Last month more than 24 riverside entertainment venues in Vang Vieng were permanently closed down for operating in contravention of regulations, including the provision of unsafe drinks and operating without a proper business license. The shutdown was the result of the findings of a task force made up of senior tourism, health and public security officials, according to Lao media sources. This task force was sent to Vang Vieng after the unlikely party town became an international news sensation, with story after story centered upon gruesome tourist deaths.
Vang Vieng has become a highlight of the Southeast Asian backpacker trail in recent years with the main attraction being a tubing adventure; lying in an inflated truck inner-tube and floating down the Nam Song River. But what happens when you leave young backpackers alone on a river alongside cash-strapped farmers looking for extra income? What began as an innocent activity designed as a relaxing way for tourists to admire Vang Vieng’s stunning limestone mountain scenery soon became an alcohol fueled deathtrap replete with drugs and crazy river games. Many tourists openly purchased cocktails mixed with hallucinogenic mushrooms at any one of the makeshift riverside bars and following this, would jump headfirst into shallow water from slapdash rickety structures such as bamboo platforms and rope ladders.
It is no wonder that reports of tourist drownings, overdoses and head injuries eventually found their way to international media. The issue received major attention in safety conscious nations such as Australia, which lost two of its citizens to Vang Vieng within one month early this year. According to local doctors, up to 10 backpackers per day would arrive at the local hospital for treatment of wounds such as broken bones and large gashes. It is surprising that action was not taken earlier.
Reports from travellers in post-clampdown Vang Vieng suggest that the town is far from quiet (bars televising Friends re-runs and happy pizza abound), but that tubing, at least, is now a little closer to its humble beginnings as a an innocent, floating nature walk. How long will the lid stay on? That remains to be seen.
Photo Credit: The Slow Boat, Sarah