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On or about this date in 1974, a young American traveler — or perhaps intelligence agent — named Charles Dean and his Australian friend Neal Sharman are believed to have been executed in Laos by the Pathet Lao guerrillas. The 23-year-old Dean was in the midst of a protracted post-university globetrotting when he was apprehended with his friend traveling down the Mekong River in the war-torn country. They were held in captivity for three months — long enough for the family to learn they were detained, and Dean’s father to fly to Laos to negotiate in vain for his release....

<p>New research show that Beijing’s engineers appear to have directly caused the record low levels of water in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.</p> <p>BANGKOK — As China was stricken by the coronavirus in late February, its foreign minister addressed a concerned crowd in Laos, where farmers and fishers across the Mekong River region were contending with the worst drought in living memory.</p>

Chinese tourists account for more visitors to Thailand — and much of Southeast Asia — than from any other country. The Thai village of Sob Ruak, at the heart of the Golden Triangle region where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, is no exception. Tour buses routinely disgorge thousands of Chinese tourists to buy trinkets, snap selfies and tour the nearby Hall of Opium Museum. And it's not just tourists coming from China. About every month, a few Chinese gunboats cruise down the Mekong River through Myanmar and Laos from China's Guanlei port. They announce their arrival with a barrage of...

» 03/26/2010 16:49 LAOS - UNITED STATES Washington looks to Laos to contain China’s expansion The small Asian nation central to the interests of the two superpowers. The United States intends to strengthen development programs in environmental, humanitarian, commercial and military sectors. Chinese dams on the Mekong threaten the ecosystem of the entire South-East Asia. Vientiane (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The United States intends to strengthen cooperation with Laos to balance the expansion of China in South-East Asia. After decades of suspicions and misunderstandings a hangover from the war in Vietnam, Washington has started a bilateral program of economic development...

Last Update: 1:34 p.m. (GMT+7), Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Chinese dams blamed for Mekong River woes Tuoi Tre The mighty Mekong River has seen its water level shrink to a 20-year low, badly affecting farming in five nations in its lower region. Besides climate change and a decline in rainfall, the construction of giant dams on its mainstream by China is reported to be a major cause for this. Around 250 million people in Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam depend on the Mekong for water, with 60 million earning a living mainly by fishing. Many parts of the 4,900-kilometer...

MIDI - YELLOW RIVER Kerry's serving in Vietnam...U.S. pilots had been dropping bombs He took the time to write home to mom...Mekong River Christmas eve in Cambodia...he learned that's no Utopia Bullets flew in the whole area...Mekong River Mekong River, Mekong River...he went somewhere he shouldn't be Mekong River, Mekong River...he says that "Nixon ordered me" We're hearing comrades say that to command he is unfit Every one of those guys knows Kerry's full of it...on the Mekong River He got off to a healthy start...he faked his way to a Purple Heart And his report was a great...