Brother, brother, brother.............what do you think all those 'puak Jeen' are doing in our beloved Laos right now? You really do make laugh some times!
You might want to brainstorm a new business plan right away.

Larb Dip wrote on 24^th Mar, 2011 at 5:43am:


I spent not too much more than $500 on building a Lao sauna business for my wife.  She opened it this month, and it's proving very popular with locals since there's nothing like it around here.

Actually that is a very good idea because manufactured products from China can come straight to Laos.  So transportation cost is much smaller comparing to products shipped from China to the US.  You can probably call it 'Fifty Cent' store and woud still be profitable.

llX wrote on 24^th Mar, 2011 at 5:56am:

Quote:


This sounds like a sauna/BEAUTY SALON.

How much does your wife make?

What can I do with US$50,000?
I have ambitions on being a pioneer and am not interested in following the latest trends. What 'businesses' haven't been tapped into yet?

Since they ('puak jeen/Gaauw') already have a head start, I think now is the perfect time time to rush in dual citizenship. We can get loans too. I'm pretty sure the banks don't mind where their money is going. All they care about is being paid back in full, WITH interest. This is what we need: Laos being owned by Lao!!! and not 'puak jeen/Gaauw!!!

I went back last year again and talked to my relatives. They said forget it if you want to open a business in Laos unless you have connection. I said, what connection? They said, in order to have your business stay long and profitable you have to pay under table, you have to know people working for the government and sort of thing.  You know it is all about who you know, not what you know.  They told me just work in USA and retired in Laos that way you have stable income from your retirement.  I hope I can see my retirement money by that time. LOLZ. $10,000 not going to work for me. Last year I just blew almost $5000 just for visiting.  Unbelievable!

Larb Dip wrote on 25^th Mar, 2011 at 5:45am:


No, it's just a sauna at the moment, although my guess is it'll include traditional Lao massage in the future.  I included that in the activities I developed for our resort guests (www.rivertimelaos) and it is very popular with foreign guests.  I have now sold the resort and am semi-retired.

The sauna is really just a hobby for my wife and looks like it'll be generating a profit of $600 to $1,000 a month.  My wife charges 10,000 kip ($1.25) per person per hour in the sauna.

Interesting that you would like to be a pioneer.  With $10,000 seed money you could do a lot here, but remember that rent/land is a big expense and that land prices and rent in Vientiane are very high now and almost at an international level.  Outside Vientiane, it's still quite cheap, but getting more expensive all the time.

As to what kind of business you could do, that depends on your talent and what you are interested in (besides the color of Administrator's underwear).

All this talk of corruption and other kinds of sleaze is unrealistically negative.  I was able to handle the business set up and running process while retaining a good level of integrity despite the difficulties.  Anyone with a reasonable level of intelligence, fortitude and perseverance should be able to do the same.