LAOS

In Partial Fulfillment of the

requirements of the course
Political Science 178

Submitted by:
Garcia, Sharmaine Tiffany L.
Submitted to:
Prof. Doroteo C. Abaya

Laos
The People's Democratic Republic of Lao, commonly known as Laos is a
landlocked country in the centre of Indochina, so it does not have direct access to
the sea. It shares borders with China to the north, Myanmar to the north-west,
Thailand to the west, Cambodia to the south, and Vietnam to the east.
The Municipality of Vientiane is the capital of the Lao PDR and is the largest
city. It is located on the banks of the Mekong River. The citys exotic Eurasian setting
fascinates most travelers. The Lao PDR has an annual growth rate of 2.5 percent.
The countrys area of responsibility is measured 236,800 sq. km. Laos is considered
a mountainous country as 70% of its territory is composed of mountains and
mountain ranges. However, in some parts of Laos particularly in the landscapes of
northern Laos and the regions adjacent to Vietnam, are dominated by hills.
One of the main geographical features in the west is the Mekong River. It
forms a natural border with Thailand in some areas. The Mekong River flows through
nearly 1,900 km of Lao territory. The lifestyle of the people of Laos is very much
influenced by the river. Another fact about Laos is that 83% of the Lao population
lives in rural areas.
The country is divided into 16 provinces, one municipality, one special region
(Xaysomboon Special region), 142 districts, and about 11,400 villages. The country
has an estimated GDP per capita of 329 US dollars (year 2001), the Lao PDR is
classified as one of the least developed countries is the world.
The climate is tropical monsoon with two distinct seasons: a dry and a wet
season. The dry season lasts generally from October through April while the wet and
rainy season lasts from the beginning of May to end of September. Severe rains
lasting for a short period of time are falling during the monsoon. The yearly average
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temperature is around 28 degrees Celsius, but it can fall to 15 or 10 C during the
cold season. It can also freeze in the Plain of Jars during winter time. (Fair Trek)
From a geographical and economic development standpoint, the Lao PDR can
be divided into three regions:

A northern region which is composed of 7 provinces: Phongsaly,

Luangnamtha, Oudomxay, Bokeo, Luangprabang, Huaphanh and Xayabury

A central region with 6 provinces and 1 special region: Vientiane
Municipality Xiengkhuang, Vientiane province, Borikhamxay, Khammuane,

Savannakhet, and Xaysomboon Special Region.

A southern region with 4 provinces: Saravane, Sekong, Champasack and
Attapeu. (Faorap-apcas)
Laos is presently governed by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP)

which assumed power in 1975 after more than thirty years of armed struggle
against the French colonizers and later against American forces in the Indo-china
conflict. The three decades of war, and the half century of French colonialism before
it, has left Laos one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy remains
predominantly agrarian with a gross national product per capita of a mere US $ 180
in 1989 (UNDP, 1992).
Laos is a communist state. Its legal system is a civil system which is similar in
form to that of France as it was previously colonized by the French until 1949.
Laos is also currently undergoing a major economic transformation. As Laos is
left as one of the least-developed countries, the Lao Government has adapted
certain measures to address its current economic problems.

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Laos
In order to address the dire economic situation and to gain access to external
financial assistance, the Lao Government enacted the New Economic Mechanism
(NEM) in 1986. According to government sources, reforms introduced by the NEM
include:

decontrol of prices and distribution of goods and services;

elimination of subsidies;
unification of the exchange rate;
reform of the tax system and government expenditure;
restructuring of the banking system and enactment
of a new Central Bank Law;
refinements in money and credit management;
passage of a Law on Foreign Investment;
reduction of import duties;
revamping the tax and customs administration;
privatization of the means of production including some state

enterprises;
formation of the policy apparatus for further privatization.
(Government of the Laos PDR, 1992: 4)

The government of Laos, one of the few remaining one-party communist

states, began decentralizing control and encouraging private enterprise in 1986.
The results, starting from an extremely low base, were striking - growth averaged
6% per year from 1988-2008 except during the short-lived drop caused by the Asian
financial crisis that began in 1997. Laos' growth exceeded 7% per year during 200813. Despite this high growth rate, Laos remains a country with an underdeveloped
infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. It has a basic, but improving, road system,
and limited external and internal land-line telecommunications. Electricity is
available 75% of the country. Laos' economy is heavily dependent on capitalintensive natural resource exports. The labor force, however, still relies on
agriculture, dominated by rice cultivation in lowland areas, which accounts for about

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Laos
25% of GDP and 75% of total employment. Economic growth has reduced official
poverty rates from 46% in 1992 to 26% in 2010. The economy also has benefited
from high-profile foreign direct investment in hydropower, copper and gold mining,
logging, and construction though some projects in these industries have drawn
criticism for their environmental impacts. Laos gained Normal Trade Relations status
with the US in 2004. On the fiscal side, Laos initiated a VAT tax system in 2010.
Simplified investment procedures and expanded bank credits for small farmers and
small entrepreneurs will improve Laos' economic prospects. The government
appears committed to raising the country's profile among investors, opening the
country's first stock exchange in 2011 and participating in regional economic
cooperation initiatives. Laos was admitted to the WTO in 2012. The World Bank has
declared that Laos' goal of graduating from the UN Development Program's list of
least-developed countries by 2020 is achievable. (Central Intelligence Agency,
2014)
Laos is indeed one of the countries in the world that will probably go a long
way before reaching it full economic growth as it is still in the process of stabilizing
itself from the happenings from the past. With its current system of governance
which makes the international system question its actions, it will be hard for the
country to gain the trust of the other countries in the world. If it will continue its
excessive use of force in order to govern the state, then instead of encouraging the
people to aim for a higher goal to grow and achieve development in their lives, the
countrys system will make the people live in fear.
ARTICLES
UNHCR seeking access to returned Lao Hmong
GENEVA, December 29 (UNHCR) The United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday formally approached the

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Laos
government of Laos seeking access to Lao Hmong deported from Thailand a day earlier. Among those sent back
were people recognized by UNHCR as being in need of international protection.
UNHCR also called on the government of Thailand to provide details of assurances provided to it by Laos, under a
bilateral agreement between the two governments, concerning the treatment of the returned Hmong.
The refugee agency has asked to be informed of steps taken by Thailand to ensure that commitments made under
this framework are effectively honoured.
Thailand has a long history as a country of asylum in the South-east Asian region. However, on Monday it deported
some 4,000 Lao Hmong from two camps, one in the northern province of Petchabun and another in Nong Khai,
which is located across the Mekong River from Laos in the country's north-east.
UNHCR was given no access to people in the first camp, while those in Nong Khai were all recognized refugees
who had been in detention for almost three years. UNHCR has no formal presence in Laos.
The forced return on Monday of the Lao Hmong took place despite UNHCR's urging of the Thai government to halt
its plans for their deportation. In a statement last Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres
warned that by doing so Thailand risked setting "a grave international example."
A fundamental principle in international customary law is that refugees and people awaiting asylum applications
should not be returned to their countries of origin except on a strictly voluntary basis. (UNHCR, 2009)
Annual Report: Laos 2013
Laos aka Lao People's Democratic RepublicHead of state Choummaly Sayasone
Head of government Thongsing Thammavong
Restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly continued. Three prisoners of conscience and two
Hmong political prisoners remained imprisoned. Harassment of Christians in several provinces was reported.
Concerns increased over land disputes caused by development projects affecting livelihoods.
Background
In February, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern about the lack of
international access given to Hmong involuntarily returned from Thailand. In September, Laos ratified the UN
Convention against Torture. In November, Laos adopted the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, despite serious
concerns that it fell short of international standards. The death penalty remained mandatory for some drug offences;
no official statistics were made public. Harassment of Christians in provincial areas continued, with confiscation of
property, closing of churches, short-term detention and forced recanting.
Freedom of expression
Freedom of expression remained tightly controlled with media and others conforming to state policies and selfcensorship. In January, the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism ordered the radio call-in programme Talk
of the News to be taken off air. The programme was popular with callers complaining about land grabs and
corruption.
Prisoners of conscience Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, Bouavanh Chanhmanivong and Seng-Aloun Phengphanh
remained in prison, despite the authorities' claims in September 2011 that two of them would be released. They had
been imprisoned since October 1999 for trying to hold a peaceful protest.
Ethnic Hmong Thao Moua and Pa Fue Khang had nine months deducted from their 12- and 15-year sentences
respectively. They were arrested in 2003 for helping two foreign journalists gather information about Hmong groups
hiding in the jungle.
Land disputes
Amid concerns over a rise in land disputes, in June the authorities announced a four-year moratorium on new mining
investments and concessions for rubber plantations due to environmental and social concerns. Large-scale
development projects intruding on villagers' land affected livelihoods, with lack of adequate compensation reported.
In June, eight villagers were arrested for petitioning the authorities over a land dispute with a Vietnamese company
granted a rubber concession in 2006 which affected Ban Yeup village, Thateng district in Sekong province. All were
released within a few days, except for one man who was held for around two weeks and reportedly ill-treated before
being freed.
Enforced disappearances
On 15 December, Sombath Somphone, a respected member of Lao civil society well known for his work promoting

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education and sustainable development, was taken away in a truck by unknown persons after being stopped by
police in the capital, Vientiane. He helped to organize the Asia-Europe People's Forum in Vientiane in October.
(Amnesty International, 2013)
Laos Human Rights Abuses 'Serious,' But Mostly Hidden From View
The one-party Communist government of Laos is committing serious human rights abuses which go largely
unreported due to tight political controls, rights groups say, following a report that the country has become the most
repressive state in the region.
Laos has been under sharper focus by rights groups since popular civil society leader Sombath Somphone vanished
after being stopped in his vehicle at a police checkpoint in the capital Vientiane on Dec. 15, 2012.
The rights groups say there have been many abuses apart from the case of Sombath, who they suspect may have
been abducted by government-linked organizations
The situation in Laos is very serious, Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of New York-based
Human Rights Watch, told RFA's Lao Service.
The Lao government uses its power as a one-party state to effectively control political expression in the country in
a way that clearly violates various international human rights treaties.
It is still a very dictatorial, rights-repressing government, Robertson said.
Economic opening
Despite an accelerated economic opening following Laoss accession last year to membership in the World Trade
Organization (WTO), the Lao government still tightly controls the countrys political space, said Sarah Cook,
Freedom House senior research associate for East Asia.
The examples of China and Vietnam demonstrate how once countries join the WTO, or host big international
events for which they have loosened controls slightly, the authoritarian regimes actually act more aggressively
especially in terms of crushing dissent.
So well have to see what happens in Laos next year, Cook said.
All media in Laos are controlled by the state, Robertson said, adding,You dont hear so much about the abuses that
take place in Laos. Many things are hidden.
Lao citizens are now very scared following Sombath's disappearance, Robertson said.
People we speak to in Laos feel intimidated. They feel that with the disappearance of such a prominent member of
Lao civil society, that means the government could take anyone.
They could act against anyone, he added.
People cant discuss politics in Laos, a Lao citizen said, speaking recently to RFA on condition of anonymity.
For example, if the government issues regulations, we cant talk about it. If we dont like something we cant
protest. If you
hold a conference without permission, you will be arrested.
You cant hold a rally. If you do, you will be accused of causing civil unrest, and they will arrest you, he said.
Most repressive'?
Laos has now replaced formerly military-ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, as the most repressive [regime] in
the region, the Bangkok Post said in a Jan. 29 editorial.
The Lao government has failed to address the disappearance of Sombath Somphone, the Post said, adding, His
disappearance is an obvious warning to anyone who might think of challenging the Vientiane regime.
Concerns over which regime may be worst or second-worst mean little to victims of government abuse, though,
Robertson said.
A human-rights abuse is a human-rights abuse.
This government, when it is displeased with someone, when it is going after a particular human-rights defender,
can be as vicious and as rights-abusing as any government in the region, though, he said.
And that certainly includes even the Burmese military government of the recent past, which was accused of
blatant rights abuses during its nearly five-decade rule.Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Bounchanh
Mouangkham. Written in English with additional reporting by Richard Finney. (RFA, 2014)
Laos: Christian Families Flee Village after Refusing to Convert to Buddhism
3/28/2014 Laos (AsiaNews) - Six Lao Christian families victims of constant pressure have had to leave their native
Buddhist majority village in the south of the country; residents wanted to force them to abandon their religion and
convert.
This is denounced by Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (Hrwlrf), an NGO based in the United

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States, according to which members of the minority were "threatened with eviction", if the "did not renounce their
faith". However according to officials of the province of Savannakhet, the families left Natahall village, Phin
district, of their "own free will" to "avoid confrontation" with the other inhabitants.
In early March (but the story only recently emerged) some Christian families fled the village of Natahall, building
new housing in an area about ten kilometers distant. In the past, the group had converted to Christianity, and this
choice, over time, created growing discontent and impatience between the Buddhist majority and the group, in
particular, village elders and heads. This year was marked by a continuing escalation of tension, which resulted in
the decision to flee.
According to the Hrwlrf report , members of the Christian minority were the victims of persecution and abuse. In
December, the leaders of Natahall village, with the support of the police, issued an eviction order against them, but
the group resisted and refused, at first, to flee or convert. The authorities "acted to ban the Christian faith from the
village and expel the inhabitants who continued to profess Christianity".
The last episode was on 11 March when, during a public meeting community leaders offended the Christians, calling
them followers of a "foreign American religion" and forcing them to convert to Buddhism. The families decided to
abandon their homes, starting a new life in a safer area. (Persecution.Org, 2014)
U.S. Relations With Laos
U.S.-LAOS RELATIONS
The United States established diplomatic relations with Laos in 1950, following its limited independence within the
French Union. Nationalists continued to push for an end to French colonialism. Laos gained full independence from
France in 1954, but within a few years it entered into civil war. The United States supported a rightist regime in
Laos. For nearly a decade beginning in 1964, Laos was subjected to heavy U.S. bombing as part of the wider war in
Indochina. Following the change of regimes in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975, a communist government also came
to power in Laos. The government aligned itself with Vietnam and the Soviet bloc, implementing one-party rule and
a command economy. U.S.-Lao relations deteriorated after 1975, and U.S. representation was downgraded. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, Laos sought to improve relations with other countries. Full U.S.-Lao diplomatic
relations were restored in 1992. In July 2012 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Laos, marking the first visit
by a Secretary of State since 1955.
Accounting for American personnel missing in Laos from the war was the initial focus of the post-war bilateral
relationship. Since that time the relationship has broadened to include cooperation on a broad range of issues
including counternarcotics, health, environment, and trade.
U.S. Assistance to Laos
Following the 1986 introduction of some economic reforms, Laos' economy is essentially a free market system with
active central planning by the government. The overarching policy goals for U.S. assistance to Laos are to improve
Lao governance and the rule of law, and increase the countrys capacity to integrate fully within the Association for
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the global economy.
The largest part of U.S. bilateral assistance to Laos is devoted to improving health. The United States also helps
improve trade policy in Laos, promotes sustainable development and biodiversity conservation, and works to
strengthen the criminal justice system and law enforcement. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the war, particularly
cluster munitions, remains a major problem. The United States has provided significant support for UXO clearance,
removal and assistance for survivors.
Bilateral Economic Relations
U.S. exports to Laos include diamonds, metals, aircraft, vehicles, and agricultural products. U.S. imports from Laos
include apparel, inorganic chemicals, agricultural products, and jewelry. Laos acceded to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 2013, and has committed to joining the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Both of
these processes require trade and regulatory reforms, which should make the investment climate more attractive to
U.S. companies. WTO and AEC requirements also reinforce fuller implementation of the conditions of the 2005
U.S.-Laos bilateral trade agreement. The United States and Laos have a bilateral investment agreement and have
signed a civil aviation agreement.
Laos's Membership in International Organizations
Laos and the United States belong to a number of the same international organizations, including the United
Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.
Bilateral Representation
The U.S. Ambassador to Laos is Daniel A. Clune; other principal embassy officials are listed in the Department's
Key Officers List.

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Laos
Laos maintains an embassy in the United States at 2222 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 (BUREAU OF EAST
ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS, 2014)
Vanished: Laotian development worker still missing after more than a year
Family and colleagues believe Sombath Somphone was forcibly detained, joining ranks of others taken in forced
disappearance
Sombath Somphone, a Laotian development worker, was last seen on 15 December, 2012, being bundled into a car
at a police checkpoint in Vientiane. He has not been heard from since.
Global campaigns, family pleas and government investigations have found no hint of why Somphone disappeared.
Advocacy groups believe he was the victim of an enforced disappearance that he was detained by the government
or government agents, who then deny the action and keep the detainee hidden.
Somphones position as a civil society leader working in the field of agricultural development has been raised as a
possible factor in his disappearance, but his wife, Singaporean national and former Unicef worker Shui Meng Ng,
dismisses any suggestion he worked against the government.
Shui Meng has recently completed a speaking tour of Australian universities trying to dispel inaccuracies which she
told Guardian Australia may be endangering Somphone if he is still being held somewhere.
There were allegations about him taking a very prominent opposition position to the development agenda of the
Laos government, she told Guardian Australia.
There were also some allegations that Sombath is not even Laotian, that hes actually carrying an American
passport. I felt it was important to make public and correct many of those misinformations about Sombath, who he
is, as well as the type of work hes doing and his vision for Laos.
After Somphone disappeared the Laos government told Shui Meng it had established an investigative committee but
could not discover anything about his whereabouts.
The government continues to say that Sombath could have been kidnapped perhaps for reasons of personal conflict
or business conflict, she said.
His work has always been around development, community development, and youth and education development.
He has no business contacts or relations at all, and he has no personal enemies that I know of or the family knows
of.
While there have been rumours and theories that Somphones work over the past 30 years had caused annoyance
within the ranks of the communist government or security agencies, Shui Meng said he was careful to work with the
system, not against it.
I keep wondering why this should happen to him, Shui Meng said. He always worked with the government; none
of his projects could have been carried out without government approval. That is the nature of things in Laos. All
work has to be approved by the government.
He strongly believes that to get work going in a sustainable way in Laos, it is not enough that well meaning NGOs
or local groups just do their own work. It has to engage partners, whether they be government or local committees; it
has to sustain the work.
In recent years the communist nation has loosened regulations against civil society groups and national nongovernment organisations, and has slowly introduced economic reforms. But it remains a single-party state with
little freedom of association, press or political opposition.
During a landmark Asia-Europe peoples forum shortly before he disappeared, documents compiled by Somphone
were confiscated and civil society group representatives reported being harassed when they returned to their
villages, Rupert Abbott, Amnestys Asia researcher, told Guardian Australia. Shui Meng also told Guardian Australia
there was an unexpected high security presence at the forum.
Sombath was heavily involved with arranging the civil society forum. It appears that someone within the
authorities saw what was happening civil society coming together as a threat, said Abbott.
However, in terms of Sombath specifically, its certainly the case that he was a civil society leader, but to describe
him as an activist or to suggest he was kind of clashing with the government is inaccurate.
He was working within the system. He was an advocate for sustainable development.
Amnesty International, which has been campaigning for Somphones safe return since he disappeared, told Guardian
Australia of frustrations getting co-operation and information from the Laos government.
International pressure has also failed to result in any progress in the case, but in 2016 Laos will host the Association
of South-East Nations (Asean) conference, and a spotlight will be on the country.
With Sombaths disappearance hanging over Laos its quite difficult to see how Laos is going to be able to pull that
off with this case being unresolved, said Abbott.

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Laos
The clock is ticking for Laos to be able to show that its serious about finding a resolution for this case.
In December 2006 the UN adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
Disappearance. Nearly two years later Laos became a signatory but it is yet to sign it.
A number of high-profile cases such as Somphones remain unsolved. Anecdotally, some people are returned a
number of years later.
Its important in this case and others not to lose hope, Abbott said.
When there is an enforced disappearance it doesnt necessarily mean its going to end in the worst-case scenario.
People do turn up again. In Sombaths case its very important to not forget it and to keep putting the pressure on
Laos, keep reminding them.
The Australian government continues to monitor Somphones case, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade told Guardian Australia. It had expressed its concern directly with Laos authorities on a number of
occasions, she said.
We are concerned that Mr Sombath Somphone disappeared over a year ago and that he remains missing, she said.
The Australian government continues to raise concerns about Sombaths welfare directly with Lao authorities, and
to urge the Lao government to redouble its efforts to have him returned safely to his family.
Shui Meng said: Im hanging on to that hope that Sombath will reappear. Hopefully sooner rather the later.
(Davidson, 2014)
The future of Laos
A bleak landscape
THE Airbus A320 was ordered by Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, but somehow ended up as the prized possession of
Lao Airlines. From a window seat flying above Laos a visitor gets a sense of the states weaknesses. Deforestation
stretches all the way to the Chinese border. It is so recent and so extreme that scientists from Swedens Lund
university picked Laos as a testing ground for a new method of monitoring economic activity from space. By
combining night-time satellite images with land-use data, they can estimate, with surprising accuracy, changes in
agricultural and non-agricultural activity. For Laos, it also means monitoring the impact of Chinese and Vietnamese
cash from space.
On the ground in the northern province of Oudomxay, most jeeps roaming the deforested valley bear Chinese and
Vietnamese number plates. Four of the provinces districts are among the fastest-growing rural economies in the
country, according to the researchers in Sweden. (Laoss obscurantist government publishes little information about
anything.) Investment is flowing into agriculture, typically rubber plantations, market gardening and other cash
crops, much of it destined for the huge Chinese population to the north. The side-effects include a loss of forests and
biodiversity, serious soil erosion and growing numbers of people in this multi-ethnic province being pushed off their
land.
Chinese firms have secured rubber concessions in the province covering 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres). The idea is
that tens of thousands of Chinese workers will eventually be needed to tap the rubber. In the past decade the
government has granted land concessions across the country for up to 100 years, often at knock-down prices, to
Chinese, Vietnamese and, to a lesser extent, Thai operators. More land is now in the hands of foreigners than is used
to grow rice. The fear of one expert in Laos is the emergence of a landless poor.
Not all Chinese influence is welcomed by the government. Recently a deputy prime minister, Somsavat Lengsavad,
announced the closure of a Chinese-run casino near the border that had attracted drugs and prostitutes along with
gamblers. Yet Mr Lengsavad, ethnically Chinese himself, has his own patronage network built on granting
concessions for Chinese-run special economic zones. And he is the point man for one of Asias most ambitious
projects: a proposed 262-mile (421-km) passenger and freight railway connecting Kunming, in the south-western
Chinese province of Yunnan, with Vientiane, the Laotian capital. The $7.2 billion price tag (including interest) is
nearly as big as Laoss entire formal economy. It will take 50,000 workers five years just to lay the tracks. Twothirds of the route will run through 76 planned tunnels or over bridges.
The collateral for such a huge project lies in the mines of Laos. In other words, the extraction of natural resources in
this undeveloped country is about to accelerate. Economic rents already accrue to an oligarchy, for which the
railway, one way or another, will prove a bonanza. Among other things the question looms of how wide the corridor
accompanying the railway will be. There is speculation about a Chinese road running alongside the track, eventually
to the border with Thailand. A man who has seen the blueprint for a planned Chinatown east of Vientiane says that
the final stop for the proposed railway is smack in the middle of new living space for over 100,000 Chinese.
At present, a bus is the only way to get down from the mountains of Oudomxay. Monsoon rains play havoc with the
200km stretch of road to Luang Prabang, which served as the royal capital until the Communists, after a long civil

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war, consolidated their power in 1975. (In Luang Prabang the kings favourite Citron car survives, unlike him and
his family.) It can then take another ten hours, over rugged terrain, to get to Vientiane.
The capital is on the mighty Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand. Though it still has a torpid air,
Vientiane is growing fast in the hands of a Communist kleptocracy whose members queue up on Saturdays in their
big cars to cross the Mekong for a dose of shopping across the border. For many of the remaining 6.6m Laotians,
unease and sometimes fear are the predominant emotions.
Last December a well-known democratic activist and advocate of sustainable development, Sombath Somphone,
disappeared. At the same time, the government clamped down on foreign NGOs, especially those advocating land
rights. Two months ago the American embassy hung a banner from its water tower calling for the return of Mr
Somphone. In September the head of the American-based Asia Foundation in Laos was told to pack her bags.
Unlike Myanmar, Laos has never had a Western-educated opposition leader to remind outsiders of the nasty nature
of the regime. Indeed, Laos has not even the semblance of an oppositionand certainly no free press. It is a land of
few books. Clergymen, artists, editors and schoolchildren undergo ideological study sessions. The trauma of its long
civil war and of American carpet-bombing during the Vietnam war is never far away. One-third of the country is still
contaminated by unexploded American ordnance. Hundreds of people lose limbs every year to cluster bombs.
In few countries do development agencies have to operate in thinner air than in Laos. In e-mails, foreign residents
drop syllables from the names of Politburo members in attempts to outsmart new Chinese surveillance technology.
The regime is constantly on guard against foreigners who might be seeking to change our country through peaceful
means.
It is true that cash from China and Vietnam has helped to double the size of the economy in a decade. Dams have
brought electricity to four-fifths of the population. Yet indicators of maternal health are worse than in Cambodia
(which attempts a democratic faade), and levels of malnutrition are atrociously high. To make things look not quite
as bad, NGO types say, the government deliberately went around feeding children in villages monitored by the UN
for the Millennium Development Goalsuntil it was found out.
Despite all that, says one long-term resident who has worked with them, five or six people in the government are
open to adopting a more balanced path. They hope to reverse rising inequality, repression and environmental
degradation.
A senior government spokesman says, with a hint of regret, that Laos has given concessions on 30% of its land to
foreigners. He says he loves his country and his people, but, asked what will happen if Laos continues on the current
path, he takes out a pen and writes Lenin 1917 Revolution. Why such candour? Imagine you and me and our
sons were in a boat that sprang a leak, he replies. Would we jump up and plug the leak? Or would we watch the
boat go under? (The Economist, 2013)
The Secret War in Laos Redux
On May 10, a small group of aging Laotian and Hmong veterans of the CIA's "Secret Army," a handful of American
advisors who served during the Vietnam War, and a few others gathered at Arlington Cemetery to honor the Lao and
Hmong veterans, their families, and the American advisors who gave their all in the covert U.S. war in Laos.
The group has been meeting there every year since the small granite memorial, now shaded by an Atlas cedar tree,
was placed there in 1997. As time goes by, the numbers of those who fought the invading Soviet- and Chinesebacked Vietnamese communist forces in Laos grow fewer. Speaking at the ceremony, Colonel Wangyee Vang, the
president of the Fresno, California-based Lao Veterans of America Institute, commented, "When we were all alive,
we promised to remember each other."
Over 125,000 Lao Hmong, Kmu, Mien, Lahu, and other ethnics fought in the CIA's Secret War in Laos; of that
number, an estimated 39,000 were killed from 1961-75 while fighting the communist North Vietnamese (NVA).
They fought to protect their homelands, to stem the flow of NVA soldiers and supplies fueling the war in South Viet
Nam, and to guard U.S. assets -- such as the Lima Site 85 radar control guidance system that made it possible to
bomb North Vietnam in any weather. They kept more than three NVA divisions at bay by pinpointing for bombing
countless NVA troop movements, supply depots, and convoys of men and supplies headed for South Vietnam. They
also rescued a large number of American pilots and crews -- without them, there would be hundreds more names on
that somber black granite wall at the Vietnam Memorial.
On May 9, 1975, in the Pathet Lao newspaper, the Lao Peoples' Revolutionary Party announced its policy toward the
Hmong and other participants in the Secret Army, proclaiming that it would hunt down the "American collaborators
and their families to the last root," adding that they would be "butchered like wild animals." Even though the
Vietnam War ended over 38 years ago, in the "Second Secret War," Hmong men, women, and infants are still being
killed in Laos for the purported "sins of their fathers and grandfathers" -- the handful of aged fighters who sided
with the U.S. in the 1960s.

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Laos
After Laos fell to the communists in 1975 and the U.S. abandoned its allies, an estimated 745,000 Laotian and
Hmong refugees fled to Thailand. A large number of them were eventually given political asylum in America,
France, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere. However, many were turned back by the Thais. It is estimated that
230,000 Hmong people have been killed by the Pathet Lao and their communist Vietnamese advisors, some killed
while fleeing, others brutally murdered since then.
In 1977, the Vietnamese and the Laotian communists signed a treaty of "Friendship and Special Cooperation,"
similar to those Russia forced upon neighboring countries after invading and occupying them to form the Soviet
Union. This treaty guaranteed Hanoi's guardianship of Laos and legalized the permanent settlement of more than
100,000 Vietnamese troops stationed in Laos and their families, all of whom were given Laotian citizenship and
land. The treaty also allows Vietnam to place "technicians" at every level of the Laotian government, religious and
cultural organizations, military, and police.
Although the Vietnam War and the CIA's Secret War in Laos have been over for 38 years, the communist Pathet Lao
and their Vietnamese counterparts are now conducting their own Secret War Redux. Three NVA divisions are still
stationed in Laos, but this war is both military and economic. It involves the ethnic cleansing of those who fought in
the U.S. proxy army, as well as their wives, children, and other family members. The insular, xenophobic Pathet
Lao communists (the Lao Peoples' Revolutionary Party), operating behind a bamboo curtain and with apparent aid
from the Vietnamese communists, are still intent on annihilating these people.
Much of the CIA's Secret War was ignored by the media in collusion with the U.S. government; today's media
largely ignores the Secret War Redux. On October 26, 1999, a group of teachers and students from Dongdok
University in Vientiane staged a demonstration against the government. They "disappeared" and were never heard
from again -- a common occurrence. This was ignored by the major news media.
In a rare exception in 2007, the New York Times surprised everyone by reporting on the genocide against the
Hmong in a front-page story with color photos, "Old U.S. Allies, Still Hiding in Laos."
Also in 2007, the Voice of America reported that a Pathet Lao military official had stated that government troops
who kill Hmong fighters are promised automatic grassroots Communist Party membership and a reward of six
million Kip (U.S. $600, more than a year's pay) for every "enemy" killed. That same year, the State Department's
annual human rights report stated that the increased intent of the Pathet Lao to eliminate the scattered pockets of
Hmong fighters "was intended to starve the remnants of insurgent families from their jungle dwellings." But this
was considered old news and ignored by the major news media.
In 2009, more than 10,000 Lao Hmong refugees, including veterans of the U.S. Secret War, were forcibly repatriated
from Thailand back into the hands of the Communist regime in Laos they had fled. The U.S. did nothing. Hundreds
were tortured and killed in Soviet-styled gulags, including many of the leaders. The others simply "disappeared."
According to Bounthanh Rathigna, President of the Washington, D.C.-based United League for Democracy in Laos
(ULDL), "Vietnam's security forces and army continue to be heavily involved in Laos. This includes Hanoi's
ruthless persecution of religious dissident believers, especially independent Christians, Catholics and Animists[.]"
Over the years, a number of American citizens of Lao or Hmong descent who traveled back to Laos have been
imprisoned or have vanished. As a Lao-Hmong human rights group reported, "[t]he Marxist regime in Laos is
engaged in a new and intensified round of military attacks and brutal security force operations. Thousands just
simply disappear."
On May 1, 2011, the brutal communist regime in Vietnam reportedly slaughtered more than 75 ethnic Hmong
Christians, while hundreds of others were wounded or arrested, or "disappeared." An estimated 9,000 Hmong,
mainly Catholics and Protestant Christians, had gathered in the Muong Nhe district in North Vietnam to honor the
beatification of the late "Polish Pope," John Paul II. Some fled to the mountains on the Lao border only to be hunted
by heli-borne Dac Cong Special Forces units; at least two Hmong villages and several enclaves were attacked with
rockets and Gatling guns, killing an unknown number of persons. Others worshipers when caught are reported to
have been summarily executed. Compass Direct News (CDN), World Watch Monitor, and other Laotian sources
reported that executions without trial of Lao and Hmong Christians fleeing persecution in Vietnam by Pathet Lao
forces working in cooperation with the Vietnamese are commonplace.
In December of last year, prominent Lao civic activist Sombath Somphone, who had studied in the U.S. and was a
recipient of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, was arrested and vanished into the bowels of the brutal Lao
security forces prison system. In January, three Lao-American men from Minnesota, Bounthie Insixiengma,
Bounma Phannhotha, and Souli Kongmalavong, participated in a peacefully pro-democracy demonstration in front
of the Laotian Embassy in Washington, D.C., which was photographed by Embassy security personnel. Souli and
Bounma were members of the United League for Democracy in Laos. The three then traveled to Vientiane and were
arrested by security forces shortly after arrival. For weeks, they too had disappeared in the prison system, but their
bodies were recently found outside Savannakhet, burned beyond recognition in a minivan that had been set on fire.

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Laos
Lao security forces claimed their deaths were the result of an automobile accident.
In January, Christian Solidary Worldwide (CSW) issued an international appeal for the release of a Lao Christian
family: Mr. Bountheong and his wife and son, last seen in the capital, Vientiane, on July 3, 2004. International
Christian Concern (ICC) wrote, "Christians call on [the] President of Laos to investigate the disappearance of this
Christian family. On February 22nd, Lao security forces arbitrarily fired on a group of innocent Hmong civilians out
gathering food and killed four of them; two of which were teachers from a nearby school."
While the Secret War Redux is no secret, it is rarely covered by the major media. By remaining silent, abetted by
the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane and the Department of State, these enablers are complicit in the ongoing pogrom of
"ethnic cleansing" of the Hmong and other ethnic groups that extends across Laos and into Northern Vietnam.
And the band plays on... (Benge, 2013)
Laos in danger of losing jobs and culture as Chinese pour in
A friend living in Vientiane recently complained of incessant noise next to her house where a Chinese gang was
busy constructing a new feeder road.
None of the residents had been consulted. The residents are afraid that asphalt will bring speed and accidents. To the
slower paced Laotians, the Chinese are unwelcome. "Why can't Laotians do that work? Who asked if we wanted this
road?" one onlooker asked. Good questions.
Across Laos, Chinese laborers are building huge malls, dams, factories, golf courses and airports, taking jobs that
could easily done by Laotians. Tiny Laos with its population of over 6 million is being made to look increasingly
like China. Many Chinese projects dispossess Laotians of their land. The Laotians need the work.
There is no question that the Chinese have always been in Laos, but it is the massive increase in numbers, influence
and visibility that are causing concern.
A few weeks ago, the New York Times drew approbation over a story they did on what was to be the joint ChinaLaos railway project. Hidden in the story is the threat that Laotians are increasingly naming; colonization by stealth,
and with that, a commodification of Lao culture.
In the story, the Chinese hotel owner was waiting for the floods of his countrymen into Laos to complete the circle
of purchase and profit. The Laotians are increasingly left with nowhere to go.
Hidden below the grandiose plans are the subtle corrosion of what it means to be Laotian. China, which guards its
own heritage and ancestry, is seemingly happy to destroy that belonging to others.
The traditional Lao skirts are being replaced by cheap mass-produced synthetic skirts made by machines in China,
marginalizing both the weavers - whose work makes significant contributions to village incomes - and the fabric's
cultural meaning.
Some of Vientiane's best loved colonial buildings are slated for demolition. The National Museum is, perhaps
ironically, to be replaced by a 20-story five-star hotel.
Chinese projects are operated under a Godfather model. There is no competitive bidding or tendering process.
Instead, concessions are given by political insiders for various favors.
The Yunnan-derived Northern Plan perhaps best sums up the insensitivity to non-Chinese culture. The famously
successful but intimate World Heritage city of Luang Prabang has become a tourist megalopolis of 30 square
kilometers; ethnic minorities can be shown off in what could be described as human zoos, to be gawped at and
photographed by Chinese tourists.
But more ominously, it reveals how easily and cheaply Laos can be bought. Laos has been described as a vassal
state, and the Northern Plan makes it obvious that this descriptor is apt.
Recently, the Global Times published two opinion pieces, which talked about the Chinese presence in Laos. Their
pieces presented the middle class critique. They talked about roads, infrastructure; all the stuff of the urban elite.
Laotians are still largely poor and rural. They do not have access to health services, or decent education, much less
Range Rovers for comfortable cross border travel.
Chinese road projects provide lessons in how not to proceed. A recent trip up the Nam Ou River showed how
appallingly managed some Chinese infrastructure is.

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Laos
The road built to maintain the cascade of Chinese hydropower dams had already caused massive landslips and loss
of river bank farmlands. When I asked the boatmen who ply the river and upon whose skills thousands of people,
including a burgeoning tourist industry, depend, if they had been consulted or compensated, they all said no. A small
group of highly skilled men will become occupationally extinct.
The signs of urban economic growth have given the government of Laos legitimacy, while the Chinese have
gradually inched out the traditional protectors, the Vietnamese.
The recent abduction of Laos' national Sombath Somphone underscored that the transfer of telecommunications
from Thai to Chinese oversight has had consequences for Laotian civil society. Phones and the Internet are under
surveillance.
But more seriously, Chinese incursions into Laos' economics, commerce planning, and resource management are
now so pervasive and entrenched, that they can never be reversed, even if a more dignified government comes into
power. (Quimbach, 2013)
Laos Profile
Laos, one of the world's few remaining communist states, is one of east Asia's poorest countries. Since the collapse
of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has struggled to find its position within a changing political and economic landscape.
Communist forces overthrew the monarchy in 1975, heralding years of isolation. Laos began opening up to the
world in the 1990s, but despite tentative reforms, it remains poor and dependent on international donations.
The government has implemented gradual economic and business reforms since 2005 to somewhat liberalize its
domestic markets. In 2011, it opened a stock market in Vientiane as part of a tentative move towards capitalism.
Economic growth since the 1990s has reduced poverty levels to some degree, but Laos still relies heavily on foreign
aid and investment, especially from Japan, China and Vietnam.
The Asian currency crisis of 1997 caused the national currency, the kip, to lose more than nine-tenths of its value
against the US dollar.
Laos is a landlocked, mountainous country, widely covered by largely unspoilt tropical forest. Less than 5% of the
land is suitable for subsistence agriculture, which nevertheless provides around 80% of employment.
The main crop is rice, which is grown on the fertile floodplain of the Mekong River. Vegetables, fruit, spices and
cotton are also grown. Part of the region's heroin-producing "Golden Triangle", Laos has all but stamped out opium
production.
Outside the capital, many people live without electricity or access to basic facilities.
But Laos is banking on the anticipated returns from the $1.3bn Nam Theun 2 dam scheme, which was inaugurated in
2010 and is intended to generate electricity for export to Thailand, to boost its economy and infrastructure.
A further significant upgrade to Laos' infrastructure is expected from the construction of the first high-speed rail line
between China and Laos, on which work was due to start in early 2011.
Public dissent in Laos is dealt with harshly by the authorities, and the country's human rights record has come under
scrutiny.
Laos denies accusations of abuses by the military against the ethnic minority Hmong. Hmong groups have been
fighting a low-level rebellion against the communist regime since 1975. (BBC News Asia, 2013)

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Laos

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