Is it true? Yes, I think so. We at CERS have been doing wildlife surveys in Luang Namtha Nam Ha National Protected Area on the Lao side of the same border since 2014, also using camera traps. We have found many of the same species mentioned (and also Gaur and Clouded Leopard). So there is much left to be protected.
However, the densities are very low and the distribution is very patchy. The problem is pretty obvious – hunting. While subsistence hunting of squirrels, wild pig and munjac is legal in Lao PDR outside of Protected Area Core Zones, market sale of wildlife is totally illegal. But we see wildlife of all kinds for sale in the market every day, including totally protected species. And now we have a new probem. With the boom in Chinese investment in northern Lao and the new border traffic comes even more demand for wildlife as food and medicine.
Please, don't buy wildlife.

This is exactly how the Appalachian Trail started - local people and enthusiastic volunteers improving the trails and building simple lodges and lean-tos. It was built section by section by local people.

Apu, is there a hiking club in Shangri-la that could get involved with this effort? Like the Adventure Trekking Club in Yuxi that has been so involved with the Ailaoshan trail system.