FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — It should not come as too much of a surprise that Laos, as current hosts of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), has announced it will go ahead with the U.S. $3.8 billion construction of the  Xayaburi Dam, the first to be built across the main stream of the Mekong River.

Equally, the only country to stand behind Laos’s decision was Thailand. Its companies Ch. Karnchang and PTT Pcl will own a 50 percent and 25 percent stake respectively in the dam which many in the region would like to see halted.

Read more in The Diplomat.