The business and the people in the high rank office!

Who would be the wealthiest! or maybe the Landlord!  Since the land is getting more expensive every day!

Besides corrupt officials?....j/k.

Define wealth? From what level to what level? Are you talking about the TOP wealthiest in Laos?

My cousin in Pon Hong...they own some lumber mills...they're RICH! 

I think those people who own commercial construction companies!  There has been a lot of development AND more to come!!

Fyi, I can't deny it...many of those development projects are either Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese managed.  So guess who gets majority of the contracts??? hmmm.

Tee,

You are right about Laotians NOT having enough experience in commercial building and MAJOR construction and development. I AGREE! Every country, Thai, Viet, Chinese wants to bring in their own workers. That sucks for Laotians!

The Lao government's job is to NEGOTIATE the deal where it will benefit Lao and the Lao's people. The Laos government should request in the contract that certain parts of the project be completed by Laotian workers, so Laotians can gain valuable experience while also earn some $.

I don't know how they negotiate currently...but this is just a small example.

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the wealthiest of them all?

I think the real question is, what are they doing with their money.
I know there are rich people in Laos. I see the mansions and hotels and mercedes benz that only get polished more than driven.
My question is why don't these rich Laos people help the rest who have almost nothing. If I was that rich, I would at least donate something or build a school, perhaps even a hospital and name it after myself. Yet, all I see is the chinese building this in donation, the thai's built the train, the viets and japanese build roads and stuff, I read it on the news all the time. Doesn't this make you think to yourself, why don't the rich Lao people do anything for their own kind? It's like Lao doesn't help fellow Lao. We only want to be better than others, even in the west, this ideology prevails in many Lao communities that I see. They envy each other or look down on one another.

I think I read somewhere on maybe another board about a Lao guy who went to Laos and married a native Lao girl there. He was raised in the US and when a fellow Lao person asked him to do something to help them out, his wife said, "why are you doing that for them, what are you gaining?". We in the west have the mentality that if we help each other, it is for the benefit of improving society and that if we work together, dreams can be realized as a whole. My thought on this is that most of the people in Laos live in poverty and it's still survival of the fittest mode for them and the rich are afraid to lend a helping hand so they cling to what they got cause it's better you than me right?
I sometimes wonder if these rich people are just not smart enough to use their money so they don't do anything productive for the sake of society. The other thought is that they obtained wealth in such a way that they need to hide it. Lastly, the wealthy are not Laotian and they'd like to keep it that way, we are merely cattle and the farmer is rich.

Buk Hoo Kee, some rich people in Laos donate money to build temples. The Chinese, Japanese, Thais and Vietnamese help Laos but they are not individuals, they are big companies with money. Beerlao is an example of a Lao company that donates alot of their money towards this and that all the time, but you just don't hear about it since you're in another country.

Tee, I heard that the Lao community overseas use donated money to renovate temples in their town or city and the community benefits from it. They probably prefer to look after their own backyard first before worrying about Laos.

BorLeumBanGerd, if you have a nice house, car, maid and security to protect your property then you're rich.  

I am too scared to go teach in Laos, the commies might try to kill me cause I'm educating their sheep.

By the way there is already a foundation that helps Lao people.
Check it outs. They are based in California.

www.jailao.org

It's better to help Laos by donating your money directly when you next visit Laos rather than through a third party.

By handing your money to the poor children directly, not only will you know exactly where your money is going but the children and their parents will see you physically and they appreciate and remember you as a caring person.

Once you give your money to an organisation or group they will definately keep a percentage of it, if not all of it. So give your money directly in Laos is the way to go.

You could give the money directly to a school in any village so they can provide better tables, chairs and study materials for their students.

All donations should be made directly by yourself, or through a trustworthy friend/relative who visits Laos.

Whatever you like to do has to be done directly. I don't trust any third party organisation, who knows where your money is going.