Overseas Jobs Dominate Laos Employment as Workers Seek Higher Wages

Nearly all registered job seekers in Laos are looking for work abroad, even as businesses at home struggle to recruit staff. In the first nine months of 2026, a total of 76,604 people from Laos signed up to look for work, 93 percent of whom sought work overseas, while just 7 percent looked for jobs in Laos. Labor and Social Welfare Minister Phosay Sayasone shared the information during a meeting with the National Assembly on 7 October.  Between 2016 and 2026, Laos sent more than 708,000 citizens abroad for work, with Thailand receiving nearly 95 percent of them. The figures show the scale of labor migration over the past decade, a trend...

Economy

Overseas Jobs Dominate Laos Employment as Workers Seek Higher Wages

Nearly all registered job seekers in Laos are looking for work abroad, even as businesses at home struggle to recruit staff. In the first nine months of 2026, a total...

Laos Flags Millions in Misused Funds Across Public Projects

The State Inspection Authority has flagged USD 1.976 million in diverted funds and spending on unused assets in Vientiane’s USD 99.7 million Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. On 8 October,...

Laos Sets 60 Million-Liter Fuel Reserve Floor, Diversifies Imports, Lao PM Saleumxay Says

Laos will keep domestic fuel reserves at around 60 million liters or more and encourage companies to buy from multiple countries as the government seeks to reduce the risk...

Laos Economy Grows 4.8 percent in Nine Months, but Inflation, Tourism Lag

Laos’ economy grew 4.8 percent in the first nine months of 2026, Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith told lawmakers on 5 October, crediting manufacturing, private investment, electricity, trade and tourism-related...

Laos, Thailand Move Luang Prabang Bridge Toward Construction

Laos and Thailand have moved a planned 820-meter bridge in Luang Prabang Province into the next stage of development, with the project’s environmental and social impact assessment and detailed...

Laos Advances Land Compensation for Vientiane-Hanoi Expressway

Bolikhamxay is finalizing land compensation rates for the Vientiane-Hanoi Expressway, pushing forward a major infrastructure project designed to link landlocked Laos with Vietnamese seaports. Local officials met with affected households...

Travel

Graduating Students Cook, Serve French Dinner at Luang Prabang Academy

It was a busy day in the kitchen at The Academy Luang Prabang on 18 September. A group of students who were about to graduate were hard at work, preparing a special four-course French dinner. The students cooked for nearly 40 guests, served the food, poured glasses of wine, and kept things moving in the dining room as the evening went on. At The Academy, it was a chance to put months of training into practice, this time with real guests sitting at the tables and waiting to be served. For the students, it was a chance to see what it was like to handle a full dinner service from start...

Laos Targets 6 Million Visitors in 2026 as Chinese Arrivals Projected at 2 Million

Laos expects to welcome between 5 and 6 million international tourists in 2026, with Chinese visitors projected to account for around 2 million of that total, according to government estimates. The numbers will be...

ASEAN Rail Tourism Corridor Takes Center Stage at Mekong Tourism Forum 2025

Laos hosted the Mekong Tourism Forum 2025 in Luang Prabang from 24 to 27 June, spotlighting the proposed ASEAN Rail Tourism Corridor (ARTC) as a key initiative to boost regional travel and connectivity. Held...

Health & Environment

The Photographer Who Speaks for Laos’ Forests

In the forests of Laos, observation comes before words for Souksamlan “Toun” Laladeth. That idea inspired the title of his debut visual anthology, Where the Forests Have No Words, officially launched on 5 October in Vientiane*.* "People call me a conservation and nature photographer. But really, I'm just a simple person, nothing more," Toun said. Toun’s connection with nature began easily in life. Growing up in the northern Bokeo Province, his mother taught him which forest vegetables were safe to eat, while...

Sport

Laos Prepares For ASEAN Para Games With 12-Sport Bid

Laos is preparing to compete in 12 sports at the 14th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur next October. The Lao team has proposed entering athletics, swimming, powerlifting, boccia, women’s goalball, men’s blind football,...

Young Lao Chess Team Wins 12 Medals from Singapore

Laos continues working to develop chess among younger generations.  A group of young Lao players has returned from Singapore with 12 medals after gaining international experience against competitors from across Asia and beyond. Team Laos...

Politics

Graduating Students Cook, Serve French Dinner at Luang Prabang Academy

It was a busy day in the kitchen at The Academy Luang Prabang on 18 September. A group of...

Saleumxay Kommasith Becomes Laos New Prime Minister, Sonexay Takes National Assembly Helm

Today, Laos has made a major change to its top leadership, appointing former Deputy Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith as...

Laos, Thailand Move Luang Prabang Bridge Toward Construction

Laos and Thailand have moved a planned 820-meter bridge in Luang Prabang Province into the next stage of development,...

Laos, China Open Joint Military Aviation Center for Lao Air Force Training

Laos and China have opened a joint military support and training center at Ban Keun Airport in Vientiane Province...

Feature

The Photographer Who Speaks for Laos’ Forests

In the forests of Laos, observation comes before words for Souksamlan “Toun” Laladeth. That idea inspired the title of his debut visual anthology, Where the Forests Have No Words, officially launched on 5 October in Vientiane*.* "People call me a conservation and nature photographer. But really, I'm just a simple person, nothing more," Toun said. Toun’s connection with nature began easily in life. Growing up in the northern Bokeo Province, his mother taught him which forest vegetables were safe to eat, while his father, a local hunter, taught him how to track animals. “Nature and forest, they cannot speak,” Toun says. “Spending time in nature is key to understanding its language.” Years later, as he began working professionally in the forest, Toun learned more from experienced animal trackers in South Africa and Northern Europe. They taught him how to move silently in the forest, observe his surroundings closely, and think like the animals he was following. "If you want to see wildlife, you have to think like wildlife, you have to move like wildlife, you have to act like wildlife," Toun said. In 2009, Toun began working in the Nam Kan National Park as a porter,...

Laos, Thailand Move Luang Prabang Bridge Toward Construction

Laos and Thailand have moved a planned 820-meter bridge...

Laos, China Open Joint Military Aviation Center for Lao Air Force Training

Laos and China have opened a joint military support...

Laos, China Launch Digital Payment Link For Cross-Border Transactions

Laos and China have launched a new digital payment...

CGTN: A Mountain Road That Transformed a Village

BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 13...

Railtown AI Launches Conductr Agent Runtime, Unifying AI Agent Deployment, Data and Observability

New deployment capability brings together Railengine data infrastructure, AI...

VinFast opens early bookings for the all-new VF 8 in the Philippines

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Media OutReach Newswire - 13...