As for the Thais, a third of their land really belongs to Laos, but that logic counts for nothing. Everyone takes what he can. Invading Laos in 1828, the Thais destroyed Pha That Luang, Laos' most sacred stupa, and in their brief war against the French in 1940-41, they wrecked it again.
Over drinks at Spirit House, Laos expert Mike Boddington told me that Vietnam is spending $100 million to build Laos' new National Assembly. When someone spends that much on you, he wants to nudge up a bit, at least. Vietnam's President Nguyen Phu Trong's first trip abroad was also to Laos. Geopolitical jockeying is a universal game.
Mike has a world of experiences of seemingly everywhere, but his special focus is Southeast Asia, with Laos his most ardent passion. Mike first came in 1994, "We flew into Vientiane on one of the old Chinese copies of a Russian twin-engine plane that accommodated about 50 people in cramped circumstances: there was a Boeing 737-200 on this route, leased from Iceland, but that day it was not operational because the pilot had been knocked off his motorcycle in Vientiane and killed." Mike was the key figure in the creation of Cope, a center to help victims of landmines, plus others disabled. I'll visit his home soon on the outskirts of Vientiane.
North Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Trails branched into Laos, so the United States dropped a record two million tons of ordnance on this poor country. These included 270 million cluster bombs, of which up to 80 million haven't detonated yet. Each year, Laos continue to be killed by UXOs, so that's the most tangible of the American legacy here. More abstract and unquantifiable, yet much more explosive, is the dissemination of an increasingly absurd and decadent American culture.
Projecting power and sex, America enthralls, so on Vientiane's tuk-tuks, for example, I've encountered several American badasses on windshields, dashboards and mud flaps. These include Al Pacino as Serpico, Sylvester Stallone as Cobra, and, twice already, even Stallone as Rambo! There's even a Rambo haircutter, although its sign shows two blacks with huge afros!
On one of the Rambo-adorned tuk-tuks, there was also an American Eagle and, oddly enough, Che Guevara! So the same driver idolizes a Commie killer and a killer Commie, but they're both seductive images of power. Quantity and quality wise, no one sells this better than America.
Traveling through Southeast Asia, Mouhot was repeatedly baffled by the apparent happiness of its people, despite their poverty, high taxes and/or oppression from their rulers. Laos were additionally cursed, "Their poverty borders on misery, but it mainly results from excessive indolence, for they will only cultivate just sufficient rice for their support; this done, they pass the rest of their time in sleep, lounging about the woods, or making excursions from one village to another, paying visits to their friends on the way."
Before you dismiss the above as biased nonsense from a white racist, the Vietnamese foundry owner made very similar observations, "There aren't so many foreign companies here because the Laos just aren't that reliable. They don't have the same attitude towards work as we do. After the 15th and 30th of each month, many won't show up the next day because they just got too drunk after being paid." He laughed. "They don't eat so well, but they like to drink."
"What do they drink? Rice wine?"
"No, beer. They love their beer!"
Can't blame them. Beerlao is excellent and cheap, and what's wrong with just ambling to neighboring villages to chatter with your buddies, or plopping yourself under a tree, to reflect, doze off or hear birds singing?
Buddhists value silence and stillness, and despite all of its modern convulsions, Laos is still a land of temples. With its spacious ground, each is a meditative oasis. A tuk-tuk driver may not recognize an address, but if you just tell him which temple it's near, he'll take you there.
Calmed by Laos' pace, I'm lingering.
Over drinks at Spirit House, Laos expert Mike Boddington told me that Vietnam is spending $100 million to build Laos' new National Assembly. When someone spends that much on you, he wants to nudge up a bit, at least. Vietnam's President Nguyen Phu Trong's first trip abroad was also to Laos. Geopolitical jockeying is a universal game.
Mike has a world of experiences of seemingly everywhere, but his special focus is Southeast Asia, with Laos his most ardent passion. Mike first came in 1994, "We flew into Vientiane on one of the old Chinese copies of a Russian twin-engine plane that accommodated about 50 people in cramped circumstances: there was a Boeing 737-200 on this route, leased from Iceland, but that day it was not operational because the pilot had been knocked off his motorcycle in Vientiane and killed." Mike was the key figure in the creation of Cope, a center to help victims of landmines, plus others disabled. I'll visit his home soon on the outskirts of Vientiane.
North Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh Trails branched into Laos, so the United States dropped a record two million tons of ordnance on this poor country. These included 270 million cluster bombs, of which up to 80 million haven't detonated yet. Each year, Laos continue to be killed by UXOs, so that's the most tangible of the American legacy here. More abstract and unquantifiable, yet much more explosive, is the dissemination of an increasingly absurd and decadent American culture.
On one of the Rambo-adorned tuk-tuks, there was also an American Eagle and, oddly enough, Che Guevara! So the same driver idolizes a Commie killer and a killer Commie, but they're both seductive images of power. Quantity and quality wise, no one sells this better than America.
Traveling through Southeast Asia, Mouhot was repeatedly baffled by the apparent happiness of its people, despite their poverty, high taxes and/or oppression from their rulers. Laos were additionally cursed, "Their poverty borders on misery, but it mainly results from excessive indolence, for they will only cultivate just sufficient rice for their support; this done, they pass the rest of their time in sleep, lounging about the woods, or making excursions from one village to another, paying visits to their friends on the way."
Before you dismiss the above as biased nonsense from a white racist, the Vietnamese foundry owner made very similar observations, "There aren't so many foreign companies here because the Laos just aren't that reliable. They don't have the same attitude towards work as we do. After the 15th and 30th of each month, many won't show up the next day because they just got too drunk after being paid." He laughed. "They don't eat so well, but they like to drink."
"What do they drink? Rice wine?"
"No, beer. They love their beer!"
Can't blame them. Beerlao is excellent and cheap, and what's wrong with just ambling to neighboring villages to chatter with your buddies, or plopping yourself under a tree, to reflect, doze off or hear birds singing?
Buddhists value silence and stillness, and despite all of its modern convulsions, Laos is still a land of temples. With its spacious ground, each is a meditative oasis. A tuk-tuk driver may not recognize an address, but if you just tell him which temple it's near, he'll take you there.
Calmed by Laos' pace, I'm lingering.
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