NONG KHAI, Thailand -- At gas stations in Nong Khai, a quiet Thai town on the western banks of the Mekong River, streams of vehicles pulling up reveal the troubles across the waterway in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Laos owes more than half its foreign debt to China, including "hidden obligations," and experts say the Southeast Asian country could end up bartering away land and resources for relief. © Illustration by Hiroko Aida
Echoes of Sri Lanka on the Mekong as muzzled public seethes over economic woes