Hi. It's been brought to my attention that there are homes in 52 that does not have numeric address. This info came to me from a girl I recently met via friends. My questions are, (1) is this true? (2) and if so, why no address... it just doesn't make sense to me since you can not send mail/package to person.

Thank you for responding :) and this board ROCKS!

Hello USA Joe, and welcome to our message board.

If you are referring to a town called "Luck 52" on the outskirts of Vientiane, I was there recently. Most of the residents are Hmongs, an ethnic minority group in Laos, so your girl might be a Hmong.

It is true that homes in that area do not have a numeric address. There's no postal delivery service since homes are situated along the highway to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang.

You can't send mail directly to her, but you can send it to someone (friend or relative) that is trustworthy and lives in a Lao city who knows her, and they can give it to her.

Please bare in mind that postal service in Laos is not reliable, it's never 100% guarantee that the person will receive your mail.

Admin Saovaluck wrote on 28^th Jun, 2010 at 11:51pm:

Hello USA Joe, and welcome to our message board. If you are referring to a town called "Luck 52" on the outskirts of Vientiane, I was there recently. Most of the residents are Hmongs, an ethnic minority group in Laos, so your girl might be a Hmong. It is true that homes in that area do not have a numeric address. There's no postal delivery service since homes are situated along the highway to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. You can't send mail directly to her, but you can send it to someone (friend or relative) that is trustworthy and lives in a Lao city who knows her, and they can give it to her. Please bare in mind that postal service in Laos is not reliable, it's never 100% guarantee that the person will receive your mail.

Wow. You are as intelligent as pretty. Piecing the little clues I gave.  I'm very appreciative for your response.

Yes, my girl is Hmong. According to her, her parents have lived there for more than six years. Yet they still dont have a residence address. There's no immediate plan by the Lao government to do so.

Would you be so kind as to explain the logic of how these houses can sprout up with no address? In the jungle or mountain area I can understand. But these are fairly modern homes in semi-rural area (running water & electricity) unless I am mistaken.

And yes, they rent a postal box in Vientiane for snail mail. But what a hassle. Anyways, I am very appreciative for your response.

It's my pleasure. I have average intelligence and average looks in today's Laotian mainstream.

You're right, Luck 52 is far from being a jungle or mountain area. It is only one hour drive by car, or just over an hour by bus from Vientiane city. There's a big market in Luck 52, in ten years time the village will grow bigger with more residential homes and businesses.

It is pointless to have a residential address when there's very limited or no postal service. A postal box rental is more secure because homes in Laos don't have letterboxes.

Another thing is that in Laos, people don't take much notice of numeric addresses because everybody knows each other in the village. If you want to visit someone, you just need to know the name of the person and village they live in. Someone in that village is bound to know them and can help locate their home.