and telecom cables underground. Phase one covers a 12-km stretch from Sikhay intersection to landmarks like Patuxay and the National Convention Centre, followed by four city districts and then provincial capitals. Officials foresee fewer outages, safer streets and a cleaner skyline, while contractors will install duct banks to accommodate future 5G fibre.
Read more: The Star
Diplomatic Week Packs Trade and Culture Events
Vientiane hosted Cambodia's National Assembly defence chief, Hong Kong's Economic and Trade Office mission and Europe Day festivities. Talks with Phnom Penh covered border demarcation, anti-crime patrols and scholarships. Hong Kong delegates pitched Greater Bay Area funds to 70 Lao firms and promised university places for top students. The EU reception was held to celebrate 50 years of Lao-EU relations, tying in the event with this year's Lao People's Revolutionary Party and national founding anniversaries.
Read more: Khmer Times (Cambodia), Info.gov.hk (Hong Kong), EEAS (Europe)
Border Skirmish Closes Thai Viewpoint
Thailand shut the famous Phu Chi Fa cliff lookout after stray bullets from a firefight across the border in Laos' Bokeo province reached its side. Lao radio said soldiers were fighting with drug smugglers. the US Embassy issued a security alert for the area known as part of the Golden Triangle. Thai rangers have increased patrols, and local guides rerouted tourists while waiting for confirmation the hillside is again safe.
Read more: The Malaysian Reserve (Closure), Laotiantimes (Details)
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading.
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