VIENTIANE, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lao Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has announced that shops and mobile phone distributors nationwide will stop importing and distributing the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.
The ministry also instructed retailers to recall any Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones they had sold previously.
Vice President of Lao Airlines Sengpraseuth Mathouchanh told reporters on Tuesday that the airline has prohibited the use of the phone on all flights after its batteries were found to have problems.
Lao state-run online newspaper Vientiane Times Tuesday quoted an assistant at local Samsung distributor, Sakaorat Sukudom as saying on Tuesday that sales of the phone had not been discontinued at her shop in Lao capital Vientiane, despite reports in other countries of the phone's batteries catching fire.
According to reports, Samsung's Note 7s are being pulled from shelves in at least 10 countries, including South Korea and the United States, just two weeks after the product's launch. Customers who have already bought Note 7s will be able to swap them for new smartphones in about two weeks.
