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Laos

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Laos. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Vientiane

Head of State

President Thongloun Sisoulith

Head of Government

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone

Thailand

‘Worst I’ve seen’: forest fires rage across Thailand, Mekong region

The region faces a perennial haze scourge, with enforcement of bans against slash-and-burn farm practices remaining patchy.

6 hours ago

South Korea

In South Korea, you can order online deliveries for almost anything – even drugs

10 Apr 2026 - 1:17PMvideocam

China energy security

China powers up major Southeast Asian solar project amid Iran war shock

9 Apr 2026 - 8:00AM

Scams and swindles

Cambodia’s high-stakes war on online scam compounds

Cambodia has vowed to stamp out the scam compounds on its soil by month’s end – but perpetrators remain drawn to the potential for huge profits.

4 Apr 2026 - 6:22AMvideocam

Asean

How Asean’s neutral stance in Iran war protects its energy security

Granting Southeast Asian vessels safe passage through the strait allows Iran to come across as a diplomatic good guy, analysts say.

2 Apr 2026 - 3:19PMvideocam

SCMP Highlights

Cambodia’s scam industry exodus, Jollibee’s diaspora effect: 7 Asia highlights

From Cambodia’s scam industry exodus to Jollibee’s meaning to overseas Filipinos, here are a few highlights from SCMP’s recent Asia reporting.

31 Mar 2026 - 1:06PM

Cambodia

A US$19 billion scam industry is fleeing Cambodia. Where will it end up?

Scam bosses and their multibillion-dollar crime networks are fleeing to Myanmar, Laos and Thailand ahead of an April deadline.

29 Mar 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

A Thai soldier shines a torch into a room disguised as a Chinese police station inside an abandoned scam centre on the Thai-Cambodian border on March 12. Photo: AFP

Asean

Burning daylight: Asean’s power grid plans get an Iran war jolt

Oil is up, coal is back and so are fuel queues. As the Middle East burns, Southeast Asia dusts off an old plan to rewire its future.

3 Apr 2026 - 10:40PM

US, Israel war on Iran

‘Getting worse each day’: why Southeast Asia is vulnerable to the fuel crisis

From Laos to Thailand, long queues are forming at petrol stations while residents are reeling from surging fuel prices.

23 Mar 2026 - 9:02PMvideocam

China’s C919 passenger plane

China fine-tunes C909 jet operations in Laos – a blueprint for Southeast Asia?

Lessons from Laos could help Comac boost overseas sales of C909 and C919 – but analyst says buyers will be closely watching for safety.

18 Mar 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

Comac delivered its first C909 plane to Laos on March 30, 2025. Photo: Handout

United States

Trump administration can resume ‘third-country’ deportations, appeal court rules

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the ruling, that deports undocumented migrants to countries that are not their own, a ‘key win’.

17 Mar 2026 - 3:45AM

US Attorney General Pam Bondi. Photo: EPA

Asean

Philippines urges Asean to be global investment safe haven amid Middle East war

This year’s Asean chair calls on the bloc to ensure investment ‘certainty’ at the opening of the foreign ministers meeting in Manila.

13 Mar 2026 - 12:28PM

North Korea

US sanctions 2 firms, 6 individuals for funding North Korean weapons

North Korea-linked IT workers raised nearly US$800 million in 2024 by defrauding or stealing data to blackmail American companies.

13 Mar 2026 - 9:35AMvideocam

Scams and swindles

150,000 Meta accounts shut down in Southeast Asian scam centre crackdown

Meta has also launched protective tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp alerts for suspicious friend requests and activities.

12 Mar 2026 - 8:17PMvideocam

Workstations used by scam operators are seen after a police raid in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Photo: EPA

Thailand

Thailand’s PTT to freeze pump prices as Iran attacks spur panic buying in region

The energy firm will maintain prices for 15 days, even as Thailand says it will still export oil to Laos.

4 Mar 2026 - 4:09PMvideocam

Rubble from a police station in Tehran, damaged in airstrikes on Tuesday. The US and Israel have continued their joint attack on Iran that began on Saturday. Photo: TNS

China airliners

China’s C909 jet gets international uplift with funding for adoptive airline

Chengdu Airlines, an affiliate of C909 manufacturer Comac, has received a capital injection to help widen the jet’s international coverage.

23 Feb 2026 - 11:00AM

China trade

As high-speed railways saturate China, how far can their global reach extend?

As Chinese giants eye Eurasia for new infrastructure, analysts speculate on what it will take to keep overseas projects from going off the rails in different host nations.

21 Feb 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

Scams and swindles

Water prisons, torture: UN urges crackdown on brutal Southeast Asia scam centres

The agency’s latest report documents torture, sexual abuse, forced abortions, food deprivation and solitary confinement in the centres.

20 Feb 2026 - 7:29PMvideocam

A Thai soldier keeps guard outside a closed scam centre in O’Smach, Cambodia, on February 2. Photo: AP

Scams and swindles

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

The transactions are linked to activities such as forced labour recruited by scammers and international escort services, a report says.

16 Feb 2026 - 4:48PMvideocam

Australia

Australia demands answers from Laos over methanol poisoning ‘injustice’

While 10 were convicted of destroying evidence, not a single person has been charged in connection with the deaths of two Melbourne teens.

11 Feb 2026 - 1:20PMvideocam

US immigration

‘Deported but not defeated’: the Southeast Asians cast out of Trump’s US

Born in a Thai refugee camp and raised in Texas, Kham Paneboun is now stateless in Laos, one of thousands punished again for old crimes.

8 Feb 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

US federal agents enter a residential building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Cambodia

Scripts, bank details and military rules: Cambodian scam compound secrets

Mostly run by Chinese criminal gangs and staffed partly by trafficking victims, these complexes have proliferated across Indochina.

7 Feb 2026 - 3:57PMvideocam

A Thai solider inspects a workstation inside a scam centre in O’Smach, Cambodia, on Monday. Photo: AP

China airliners

New brainer: China’s C929 widebody lands partner to power next-gen flight mind

After Comac secures core flight-system supplier for its widebody jet’s ‘brain’, sourcing the ‘heart’ of the C929 remains a lofty challenge.

4 Feb 2026 - 11:31PM

The Philippines

Filipino’s death fuels concern over coercive recruitment in Ukraine war

Observers say the case of John Patrick reflects human exploitation and the structural pressure on Russia’s manpower resources.

30 Jan 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

South Korea

73 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia face online scam probe

Arriving in handcuffs, the suspects allegedly scammed fellow South Koreans out of US$33 million.

23 Jan 2026 - 10:34PMvideocam

Police officers escort South Koreans allegedly involved in scam operations in Cambodia at Incheon International Airport on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Asean

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

17 Jan 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

Cambodia

‘Not the end’: Cambodia keeps up scam crackdown after Chen Zhi sent to China

Phnom Penh signals zero tolerance for scam centres following the deportation of the Prince Group tycoon.

14 Jan 2026 - 7:38PMvideocam

US-Venezuela conflict

The Maduro effect: US raid accelerates Asia’s drift away from Washington

Cambodia, Laos and North Korea are expected to tighten their embrace of Moscow and Beijing amid growing distrust of the US.

7 Jan 2026 - 7:16PMvideocam

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