A Chinese company has vowed to speed up its satellite development project in Laos, after getting the green light from the government earlier this year. Linhai Group Chairman Dr Wu Weilin and his delegation paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong in Vientiane on Wednesday as part of the group’s effort to push forward the satellite development project in Laos. Chengdu Linhai Electronics Co., Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lao government earlier this year to cooperate on the construction of a satellite communications park in Laos, with a satellite set to operate for commercial purposes in the aerospace 126 E orbital slot.
Chengdu Linhai Electronics Company will hold a 70 percent share of the US$960 million project while the Lao government will hold the remaining 30 percent share, according to the MOU. The Chinese firm announced this week that it is now preparing to establish a local enterprise to manage and operate the investment project. Once the legal documents have been finalised, the company will begin construction of the industrial park and fledgling satellite industry in Laos. The company is one of the largest commercial enterprises in China. It provides communications services, short-wave communications, satellite communications, network communications, software radios, GPS navigation equipment, highspeed digital signal processing software, and other advanced communications systems. The company also offers enterprise solutions, which include designing, implementing, and managing integrated communications networks for businesses and government bodies, designing and delivering fully-integrated broadband communication solutions.
Under the MOU, the Chinese company and the Lao government will cooperate to build a factory that will manufacture satellite equipment and various items for electronic communications. They will also set up an Institute for Science Educational Research and Technology Aerospace to train the highly skilled personnel required for the project. The Ministry of Post and Telecommunications aannounced earlier this year that in cooperation with China, Laos plans to launch a satellite by 2015, to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The idea to develop a Lao satellite project is not new. The country established a joint-venture with Thai investors to launch a satellite several years ago, but the Thai investor’s financial troubles led to its collapse. The government also inked a cooperation agreement with US investors but that failed too, for the same reason.
Once Laos has its own satellite, it will be easier to further develop its telecommunications industry, since it will not be dependent on subscribing to satellite services from foreign countries like Thailand and China.
People are more confident about building their savings in Lao kip now that the value of the national currency has been stable for the past few years. According to an annual report from the Bank of the Lao PDR, the value of kip deposits at commercial banks in Laos reached 9,869 billion kip in December 2011, accounting for about 45 percent of total deposits. The rest of the money deposited was in foreign currencies.
The bank’s 2011 report revealed that its total deposits amounted to 22,125 billion kip as of the end of December, up by about 18 percent on the previous year. The value of deposits accounted for 34 percent of total GDP in the same period. Kip deposits at commercial banks soared to about 48 percent in 2010, up from 34 percent in 2009, before dropping to 42 percent in May last year.
The increasing amount of kip being deposited at commercial banks is a strong reflection of public confidence in the stability of the kip. Its value has strengthened from 10,000 kip to the US dollar in 2005 to about 8,000 kip per US dollar at present. Deputy Director General of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Department, Mr Phetsathaphone Keovong-vichith, yesterday welcomed the growing public confidence in the kip. He said the increasing circulation of kip in Laos helped the central bank to manage its monetary policy more effectively.
“Partial dollarisation makes if difficult for the bank to manage monetary policy,” he told Vientiane Times yesterday. He said the stability of the kip was maintained because it was kept within a 5 percent range of change in value against foreign currencies. Last year the kip rose 2.9 percent in value against the US dollar while dropping 1.3 percent against the Thai baht.
Mr Phetsathaphone said the central bank eased restrictions on currency exchange in the middle of last year. It now allows kip to be exchanged in unlimited amounts, to further stimulate public confidence in the currency. “We began running the test project in the middle of last year; we have not set a timeframe for its completion,” he said. The Bank of the Lao PDR closely monitors currency exchange and has observed that there has been no rush to exchange kip.
Previously, one person could only change amounts less than 20 million kip, which was a problem for people who needed baht to go shopping in Thailand. Many commercial banks allow their ATM cardholders to withdraw their money in baht when in Thailand.
Mr Phetsathaphone said people were also depositing kip because commercial banks were offering better deposit interest rates compared to the baht and US dollar. The Bank of the Lao PDR is continuing to run campaigns to promote the use of the kip, to encourage more people to use the national currency, he added.
A new sporting arena appropriately titled “New Arena” was officially opened in Watnak Village, Sisattanak District last Friday. The arena, constructed by the Mekong Development Sole Co., Ltd., had been under construction since February this year. The opening ceremony for the arena was attended by the Vice Mayor of Vientiane, Mr Saithong Keoduangdy, alongside other important guests. This arena is one of the first private sports complexes in Laos to feature modern equipment and covered fields which will allow players to utilise the facility no matter the weather conditions.
The New Arena Sport Complex features two ‘futsal‘ fields (smaller than regular sized football fields for indoor play) surfaced with Astroturf. There are also two swimming pools at the complex, one for adults and one for children as well as a restaurant with free WiFi internet.
The company’s Managing Director, Mr Nathapol Punchasila, said his company spent 10 billion kip on the current project and in the future the company will open an academy to train junior level footballers in order to give further support to young footballers in Laos. The company also plans to build more sports venues in other districts of Vientiane, including a fitness centre, hoping that the new facilities will help develop sports in Laos.
(Understanding Between Neighbours): What Thais Need to Know and Learn about Laotians
Of the nine other members of Asean, Thailand is most culturally, linguistically and economically linked to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The economic interdependence of the two nations is particularly important and Laos is clearly part of the ”Baht Zone”. The baht can be used easily anywhere in Laos.
Thailand critically needs energy imports from Laos and the Lao in turn need many consumer goods from Thailand. Also approximately one third of the Thai population has Lao cultural and linguistic roots.
Often Thais like to define their relationship with the Lao as “brothers and sisters”. but the Lao scholar and historian, Ajarn Mayoury Ngaosyvathn, instead calls simply for the nations to be close and friendly neighbours.
As we all know Thailand is amazing in many ways, but Laos is also amazing. What is most remarkable is that Laos has survived as a political and cultural identity despite being landlocked and surrounded by five powerful and much larger neighbours, namely, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.
Unfortunately there are many Thai misunderstandings about Laos and the Lao. First, many think that the Isaan (Northeast) language and Lao language arethe same. They are indeed similar but not the same. Once they were the same, but diverged over time because of 1) French colonialism, 2) communism, and 3) the Thaiification of the Isaan language.
Nearly all geographic and mathematics terminology in the Lao language, for example, is Frenchderived. If a person asks for “galaem” in Isaan, they will normally get a blank stare. “Galaem” is the Lao word for ice cream.
A second misunderstanding relates to the phrase “mai mi arai” (there is nothing there) referring to Laos. Many Thai travel to Vientiane, Laos for just one day, not even staying the night. They shop at the ”morning” market, have lunch at a nice restaurant on the Mekong, and visit a couple of prominent temples. They have “done Laos”.
I once took a group of Thai students on a study tour of Laos for two months. At the beginning they could not fathom why we were spending two months in a place where “mai mi arai”. At the end of the two months, they indicated a desire to stay longer. Obviously over time they came to realise how much there was to learn about Laos.
The Thai history, geography, and social science curricula on Laos need to be reviewed and revised. Students, for example, should be exposed to both Thai and Lao perspectives on the historical relations between the two nations. They should examine King Chao Anu both as a villain (Thai perspective) and hero (Lao perspective).
They need to analyse critically why Laos became communist and why the new government significantly reformed the Lao language.
They need to be exposed to how the Thai and Lao languages are the same and differ. The word “Thai/tai” is particularly interesting. In Thai, it means free, while in Lao it means people. Tai Luang Pabang, means Luang Pabang people, not Thai people living there.
As part of both cultural and moral education (and given the growing influence and power of social media), students need to know that ethnic jokes aboutthe Lao and Isaan people are inappropriate. Some of the gross ethnic jokes I have heard about the Lao are unprintable here. Also celebrities in their interviews need to be culturally sensitive in their remarks about the Lao. Some unfortunate incidents have occurred in the past.
Thais need to study and be more aware of more important Lao scholars and writers such as the prominent historian Maha Sila Viravong (originally from Roi Et) and his three children, who are all noted writers, and Ajarns Pheuiphanh and Mayoury Ngaosyvathn, prolific Lao scholars and historians.
One enjoyable technique for teaching about the subtle differences between the two cultures is to present ambiguous images of both cultures and have students themselves ascertain which image is Thai and which is Lao. Watching critically movies such as “Sabai Di Luang Prabang” can also be a fun and effective way for Thais to learn about their important neighbour.
Even though most Lao can understand Thai, they deeply appreciate it when Thais make the effort to speak their language, which is relatively easy, giventhe similarities between the two languages. Dr Sumontha Promboon, former president of Srinakharinwirot University, made a great effort to speak and write Lao well, when serving as an ADB consultant in Laos. Her effort was extremely well received. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun, Prof Charnwit Kasetsiri, Dr Prawese Wasi, and Sulak Sivaraksa have all shown impressive and exemplary cultural sensitivity in writing about and interacting with the Lao people.
What is most important for the future of ThaiLao relations in the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) era is for Thais to enhance their cultural empathy of the Lao and their rich cultures and history.
Article originally published in The Nation, June 25, 2012
by Gerald W Fry, Distinguished International Professor Department of Organisational Leadership, Policy, and Development, University of Minnesota gwf@umn.edu
Jimmy Hawk, or James Ratsasane as he is known to friends and family, is a young Lao-Australian musician and visual artist hailing from Melbourne, Australia. As comfortable with the guitar as he is with the paintbrush, Jimmy is quite the all-rounder. His works have been shown at exhibitions and have been sold to private collectors. But it is his band, Jimmy Hawk and the Endless Party that has captured the attention of this writer, as well as a growing fan-base.
Jimmy Hawk and the Endless Party has been described as a blend of folk and indie rock, yet so many other sounds are percolating away in each track that it becomes difficult to use any one word to describe the music; there are undertones of everything from blues to soulful surf rock. Jimmy is known for his deeply mysterious lyrics about ill-fated romances and other ruminations and his voice is the perfect accompaniment to the summery riffs and on-the-road-again rhythms belted out by the band.
I went to see Jimmy Hawk and the Endless Party at the launch for the band’s new album, “Liberty Sunset Blue”, at the Toff in Town, in Melbourne’s City Center. The room filled with fans as soon as the band made their first appearance, many well versed and already clamouring for their favourite songs. Commanding the crowd with his personal charisma, Jimmy politely indulged them, playing a few older songs before returning to the launch of his band’s new material. Before long almost every head in the room was nodding away, including my own, and a good many people took to dancing at the front of the stage, caught up in the mood.
I was lucky enough to catch Jimmy after the show.
WLL: When and how did the band get together?
Jimmy: The band formed around early 2010. I had been performing solo around Melbourne and in the States for a few years, as it happened when I made my first album I needed a band to back me up at the launch, the guys who played on the recording were moving overseas, so I brought in Tommy (drums) and Nick (guitarist) who were guys I had known around the Melbourne scene. They knew a great bass player, Jackie, and The Endless Party was born.
WLL: It’s difficult to describe your sound. How do you describe it? Does everyone in the band agree?
Jimmy: I think we would all agree that [our sound] is definitely difficult to define as we have many different influences and they all seem to surface at one point or another. But in general I guess you would define it as classic rock pop music.
WLL: Do you write all the lyrics yourself? The lyrics seem very deep. What inspires your writing?
Jimmy: Yes, I write all the lyrics, they are always inspired by my experiences and concepts I am interested in at the time. I try to not be too literal so they can have a universal appeal.
WLL: I noticed the band uses a variety of interesting instruments, like the violin and the lap steel guitar. How does this affect the overall sound?
Jimmy: It gives our music a more textured and heartfelt sound.
WLL: You’re also a visual artist. How do you find the time for your art AND your music?
Jimmy: In a nutshell, I don’t sleep very much!
WLL: You are Lao-Australian. Were you born in Laos?
Jimmy: No I was born in Australia, but like all children to Laotian parents, I grew up in a very traditional Laotian household.
WLL: Do you think of yourself as Lao? What was it like growing up Lao-Australian?
Jimmy: Good question, the truth is I’ve never really had a defined sense of nationality. I guess there’s a part of my inner child that is Lao, there’s a part of my adolescence that is Australian, my adulthood: who knows where I’ll end up!
WLL: Does your Lao background influence any of your creative outlets?
Jimmy: No not really, I think creative impulse is universal! It wouldn’t matter where I was from – it’s just in me.
WLL: Do you like to eat Lao food? What’s your favourite?
Jimmy: Yes! beef salad is one of my faves.
WLL: Do you have any plans to visit Laos? Maybe play a gig there?
Jimmy: I would love to visit again soon…I’d love to play a gig in Laos, yes.
WLL: What are your plans for the future?
Jimmy: To keep rocking and rolling, making art and travelling!
WLL: Do you have any special message for readers of Work Live Laos?
Senior Lao officials, joined by a high-level Vietnamese delegation attended the opening of the Sakai Mining Joint Venture Company in Sangthong district, Vientiane on Thursday. From now until the end of the year, the factory will mine 250 tonnes raw material per day from which they will extract gold and silver, aiming to double production by the end of 2013.
The Company’s General Director, Mrs Truong Thi Thu Hong, said that the factory cost US$30.9 million to build. Although the official opening was on Thursday, it’s been under experimental operation since November last year. “Now, we are selling our gold and silver to the Lao markets, because we don’t have enough to sell overseas yet,” Mrs Truong said. “But we will be producing enough to sell to many countries in the near future.”
Although the factory is not a large operation, it’s important to Laos and Vietnam because it was opened as the two countries celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations and 35th Anniversary of the Lao-Vietnam Friendship and Cooperation Treaty. He also suggested that because the factory is mining for gold and silver, it should help provide funds to develop remote rural areas.
Boat cruises from Tha Ngon village used to charm local and foreign visitors, who enjoyed the fresh food and relaxing scenery but loud karaoke music is now changing the once peaceful atmosphere. This area is very popular, with hundreds of people visiting each weekend to relax; eating, drinking, enjoying a scenic view or going on a river cruise. Often both sides of the Nam Ngum River are crowded with visitors looking to enjoy themselves during their time off work.
Five years ago this area was very quiet and peaceful but this has recently begun to change. While many still enjoy a peaceful cruise long the river, some boat companies are offering karaoke and loud music for their customers. Although the increased number of customers is good for tourism, some people are finding the music to be a distraction. In the past, boat cruises from Tha Ngon offered restaurant style services that allowed customers to enjoy both their food and the beautiful scenery of the river. Oftentimes the boat would turn off its engines to allow passengers to experience the sights and sounds of nature.
This year the Vientiane Times had the opportunity to revisit this area and a lot has changed in the last five years. The overall increase in business is excellent for the local economy and the tourism industry, but the inclusion of speakers, televisions, and karaoke equipment on boats has completely changed the river cruise experience. Even on boats without this equipment, some passengers are dismayed at the sounds coming from other boats. One customer taking a cruise in Tha Ngon told the Vientiane Times that he was disappointed by the new karaoke boats. He told his foreign friends to expect a relaxing cruise but was embarrassed when he discovered how much things had changed. He suggested that perhaps old-style cruises could travel upstream while the karaoke cruises traveled downstream. Both styles of cruises remain popular with tourists and locals, he said, and a way to coexist should be worked out.
Vientiane Times 24 July, 2012 Article by Souknilundon, Southivongnorath
SabaiDisc, Lao PDR’s first and only ultimate frisbee team made its debut appearance at the first annual Mekong Cup in Bangkok this weekend. Fielding a team of seasoned Vientiane expats and highly skilled Lao players, the team won two of their three qualifying matches, finally losing in a hard fought quarterfinal matchup against a hometown Bangkok team.
An initial underdog at this tournament of some of Southeast Asia’s finest frisbee squads, spectators and opponents alike were taken aback by the tenacity and sheer amazingness of SabaiDisc’s play. Hard, persistent defense and slow methodical offense defined this team’s game. After two wins in their qualifying round of matches, the team had secured a three-way tie for second place going into tournament play-offs.
“I am so excited and proud to be part of Laos’s first ever ultimate Frisbee team in a regional tournament,” said Mouksy Vongsouvath, one of SabaiDisc’s local Lao players. “Once I was there I couldn’t believe how many players from so many countries play this kind of sport.” Bangkok’s SoiDawgz, a veteran ultimate club, fended off teams from Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Chiang Mai to take the title.
Ultimate frisbee, a new and upcoming internationally recognized sport, is played by millions around the world. Two teams of seven pass a plastic disc along the length of the field, scoring in the opponent’s endzone. Athleticism, endurance, and a heavy dose of strategy are required on the frisbee field, and SabaiDisc showed they had plenty of each with their breakout performance in the region.
Founded many moons ago by barefooted Australians without a rule book or boundary markers, SabaiDisc has just recently come into it’s own as one of the up-and-coming competitive ultimate frisbee teams in the region. The team practices Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons at the American Ambassador’s field. “The game is a non-contact sport, suitable for everyone, male or female can play together, and everyone has a spirit of playing and being a competitive player,” says Ms. Vongsouvath. Players of all skill levels are invited to come out to learn a thing or two and have a good time.
Lao people have taken to Facebook to voice their displeasure after the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism banned two popular country, songs “Khee Mo” (boastful song) and “Pa khor yai” (Big snakhead fish). “Khee mo” is the debut single from a new album by two popular Lao country singers, Pink Ladsamy and Ki Daophet, while “Pa khor yai” is sung by Xiengsavanh. When the songs were released a year ago, they were popular among Lao people and were played on high-rotation at parties and social events. Fans are now confused why the authorities didn’t ban the songs before they were released and became famous.
According to a statement issued by the concerned department of the ministry, the two songs were recorded without ministry approval. “Khee mo” includes content that could affect relations between Laos and Korea. For example, the woman singer says she will go to Korea to ask for a debt to build a hydropower on Leephee water fall. In “Pakhor Yai”, Xiengsavanh edited another composer’s song without asking for his permission. In the original song, the lyrics are “please/ endure to eat taro/ before the new rice season comes/ if rice come/ then you throw baskets of taro away.” This was changed to “please/ endure to feed this sick buffalo/ if the disease comes then feed the buffalo to it.” The authorities said this edition showed disrespect to the original composer as well as damaged one of the country’s poems. The two songs will be temporarily banned from playing at pubs and entertainment venues, and screened on electronic media until the singers improve the content of the songs, before sending them to the concerned department for oversight.
One listener who has a CD of “Khee mo” said the content was not a real story, but was composed for entertainment and not politically motivated. He said authorities should explain their reasoning, rather than just ordering a ban. However, he will continue listening to it at home anyway. According to CD producers, unofficial statistics shows “Khee mo” was a best seller in Laos, with more than 200,000 copies sold. Many comments on Facebook said it was too late for the authorities to ban the two songs, as they’re so well known that most people in the cities have memorised them. A few commentators agreed with the measure, saying that the ban will help composers or singers realise they need approval before they release songs. Other comments said the two songs encourage party-goers to have fun and dance-and audience members commonly request bands to play the songs live.
The song can still be found online through YouTube searches.
The 2012 London Olympic games have officially begun. The opening ceremony was viewed live on television by an estimated 4 billion people around the world including many in Laos, where despite a total of only 3 athletes participating in the games, the Olympic spirit lives on.
vadsana sinthavong carries olympic torch
Regardless of wins or losses, Laos can be proud to have already contributed to the 2012 games in early July, when Ms. Vadsana Sinthavong, an employee of the United Nations World Food Programme in Laos, was invited to become an Olympic torchbearer. Ms. Sinthavong was flown to the UK in order to bear the Olympic Torch for 300 meters through Birmingham early on a Sunday morning with the support of cheering onlookers. Ms. Sinthavong hopes that her brief stint with the Olympic Torch will help to highlight the problem of global child hunger and the work that the WFP does to alleviate this.
Meet the 3 Lao Atheletes in the Olympic Games:
Lao athlete Kilakone Siphonexay narrowly missed the 100-meter qualifying time of 10.24 seconds but was entered into the games by special dispensation. His personal best time is 10.73 seconds, earning him the title of ’fastest man in Laos’. The 23 year old athlete is 1.68m tall and weighs 63 kg. Kilakone Siphonexay will compete in the Men’s 100m on Saturday, August 4.
Laenly Phoutthavong, the fastest woman in Laos, will compete in the Women’s 100m on Friday, August 3. She is only 16 years old, is 1.68m tall and weighs in at 56 kg.
Swimmer Phathana Inthavong will compete in the Men’s 50m Freestyle event on Thursday, August 2. He is the youngest male swimmer to compete in the 2012 games at just 15 years old. Phathana competed in the 14th FINA world championships where he achieved his personal best time of 28.94, in 2011.
Lao Su Su!
The National Olympic Committee of Lao was formed in 1975 and recognized in 1979. Laos first competed in the Summer Games of 1980 in Moscow and has competed in a total of seven Summer Games. Laos has competed in a total of 22 distinct events in 5 sports but has yet to win a medal. Not surprisingly, Laos has never competed in the Winter Games.
Laos was hoping for a dispensation to compete in Tae Kwon Do this year but unfortunately did not receive it. Luckily the country was able to send 3 athletes; two runners and one swimmer.
Vientiane has been able to graduate all 483 villages and nine districts from poverty, making the capital the first among the provinces that is able to remove poverty, based on the government criteria. The initial 2012 Annual Statistics on Poverty and Development report stated that the capital has achieved complete poverty removal from its villages and districts. Last year the official report already showed that there were no poor villages or districts in the capital. To graduate from poverty status, a village is required to reduce the number of poor families to less than 51 percent of the total families in the village, while a district is also required to reduce the number of poor villages to less than 51 percent, a senior official of the National Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (NCRDPE) explained.
However, 100 families out of a total of more than 136,000 families in Vientiane are still living below the poverty line, according to the initial report received by the NCRDPE on July 9 which was submitted by Vientiane and provincial authorities. Deputy Director General of the NCRDPE’s ministration Department Dr Soubanh Sengsoulivong stated that the initial report will be analysed further by relevant ministries and organisations before submitting a final version to the government for approval.
Northwestern Xayaboury province ranks second in the number of poor families with 2,555 after first place was taken by Vientiane with only 100 poor families. Southern Champassak province is third with more than 3,000 poor families. Northern Oudomxay province was listed as having the highest number of poor families with more than 22,000, followed by northern Huaphanh province with more than 20,000. Southern Savannakhet has more than 15,000, placing it third from the bottom. Xayaboury also ranks second after Vientiane in the number of poor villages as it has been able to reduce them to only 18 out of a total of 445 villages, followed by southern Champassak province with 41 out of 644 in total.
Northern Huaphan province had the highest number of poor villages with more than 500 villages out of 720 still categorised as poor, followed by northern Phongsaly province, which has 353 poor villages out of 540 in total. Oudomxay province has 296 poor villages out of 474. So far, only Vientiane and the province of Champassak have been able to remove poverty from all districts. Of the four provinces of Xayaboury, Xieng Khuang, Borikhamxay and Khammuan, each has only one poor district left. Huaphan has eight poor districts, making the northern province the one with the highest number in this regard, followed by Oudomxay that has seven and then Phongsaly, which has five poor districts.
Vientiane Times, 30 July 2012 Photo Credit: Steve Rutledge
ACER Computer Company Ltd has expended its market to Laos by opening a customer service centre in Vientiane Capital last Saturday through its authorized distributor, SOA Company Ltd.
ACER and SOA Company Ltd have had an established business relationship for many years resulting in a joint business decision to expand ACER’s business within the Lao market this year. ACER‘s Managing Director in Thailand, Mr. Harry Yang said that the expansion of business to Laos is in response to the customers’ demands in the technology sector, seeing the potential for a growing market in Laos. Director-General of SOA Company Ltd, Mr. Nipha Sahaphanh said that based on cooperation between the two companies, he believed that ACER would soon be the national market leader.
The ACER Shop and Customer Service Centre will distribute all kinds of ACER products in Laos such as Aspire Notebooks, desktop computers, LCD Monitors and projectors with two year warranties, longer than other those offered by distributors in neighbouring countries.
The ACER Laos centre is located on Thadeua Road, Beungkhayong village, Sisattanak district, where all ACER products and advertisements will be on display for customers and visitors.
Throughout much of Laos, especially the heavily populated regions, the most common energy source is charcoal. The charcoal is commonly produced in a traditional way by small manufacturers all around the country. This production process uses resources inefficiently and leaves the laborers and local communities with many health problems, due to the large amount of polluting gas released. One of the more hazardous gasses is carbon monoxide, which has left the families living near these kilns with serious respiratory problems. Often the laborers and their families live less than 15 meters away from the kiln. These kilns also release other greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide and consume more firewood than their communities can easily sustain.
LIRE, the Lao Institute for Renewable Energy (www.lao-ire.org), is working toward implementing a new charcoal kiln design in Laos, which will reduce the resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of charcoal production. LIRE and its team of skilled volunteers is beginning construction on the pilot project in order to measure the real benefits of this new charcoal production process and also use the data toward gaining carbon credit subsidization so that this model can be spread all over Laos. Until now LIRE has relied on private funding and volunteer work to design the new kiln, but they are now seeking donations in order to move forward with production. To learn more about the new eco-friendly kiln and its benefits on the environment and local communities and to give your support, visit http://www.ulule.com/green-laos/
Let’s face it, the weather is always hot in Laos. That means you pretty much always feel like going for a swim, don’t you? But sometimes a public pool just doesn’t cut it. Public pools are not always well maintained and can carry a wealth of bacteria and infectious diseases. Pool operators need to constantly monitor chlorine and pH levels, else harmful germs such as Giardia, E. coli and cryptosporidium parasites can take hold. But if you don’t have a pool of your own, where’s the next best place to take a dip? Probably a hotel swimming pool. Rather than simply dumping a host of chemicals in and hoping for the best, hotels usually hire a full-time pool guy to manage chemical levels and vacuum out the pool. Hotel swimming pools also attract less swimmers per day than public pools.
So which hotel swimming pools in Vientiane are open to non-guests and how much do they charge? See the below table for information:
All three Olympians of Laos have proudly completed their events in the London 2012 Olympics with some good results. All three athletes managed to beat some of their competitors, with swimmer Phathana Inthavong even coming second in his heat. See videos of the events below:
Huntsman spiders, like most spiders, are typically equipped with eight eyes. But researchers have discovered a new cave-dwelling species that ditched its peepers for a life in permanent darkness.
Peter Jäger, head of arachnology at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, reported that he found the spider in a cave in Laos, in Southeast Asia, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) away from the gigantic Xe Bang Fai river cave. Named Sinopoda scurion, it is the first eyeless species of the 1,100 known species of huntsman spider.
“We already knew of spiders of this genus from other caves, but they always had eyes and complete pigmentation,” Jäger said in a statement from Senckenberg. “Sinopoda scurion is the first huntsman spider without eyes.”
Sinopoda’s Eyeless Face
He explained that this regression can be attributed to the spider’s life without daylight. Some of the spider’s cave-dwelling cousins across Asia show similar transitions to cave adaptation, “from eight functioning eyes to forms with six, four and two lenses, right up to blind spiders,” Jäger said.
The spider may have good company, as various other creatures adapted to cave life have been discovered in the region. These include: the scorpions Troglokhammouanus steineri) and Vietbocap lao from the Xe Bang Fai cave and Nam Lot cave, respectively; a blind cavefish (Bangana musaei) from the Xe Bang Fai cave system, and a freshwater crab found in the same location as the eyeless huntsman.
The eyeless huntsman, along with eight other newly identified Sinopoda spiders found in caves, are detailed in the journal Zootaxa.
Peter Jaeger (tallest in the photo) is at the entrance of Xe Bang Fai cave, last May 2012, for a wildlife documentary. Photo Credit: Thomas Calame
Work has begun on a project to bring the Google Translate function to the Lao language. ມີກຸ່ມຄົນສະເພາະຈຳ ນວນໜຶ່ງ ໄດ້ລິເລີ້ມເຮັດໂຄງການຄວາມພະຍາຍາມໃນການບັນຈຸພາສາລາວເຂົ້າໃນ ໂປຼແກຼມເຄື່ອງມືແປພາສາຂອງກູເກີລ (Google Translate) ເພື່ອຜົນປະໂຫຍດດ້ານການແປພາສາສຳຫຼັບຄົນລາວ ໃນທຸກແຫ່ງຫົ.
(To read in English language, click here. ກະລຸນາກົດທີ່ນີ້ເພື່ອອ່ານເປັນ English.)
Australia’s capital city, Canberra, features the smallest Lao population of entire the country at just 1,600 people. Nevertheless, a group of dedicated individuals have begun working on a very big project – bringing the Google Translate function to Lao language for the benefit of Lao people everywhere. Once complete, it will be possible to translate all documents back and forth between Lao language and any other language in the world.
Work Live Laos spoke with Mr. Luan Vannithone, who heads the project:
WLL. What gave you the idea and the motivation to attempt this enormous project?
Luan: You are definitely correct when you qualify your question with ‘enormous project’. I find the size of the work is getting bigger and bigger as we go along. It’s like an epic journey, and a very challenging one.
It started in 2009 when a good friend of mine, Houmphanh Thongvilu, enlisted me to work on his ‘web translation’ project using his personally built web translation engine. The problem was that back then there was no online or soft copy of English-Lao dictionary or glossary available. Word and/or expression pairs needed to be collected, harvested and compiled. Plus the fact that his web engine was hosted on his PC at home was also very inconvenient. It was frequently down (or offline), and not practical for sustained development work.
At about the same time Google started to make their Google Translator Toolkit (GTT) available to supplement their ‘Google Translate’ facility. I decided to investigate using it for supporting Lao language development.
My motivation? So that Lao language could be promoted in Google Translate as ‘available’. This would facilitate translation from English to Lao and vice versa, thus helping with communication and information exchange. Currently only major languages are available, but not minor ones like Lao, or Khmer for example. For Lao language it’s up to Lao speaking people to make it happen.
In other words this will help Lao language have its presence in the Internet and be preserved in this world. This should also facilitate further development and evolution of the langauge into a more consite and precise language. Subsequently the Lao community would be more effective and efficient.
WLL: Do you have a scholarly background yourself?
Luan: I would say I have an average background. I studied the final year of high school at Lycee De Vientiane, then obtained a scholarship in 1975 to study in Australia. I completed a Bachelor Degree in Economics at ANU (Australian National University). However my profession is actually in computers and Information Technology services (IT).
WLL: Was it difficult to make initial contact with Google?
Luan: It was and still is! I posted a few questions and requests to Google in Google Translator Toolkit (GTT)’s Forum, where Google people communicate with potential user communities, but they seem to be very tardy with their responses. I wonder maybe if this is because the Lao population is too small to warrant their attention, or maybe the advertising dollars generated won’t commensurate their involvement effort. I try to develop the work mostly on my own (with the group) and have taught myself to use the product by using the Online Help information provided. Hopefully when the output from our effort matures enough Google will help promote the Lao language and make it available automatically. So this has proved to be a long, drawn out affair, and is still continuing.
WLL: Google translate works for many languages already, including Thai. Was this their own initiative or were people like yourself working hard behind the scenes for each language?
Luan: Very good question. It’s the very exact question I want to ask Google myself, if only they would respond. I am hoping at some point they will reply to the questions I posted thus far. I want to contact those who work directly with Thai language.
WLL: Is this a volunteer venture or do you receive some kind of funding?
Luan: It’s purely a volunteer venture at this point.
WLL: What exactly do you do when undertaking this project? Do you just write down every word you can think of in both languages or what is the process?
WLL: How is Google Translate different to using a dictionary? How does it work?
Luan: Google Translate can do it much faster, although it makes no sense at the time. One has to use it as guide, and not as authoritative translation aid. It’s probably best I refer you to GTT’s Online Help itself for answer to ‘how does it work?’ … http://support.google.com/translate/toolkit/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=147809
WLL: If Google Translate relies on a scan of hundreds of thousands of documents, where do you get enough documents in Lao script?
Luan: This is the start of an epic journey, I suspect.
WLL: Are you working with the old or new (post 1975) grammar and vocabulary?
Luan: Even though my preference is the ‘post 1975 grammar and vocabulary’, there may be some traces of ‘pre 1975 grammar and vocabulary’ since there are a number of us with different outlooks and experiences working in this volunteer project.
WLL: New Thai and English words have been accepted into the Lao vocabulary to replace many old words. Will you include these?
Luan: Since we rely on input from a number of volunteers with different outlook and experience the answer to your question would be ‘yes’, out of necessity.
WLL: When is the project expected to be completed?
Luan: Very good question. It appears it’s going to take quite some time. We need more input from volunteers and help from Google.
The Vientiane Times recently reported that entertainment venue owners, believed to be backed by influential figures, have challenged whether law enforcement officers have the right to close their businesses, even though they have been operating outside the compliance regulations. Many entertainment venues have reportedly been operating in contravention of the regulation including remaining open well past closing time, senior officials have reported.
Apparently, a loophole exists due to a lack of coordination between the relevant enforcement authorities. The district authority is not in charge of issuing business licenses to entertainment venue operators; therefore it has no eligible rights to have licenses revoked, even when the owners breach the regulations.
After being warned many times that their businesses could be ordered to be shut down if they keep operating outside the regulations, some owners were said to have asked why the laws are necessary. In some cases the owners of the venues concerned sought help from influential figures to reopen their businesses, after being ordered to close for the night.
According to the governor of Chantabouly District, only three entertainment venues fully comply with regulations, but 30 others are failing to comply in varying degrees of seriousness. In the talk with the district authority, officials were instructed to work thoroughly to maintain social order in the central district of the Vientiane’s capital in the lead up to the city hosting the 7th Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting and the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting in October and November respectively. The officials were asked to properly manage the entertainment venues concerned, in an effort to prevent them from becoming meeting places for troublemakers and hotspots for antisocial behaviour. He instructed the district authorities to deploy their men in collaboration with village authorities to reach out to targeted groups of troublemakers.
“Happy” (www.thehappymovie.com), the internationally acclaimed documentary that explores happiness around the world, was shown on World Happiness Day in February in three locations in Laos. It inspired a group of people living in Laos, who are all working with happiness in some way – in education, handicrafts, development, multimedia – to make a Lao Happy movie and involve Lao people in the happiness conversation.
Individuals and organizations from all across Laos have contributed footage and now we have children, monks, government officials, development workers, weavers, farmers, and more talking about what happiness means to them. We believe that this film will help stimulate much needed discussion about happiness, development and poverty alleviation, where poverty is 3-dimensional; emotional and spiritual not just economic. We also have a great opportunity to share this film at the Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) in Vientiane, Laos alongside the original Happy Movie.
So far, everyone involved in the project has generously donated their time and energy. Funding opportunities are being explored through the NGO community, and we have a campaign on indiegogo, where we are hoping to raise $4,000 to pay for production costs (particularly transport) in order to get extra footage in rural areas, translation costs to assist in the editing process and to ensure that the film is accessible to the widest possible group of people, and editing costs. We believe that we have the footage to make a very interesting and useful short film – but a good editor will make all the difference and this will be by far our biggest cost.
So far after 15 days of donations, we have reached over $2000. There’s still 15 days left to help us reach our funding goal
While we are grateful for any donation, however small, we also appreciate that not everyone who supports the project will have cash to spare. If you cannot make a donation but you would like to support us, please tell your friends and colleagues about the project. In addition, if you are based in Laos and would like to help with the project, please get in touch to talk about how you could be involved.
Please see the link to our campaign here http://www.indiegogo.com/happy-laos. Click to see more information, a small taster of the movie and some profiles of happy people around Laos. Also find us on facebook – Happy Laos.
After hearing mostly good feedback about both branches of The Tea Room by Dao in Pakse and Luang Prabang but not having been to either of them, I couldn’t wait to go and try out The Tea Room by Dao in Vientiane after it finally opened.
Having to drive for over 20 minutes from my office to The Tea Room was a little tiring because it was only for lunch, however when we walked into The Tea Room, everything was very impressive, especially the display of the big chandelier and the shelves stacked with all kinds of bread. The Tea Room is very spacious with generous seating including many tables and chairs as well as comfortable sofas.
Many kinds of bread are displayed at the left corner where the kitchen is and this display captured my attention right away, as well as the cake display, where the cakes and pastries were all looking very nice and we could not help but begin choosing the dessert before we even got to our meal!
When I looked at the menu I was not particularly interested in the drink menu and I paid more attention to the food menu, although there isn’t that much variety. I was advised by friends to order about 4-5 dishes for the 3 of us. On that day we ordered Spring Rolls, Khao Piak Sen Pa (rice noodle soup with fish), Bo Bun, and Pork Meatball Sandwiches.
The first dish to arrive was Bo Bun, a Vietnamese dish with fresh vegetables, stir fried pork with curry, shredded pork, rice vermicelli and dressing. It is a very colorful dish and once you mixed everything together it was almost like salad; a very tasty and healthy dish. The next dish to arrive on our table was Khao Piak Sen Pa or Vietnamese thick rice noodles with fish. The portion at The Tea Room was quite small compared to the normal serving sizes of Khao Piak Sen from most shops in Vientiane, but nevertheless I fell in love with it from the first spoonful.
The third dish to arrive was the spring rolls: 10 bite size spring rolls served with fresh vegetables and sauce. The only way to describe it would be “the best spring rolls I’ve ever had”. You can normally just eat spring rolls with the sauce or wrap it up with your favorite vegetables and then dip it in the sauce. My preference was the second option, as the crispiness and the smell of lettuce and mint really go well together.
The last dish to arrive was Pork Meatball Sandwich; I just loved the bread and had to order extra for take away.
The service was quite fast and we got our food served within 10 minutes. The price is a lot more expensive than other places with similar food but we were very satisfied with everything and therefore we did not feel that it was overpriced. If you are looking for a nice place with good service and of course tasty food for lunch, The Tea Room by Dao is highly recommended.
