I just got back from Vientiane Laos. What a trip! Many things are still the same, like the pot holes in the roads, but things are slowly changing but only if you are rich as usual. I was there for 5 weeks but it felt like a lifetime since time went by so slowly, which was a good thing. Beer Lao still flows, but I saw some new ones like Tiger Beer and Mekhong Beer which were new for me anyways. Got too many stories to tell, thousands of pictures and many more memmories to share.

I didn't see you there admin, perhaps you don't come out during the daytime like most of them girls who are scared of getting dark in the sun, haha....

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I hope you enjoyed your trip, and nice to see you back on the forum after all these years. Maybe you should have planned to stay for a few days longer to celebrate the Lao New Year.

I don't usually go out in the sun, probably 10 minutes a day at best.

I was thinking of staying until after pee mai Lao but I had places to go such as Phuket and Bangkok. I did get wet during the songkran in Bangkok yesterday.
I will go back to Laos again soon, maybe even the end of this year. Getting old, gotta find me a poo sao soon, haha.

We call the Lao New Year "songkhan" in Laos. They celebrate the same way in Thailand so it's good that you had the opportunity to take part in it.

The "poo sao's" are in every corner of Laos. Why didn't you find one during your trip?

when was the last time you visited Laos? the reason i asked because i was in VT 2 years ago and i noticed most of the streets in the city were paved nicely and the dust is reduced alot.. ;D


Buk Hoo Kee wrote on 15^th Apr, 2012 at 3:47pm:

I just got back from Vientiane Laos. What a trip! Many things are still the same, like the pot holes in the roads, but things are slowly changing but only if you are rich as usual. I was there for 5 weeks but it felt like a lifetime since time went by so slowly, which was a good thing. Beer Lao still flows, but I saw some new ones like Tiger Beer and Mekhong Beer which were new for me anyways. Got too many stories to tell, thousands of pictures and many more memmories to share. I didn't see you there admin, perhaps you don't come out during the daytime like most of them girls who are scared of getting dark in the sun, haha....

Last time I was there was in 2007.  I plan on going every year now. Relocating for work has prevented me from going every year in the past. Even though they pave the roads constantly and I see road construction everywhere I go which causes traffic, the roads just end up being destroyed after a few months cause of poor quality and cheaping out on materials and costs. The construction companies probably want to stay in business so they make roads that only last a few months so they can continue getting money to redo the roads and pretend to make new ones. I don't really know why they spend time planning and "engineering" the roads when in the end, the guy that comes and dumps the gravel and paves the road does whatever he thinks. The roads are not flat so even if it's paved, you have to go slow to watch out for all the bumps and dips and eventually pot holes. They keep saying the vietnamese keep steeling the metal sewer lids that are in the middle of the road. They sell them to metal shops for a quick buck. People put sticks and things in the sewer hole afterwards to warn drivers that it's missing. If your car ends up in that hole, good luck to you.
All of the downtown areas in Vientiane are paved, just like my last visit, but when you start going away from downtown, the roads get worse. Half the time you ar driving on dirt roads. When it rains, I see people falling off their motorcycles and mud is just everywhere. The funny thing is, when it's not raining, these people pour water on the dirt roads to prevent dust but along comes mr. speedy on his motorcycle and wipe out. The reason they don't pour water on the roads at night is so that the drunk drivers don't slip and crash. Oh no, we don't want that to happen. So the roads are still bad, what else is new, just go buy a Vigo.
The poo sao's are everywhere all right, just not the type that I'm looking for. I've heard the stories, they treat you so well while you're their but once you go back to your home country, they will play with other guys and request that you send money back every month to support their habits. That's just normal there though, out of sight, out of mind. Sure there may be some good girls, I've never met them before though.

The road construction companies are corrupt.

Just for example, and this is probably not a realistic amount, but let's say the budget to pave the road is $1000. They will spend $700 towards expenses, and $300 goes into their pockets that we don't know about.

This is the reason why roads are only made of thin layers just to show the public it's there, but it doesn't last long before cracks begin to appear.

steal sewer lids? hmmm never thought of that idea before lolz in america theres millions of them.

Admin Saovaluck wrote on 16^th Apr, 2012 at 2:49pm:

The road construction companies are corrupt. Just for example, and this is probably not a realistic amount, but let's say the budget to pave the road is $1000. They will spend $700 towards expenses, and $300 goes into their pockets that we don't know about. This is the reason why roads are only made of thin layers just to show the public it's there, but it doesn't last long before cracks begin to appear.

sometimes they need to build the roads as fast as possible so they hold back on build quality. financially maybe its better than using huge machines to build strong roads which takes longer time and cost more money.

Speaking of corruption,it's not just the construction company,all companies and government and not just Laos...but that is the reality weather we like it or not there is nothing we can do about it.  ;)

Admin Saovaluck wrote on 16^th Apr, 2012 at 2:49pm:

The road construction companies are corrupt. Just for example, and this is probably not a realistic amount, but let's say the budget to pave the road is $1000. They will spend $700 towards expenses, and $300 goes into their pockets that we don't know about. This is the reason why roads are only made of thin layers just to show the public it's there, but it doesn't last long before cracks begin to appear.

There is something we can do about it, join them.
If you can't beat em, join em.

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In any system, look for 'loopholes' ;)!

Agreed :)


Buk Hoo Kee wrote on 19^th Apr, 2012 at 8:42am:

There is something we can do about it, join them. If you can't beat em, join em.

Anyone want some True Coffee? Well I had to go and visit the infamous Joma Bakery cause I keep hearing everyone talk about it. To people in Laos, I guess it's wow but to me, it's just another cafe and over priced for being in Vientiane. I paid about 20,000 kips for an ice cappucino and 18,000 kips for a chocolate croissante in the picture. Not very expensive for me in terms of american dollars ~ $4.69 so I ended up buying a second cup of ice cappucino since all you get is mostly ice and not much to drink, I noticed that a lot wherever I went. I guess it's catered to the foreigners that stop there on their travels, didn't see any locals there at all.

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What are those horizontal black ropes above the individual on the left picture?

Those would be power and telephone lines, what a mess, I know.

Ah I see and would be nice if they could have these lines below the surface.

Aerial cables make the city area look "ugly", but it's cheaper than installing these lines underground.

I was just glad they didn't fall on me cause a lot of them had duct tape holding them together, haha.

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They planning to bury all this cable underground in Vientiane. :)

Plans never get done in Laos, or takes longer than expected.

It's all about money!

Yes sir money talk. And corruption doesn't help either :)

Yes would be nice if they cuold make the city more attractive and hopefully can bring in even more tourists.  One of their main objectives is to generate more revenue from tourism, is it not?

What part of Vientiane have they started?

They're trying to finish Vientiane development by 2030.

Oh yeah.. I wonder if anyone has any pics of the MegaMall?
Did they started yet?

Not sure, but they had YouTube vdo. Regal Mega Mall in Vientiane. :)


HAIR wrote on 1^st May, 2012 at 8:45pm:

Oh yeah.. I wonder if anyone has any pics of the MegaMall? Did they started yet?

The reason why there is no real pictures is because there is nothing. I drove by where they are supposed to build it and saw only a fence with pictures of what it could look like. They haven't even started anything yet.

I see..and hopefully this does happen.

Will finish in 2013 they say. Look nice, gym, movies theaters, restaurant, night club. :)

Most of planned activities are stalled at the moment!


llX wrote on 3^rd May, 2012 at 7:20am:

Will finish in 2013 they say. Look nice, gym, movies theaters, restaurant, night club. :)

Why? I know the railway is stall.

Perhaps foreign investors are being cautious.