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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

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

Asean

Burning daylight: Iran war energy shock revives Asean’s power grid plans

28 Mar 2026 - 10:47AM

US, Israel war on Iran

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

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

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

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un drives a launcher vehicle during a presentation ceremony for 600mm-calibre rocket launchers on February 18. Photo: KCNA/EPA

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

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

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

Lao Airlines, the flag carrier of Laos, has added the Comac C909 regional jet to its fleet. Photo: CCTV

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

A high-speed train leaves Tegalluar Station, located along the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia. Photo: Xinhua

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

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

Bianca Jones (left) and Holly Morton-Bowles were among six tourists who died after drinking tainted cocktails in Laos in 2024. Photo: Handout

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

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

Ukrainian soldiers fire the BM-21 Grad MLRS at an undisclosed location in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on January 24, amid the Russian invasion. Photo: EPA/24th Mechanised Brigade Press Service

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

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

Guards escort accused scam boss Chen Zhi off a China Southern plane in Beijing on January 8, after his extradition from Cambodia. Photo: China’s Ministry of Public Security/AFP

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

Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro is led into custody by US Drug Enforcement Administration officers at an airbase in New York on Saturday. Photo: Handout/Reuters

Japan

More Japanese favour having an empress as Princess Aiko’s public appeal rises

Japan’s conservative politicians are against changing the centuries-old tradition of a male heir for the throne.

20 Dec 2025 - 11:00AM

US-China relations

Rubio swaps hawk for diplomat in year-end pivot on China

Top US envoy eschews ‘pacing threat’ label, stressing cooperation and Western hemisphere priorities for 2026.

20 Dec 2025 - 6:53AMvideocam

SCMP Highlights

China’s youth-unemployment rate, Laos joins durian war: SCMP daily highlights

From EU-China trade ties to Laos securing approval to export durians, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage.

18 Dec 2025 - 9:15PM

China-Europe freight trains preparing to depart from the Manzhouli railway station in Manzhouli, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on December 10, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

China trade

Battle for China’s durian market gets even juicier as Laos enters the fray

Laos could present a real challenge to other players in China’s vast durian market due to its low costs and logistical advantages.

18 Dec 2025 - 9:00AMvideocam

A local vendor sells durians at a stall near Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Several Southeast Asian nations including Cambodia export the fruit to China, which is the world’s largest buyer by far. Photo: AP

Donald Trump

Trump expands US travel ban and restrictions to include another 20 countries

The clampdown affects people seeking to travel to the US as visitors as well as those hoping to emigrate there.

17 Dec 2025 - 4:53PM

Malaysia

Trump’s tariffs on Southeast Asia put US Christmas gifts at risk

From Hot Wheels to headphones, new levies are squeezing the supply of Americans’ festive favourites.

15 Dec 2025 - 8:02AM

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