Lao King

History of the last Lao king.

These slides remind me of my teenage years in Laos. I remember when I was sitting in a classroom, and my teacher made an announcement that our King' s airplane just landed. Students were all excited. We went out and lined up along the street where the king's motorcade was planned to pass by. When he arrived, we were waving our three- headed elephant flag joyfully. I was so happy to see his image through the car window. That was the first and last time that I saw the king of Laos. Then I heard that the king and his family were brutally tortured to death by the Lao communist government. He was accused of corruption and committing a crime by killing Lao population. That was so rootless, and cruel. The real government that commits crimes is the current one.

Lao Entrepreneur (1)

Freedom is not just politics, but economic development.  Laos should develop economic sustainability not mega projects that threaten the live of its people.  Lao Entrepreneurs should be the vanguard of economic development.  Instead of creating a culture of corruption, the Lao government should eliminate bureacratic barriers and nurture the rule of law to encourage direct foreign investment to promote job creation for Lao people.  However, the current system of one party communist rule is ill equip to develop Laos and should be replace by a true multi-party democracy.  To borrow from the United States of America's Declaration of Independence: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The Lao communist regime should gracefully step down for the good of the country, otherwise it will suffer the same fate as the former Eastern European Communist regimes and the dictatorial regimes of Tunisia and Egypt.  After nearly 36 years of oppression, the people of Laos should experience life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Lao Entrepreneur (2)

STEP:  World Bank Program young Lao entrepreneur.
Hello Lao government officials
Please watch this video, and open your ears, and listen to the comments made by this girl. I think she has a better vision than many of you who run the country now. She sets a goal for her life, and look for ways to achieve that goal. Unlike many of you who claim to be the most intelligent persons, but never know how to think for yourself. Every project has to be planned by Vietnamese experts before putting into practice. You never realize what's hidden in the project until it is too late. Listen to the young generations please, they want to see competitive Lao, instead of unproductive Lao.

IIllegal loggings in Laos

Illegal loggings in Laos are not unusual and unknown to many Laotians who live in Laos and in foreign countries. These activities have been going on for decades, but no body can do any thing about these problems. Yet, the Lao government has passed laws over and over aiming to reduce deforestation in Laos.

However, these laws have been applied to only poor Lao people who live in the country side, who has nothing to eat, no land to farm. These poor people's life has been affected a lot because, for instance, they can't even cut down a tree in their small farm land to build their hut. It's against the law.

It is illegal to cut down a small tree for poor Lao citizens for household uses, but legal for the rich and powerful government officials to cut down millions of dollars worth of trees to export to Vietnam.

BANGKOK—Timber traders in Laos are still logging through “unofficial” channels despite new government curbs, a well-placed source in Laos has told RFA’s Lao service. 

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the felling and exporting of black-market timber remained widespread. The source blamed systemic corruption among high-ranking officials of the ruling Communist Party. 

“At the time that the black-market timber passes through a district, the relevant officials in that district must let it pass right through—if they don’t they will undoubtedly be punished,” the source said 

In Laos, black-market timber is known as “timber with a patron,” in reference to a high-ranking official who can afford to ignore laws and regulations on its export. 

Recently in Attapeu province as some mai mee kaen was on its way to Vietnam, an Attapeu forestry official asked to review the authorization papers, which displeased the owner of the timber... 

“For example, recently in Attapeu province as some mai mee kaen was on its way to Vietnam, an Attapeu forestry official asked to review the authorization papers, which displeased the owner of the timber,” the source said. 

Drastic decline in forest cover 

“Subsequently, there was an urgent official command for that official to move permanently to the education department within 24 hours. This incident created great fear in the rank-and-file of the relevant departments.” 

Much of the illegally felled timber finds its way to neighboring China and Vietnam. 

Lao forests have declined in density from around 70 percent of the land area in the 1950s to 47 percent in 1992. That percentage is now believed to have fallen below 40 percent. 

Lao people have traditionally relied on their forests as non-commercial resources, providing timber for house-building, herbs for traditional medicines, and wild foods. 

Veunvang Bouttalath, head of the Lao Forestry Department, has acknowledged publicly that illicit logging remains a major problem. 

According to a recent World Bank report, deforestation remains a critical problem in Laos.
Some forests have been replanted several times as a result of fire damage and management failure, "and most performed poorly in strict economic terms." 

Official cites new curbs 

Forest cover “ranges from about 65-70 percent in the southernmost provinces to only 25 percent in some northern provinces. The largest and least disturbed blocks of forest are in the central and southern part of the country,” the report said. “Surveys suggest that this is being further reduced by an annual 53,000 hectares per year.” 

Tamla Amkhathongkham, vice-governor of northeastern Houaphan province, said in a recent interview that Lao officials are working hard at preserving forest cover in Laos. 

“Here in Houaphan province, we have...the long-leng tree [ Podocarpus imbricatus ]. The long-leng tree grows in the swamp bottoms. Now we protect them,” he said.
The government “strictly forbids” the felling of live long-leng trees,” he said. 

Original reporting by RFA’s Lao service. Director: Viengsay Luangkhot. Executive producer: Susan Lavery. Written and produced for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Source: http://www.rfa.org/lao/news-about-laos/laos-urged-stop-illegal-logging-07292011112341.html