Global Voices » Laos

Southeast Asia: Climate Change and Smallholder Farmers

Mong Palatino — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:56:16 +0000

The World Agroforestry Centre has released a study on the climate change adaptation options for small farmers in Southeast Asia.

Fourth Friendship Lao-Thai Bridge

Mong Palatino — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:17:58 +0000

This youtube video gives an overview of the fourth Friendship Bridge which was designed to link Laos and Thailand across the Mekong River

Cambodia: How to Cook in a Bamboo Tube

Mong Palatino — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 04:41:17 +0000

Dorothy blogs about a unique cooking practice using bamboo tubes in Bunong village of Mondulkiri province in Cambodia. This was also common in Laos

Flood Forecasting in Mekong River

Mong Palatino — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:21:15 +0000

The Mekong River Commission has a special page on its website that provides flood forecasting information that can help resident in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand

Laos According to WikiLeaks

Mong Palatino — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:14:05 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

WikiLeaks has released a set of Laos files that confirmed the country’s underdevelopment, endemic corruption in the bureaucracy, and the fragile state of its environment.

Andrew Walker thinks the cables “offer little insight into the upper-level workings of the Lao party-state” but there are other interesting revelations:

In recent months several cables have appeared in the Wikileaks files from the US Embassy in Vientiane. They offer little insight into the upper-level workings of the Lao party-state, as one might hope (but hardly expect). But there are other points of interest.

One cable, an assessment of Asian Development Bank’s Country Strategy and Program (2006), offers a stinging rebuke of bilateral and multilateral donors in Laos, particularly their failure to leverage reform in areas of governance. The criticisms (both of Lao governance and foreign aid) are familiar but the frankness is unusual

Luang Prabang, Laos. Photo by jmhullot used under CC License Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The frankness of the views expressed in the cables surprised Eisel Mazard:

You’ve got to hand it to the diplomatic corps for taking the rhetoric up a notch from the usual feature section of The Economist; I can’t shake the sense that these guys are frustrated authors, yearning for an audience that could appreciate this kind of vitriol.

I really wasn’t expecting the cables to be this catty; it’s almost as if the bureaucratic context encourages them to step it up, in order not to be ignored amidst the pile of such reports that comes and goes with each season.

Here is an excerpt of a cable discussing the unequal economic conditions in the country:

Although GoL(GOvernment of Laos) ministers and officials with salaries of less that 75 dollars per month sport villas and cars worthy of Monte Carlo, GDP per capita is still officially less than $400…Unemployment is epidemic, underemployment is endemic, crime is rising, and the investment climate is among the least hospitable in the world.

It's no accident that these economic ills are not addressed. There is almost no rule of law or basic human freedom in Laos, and education is in the hands of a corrupt and ideologically hidebound ministry that uses ADB money to build a grandiose but unnecessary new ministry building while rural children sit on logs and try to remember what a teacher looked like.

But Bill, a resident of Vientiane, criticizes the “relative myopia of the cables”:

As a longtime Vientiane resident, I’m mostly struck by the relative myopia of the cables. They cover a period of intense change in the country, and they are mostly saying nothing is changing, besides some material about their own relationships with the Lao government improving. Broadly they are far more about what Washington cares about (Hmong; money laundering; who the Lao government votes for at various UN meetings; limited progress on western style democratization) than what people in this country care about.

Journalist Lao Bumpkin identifies the relevant Laos-related topics in the WikiLeaks website:

Wikileaks has released it's cache of Laos files. I haven't read any of it yet, when I do I'll add to the end of the post. So far no news of cabinet ministers having falang mia nois or other important happenings.

Let’s sample some interesting opinions and observations about Laos. This is how elections are conducted in Laos:

By-and-large, Lao citizens took the election seriously, as a matter of national pride. The public announcements broadcast from polling stations played on the patriotism theme; we overheard one announcement telling voters they were demonstrating to a skeptical world that the Lao people cherished their voting rights and were faithful to their government and the Party. Voters were expected to show their regard for the electoral process. Women who showed up to polling stations wearing slacks or “improper” dress were sent home. In spite of the guarantee of a “secret” ballot, election officials were on hand to inspect each ballot to make sure the voters took their responsibility seriously and voted correctly.

Development projects are hurting the poor:

Intent on giving an open door to some foreign investors, the government has few compunctions about trampling on its own citizens, ignoring their traditional lands and livelihoods and utter dependence on their environment for their survival. In the near-absence of meaningful rule of law, those affected are at the mercy of sometimes venal, usually uncaring, bureaucrats administering the land use system. As Laos' reputation grows as an “easy” place for investors in sectors like hydropower, plantation forests and mining, more and more of Laos' poorest citizens are likely to find themselves dispossessed of their traditional lands.

In Laos, “government officials are presumed to be corrupt unless proven otherwise”:

In general, there is no sense among Party officials that there is anything significantly wrong with corruption, though a few stalwarts still hold to the socialist ideals of their youth.

A direct consequence of decades of abuse of power is that there is no public trust; government officials are presumed to be corrupt unless proven otherwise.

Opium cultivation is on the decline but communities which once depended on poppy cultivations are starving:

From the late 1980's until 2005, Laos was the third largest producer of opium poppy in the world. Significant poppy cultivation took place in about ten of 17 provinces, and authorities took no significant action against it, though they did tax opium until the mid 1990's.

The GOL estimates that half or more of all former poppy growers have yet to receive any significant assistance from any source to establish alternative livelihoods. The World Food Program reports that, in a number of communities formerly dependent on poppy, serious and widespread food security issues have emerged this year…There are grounds for serious concern that farmers might be compelled to revert to poppy cultivation or starve.

This post is part of our special coverage WikiLeaks and the World.

Wikileaks Cables on Laos

Mong Palatino — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:36:32 +0000

Wikileaks has released a set of cables that involve Laos. Blogger Lao Bumpkin identifies the relevant topics in the uploaded files.

Filmcamp Laos 2011

Mong Palatino — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 06:45:29 +0000

The Filmcamp Laos 2011 will take place on October 1 at Vientiane College. According to the organizer, it will be the first grassroot un-conference for people in the filmbusiness in Laos and neighbouring countries

Laos: Vientiane Career Fair

Mong Palatino — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:47:52 +0000

Photos of the Vientiane Career Fair in Laos which took place this month have been uploaded on Facebook.

Laos: Trade website

Mong Palatino — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:19:16 +0000

The Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce of Laos has introduced a new trade website which will provide information to business owners aiming to promote Lao products in the global market

Rugby in Laos

Mong Palatino — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 23:50:59 +0000

Maggie Dillon provides a short history of Rugby in Laos. The Lao Rugby Federation reaches out to the public through its website and Facebook page.

Laos: Mekong Tourism Forum

Mong Palatino — Sat, 07 May 2011 02:41:03 +0000

A new media boot camp will be held later this month a day before the Mekong Tourism Forum in Pakse, Champasak, Laos. The event will gather travel bloggers who are expected to learn more about the tourism potential of the Mekong region.

Laos: Protest against Xayaburi dam

Mong Palatino — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:36:27 +0000

Activists held a picket in front of the Laos Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to protest against the planned Xayaburi dam in Mekong River in Laos. The big dam, according to protesters, would affect fish supply and inundate villages in the region.

Laos: Controversial Xayaburi Dam

Mong Palatino — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 11:04:24 +0000

Amraapali writes about the planned Xayaburi Dam along the Lower Mekong in Laos. The controversial dam project is opposed by some groups which warned of “reduced fisheries, inundation of riverbank gardens, and loss of nutrients for floodplain agriculture” if the dam becomes operational.

Laos: Vientiane Vision 2030

Mong Palatino — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:09:59 +0000

Sao Darly links to a youtube video about the urban development masterplan for Vientiane, capital of Laos.

Laos: School building project in Champasaak Province

Mong Palatino — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:41:23 +0000

Sao Darly gives an update on the Lao School building project in Champasaak Province.