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A New Route North
Cambodian durians now have a faster route to China that avoids both Thailand and Vietnam. Laos and Cambodia opened a new transit corridor for agricultural products on Monday, though exporters were already moving in that direction. Refrigerated trains on the Laos-China Railway can get Southeast Asian fruit to Chinese buyers in as little as three days, and Cambodian media say the new route cuts transit times from 15-20 days to about a week. China has already imported more than 185,000 tons of fruit by way of the railway this year, up 73 percent from the same period in 2025.
Read more: Laotian Times
Putin Comes Bearing Reactors, Reassurances
At the ASEAN-Russia summit in Kazan on Thursday, Vladimir Putin showed up with an energy offer for almost every delegation he met. Rosatom signed a nuclear cooperation framework with Laos, including discussions around a Russian-designed power plant that could help the country reach its 2050 net-zero target. Malaysia came away with promises on fuel, oil, and gas supplies, and PM Anwar Ibrahim said that a long-term agreement is being worked out. Indonesia is looking at nuclear too. Rosatom chief Alexey Likhachev said Jakarta has shown “tremendous interest” in Russian nuclear technology as it explores the idea of floating power plants. If there was a theme to Russia’s week in Kazan, it was that Moscow still has plenty to sell.
Read more: SCMP
The Boom Arrives With Baggage
More than 824,000 visitors passed through Luang Prabang in the first four months of 2026, with international arrivals outnumbering domestic tourists by better than two to one. The city is now on track to hit its full-year target of 2.3 million visitors and $1.27 billion in tourism revenue. The tourists are arriving faster than some of the headaches that come with them can be managed (as, perhaps, could have been anticipated). Officials recently came together talk about the 381 restaurants, bars, spas, and entertainment venues now operating inside the UNESCO World Heritage town, as well as continuing (growing, even, if that’s possible?) concerns of drug trafficking, prostitution, price gouging, and theft.
Read more: Asian News Network
Beijing Brings Batteries
Chinese green tech firm Envision Energy has signed a partnership with Impact Electrons Siam to grow the cross-border Monsoon Wind Power Project in Laos, adding solar generation and battery storage to the wind farms that are already being built. Envision says the package will be wired up with an AI-managed system designed to balance supply and improve grid stability. Asia-Pacific president Edward Hou says the technology will help optimize Laos’ energy mix, and IES executive chairman Peck Khamkanist says the project is an important part of the country’s move from a traditional power exporter to a clean energy hub. The turbines were only the beginning, the batteries are coming next.
Read more: Evertiq
Europe Pays to Pave the Road to Tay Trang
A nearly 300-kilometer corridor connecting Thailand to Vietnam is slowly taking shape through northern Laos. National Road 2 runs from Thailand’s Nan Province through Oudomxay and Phongsaly to the Tay Trang border crossing, with the benefit of EUR 150 million in backing from the World Bank, European Investment Bank, EU, and the Lao government. Your view on the work’s progress may depend on which end of the road you’re standing on. The western 136-kilometer stretch between Xay and Pak Beng is already more than 20 percent done, but the eastern 99-kilometer section is barely underway, with its third phase signed only on May 30 and final details remain on the drawing board. The contracts are for 10 years, three for construction and seven for maintenance. Once finished, the route will also connect with the Laos-China Railway at Oudomxay.
Read more: Laotian Times
Japan Grant Rebuilds Chao Anouvong Stadium
Vientiane’s Chao Anouvong Stadium renovation is now more than 70 percent complete and still on track for an October 2026 handover. The JPY 4.171 billion JICA-funded project will deliver two amphitheaters with seating for 2,767 people, as well as wheelchair access, braille handrails, and elevators throughout the venue. The number of yearly users is expected to rise from about 100,000 to 140,000. The immediate deadline is October, but the more important one is five years further out, when Laos hosts the 2031 SEA Games and Chao Anouvong is expected to serve as a supporting venue beside the handsomely named “National Stadium KM16.”
Read more: Laotian Times
Ivory, Gallbladders, and a Bus to Bangkok
Lao authorities had a busy week in the wildlife trade. A June 13 raid on a property in Luang Prabang turned up more than 60 kilograms of suspected wildlife products, including 968 ivory-like objects, 559 rhino horn-like items, and 112 suspected animal gallbladders. Four days later, inspectors at the Vang Tao checkpoint in Champasak stopped a Pakse-Bangkok passenger bus carrying 294 live turtles, pythons, and lizards. None were native to Laos, so heads are being scratched diligently to figure our where they came from and where they were headed.
Read more: Laotian Times
Getting Research Off the Shelf
ASEAN's science ministers and officials met in Vientiane on yesterday for COSTI-89, bringing together delegates from all 10 member states (and Timor-Leste) to figure out how to implement the bloc's science and innovation framework. Lao co-chair Souksavath Sihapanya, Director General at the Ministry of Education and Sports, kept the conversation on practical problems and safe AI adoption, cybersecurity, smart cities, food security, climate resilience, renewable energy, and the challenge of getting research out of laboratories and into commercial use.
Read more: VietnamPlus
A Different Kind of Training
The Academy of Politics of the Lao People’s Public Security took first prize at Vientiane’s second “Future Vietnamese Language Ambassadors” contest, beating eight other teams that came from armed forces agencies, military academies, and Vietnamese language schools. The Vietnamese Embassy-supported competition is only in its second edition, but the participant list is demonstrative of who is most eager to learn the language. Lao officials, lecturers, military officers, and security personnel have been some of its most active supporters. Second prize went to the Vietnamese language class at Phat Tich Pagoda in Vientiane, and the remaining seven teams shared third place.
Read more: VietnamPlus
That's all for this week, thanks for reading. Your voice matters to us. Feel we're missing something? Have additional sources to suggest? Don't hold back- hit reply and tell us what you think.
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