This is sad but so true.

http://www.fpif.org/articles/laos_power_trumps_reform

Revolution, 30 Years On
Thirty years after the Lao People's Revolutionary Party seized power, the Lao People's Democratic Republic remains a Lesser Developed Country (LDC). According to the World Bank, Laos is the poorest and least developed country in East Asia with more than three-quarters of its population living on less than $2 a day and about four-fifths of the people engaged in subsistence agriculture. In this milieu, economic and social inequalities are enormous and getting worse. The poorest 10% of the population receives less than 4% of national income while the richest 10% takes over 30%. With around 80% of the people working the land, the economic fruits of the limited reforms to date are concentrated in urban areas because urban Lao are best positioned to take advantage of new economic opportunities. Poverty alleviation has long dominated international discourse on Laos and probably made the Nam Theun 2 project inevitable, but which elements of the population stand to gain from hydroelectric revenues remains a subject of debate. In a word, Laos is poor, and the bulk of the population looks set to remain that way. The Lao government boasts of plans to escape LDC status by 2020; however, its performance over the last two decades suggests this goal is unrealistic.

In most countries, economics and politics are intrinsically related dimensions of a single social reality, and the Lao PDR is no exception. The economic crisis in Laos today is largely about how the country is governed. Although the Communist Party has used economic performance to retain governing legitimacy for over three decades, this development model has real limits, as the experience in Vietnam and elsewhere suggests. At some point, increased respect for human rights and religious freedoms, in conjunction with real democratic reforms, are certain to become a precondition for Party survival. Until that time, foreign aid dependency, and the corrupt and wasteful use of the aid extended, appear to have become permanent features of the Lao political economy.

Great article BHK! I've read many like that and it's the truth!

Excerpt from article:

"Since 1975, the Lao approach to reform can be described as perestroika without glasnost, or economic change without political reform. As the LPRP cast off Stalinist economic doctrines and took tentative steps toward market reforms, it refused to share political power. Its approach here again mirrored that of its mentor, the Communist Party of Vietnam, in that it offered the Lao people increased economic openness and prosperity in return for continued Communist control of the political system."

Economic change without political reform!  Why?
> BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!
> No political change because - THEY DON'T WANT TO LOSE POWER!

Communist leaders only want monetary $$ aide for projects that only benefit their "INVESTORS."  While these leaders SYPHON the money from those "INVESTMENTS" for their own pockets!

They draw in financial and economic assistance and aide from countries like CHINA, VIETNAM and THAILAND, that DON'T GIVE A SHIT about the Laos' environment or people.  And of course the government is so STUPID and DON"T KNOW how to negotiate the project/contracts to benefit the people. 

When there is a proposal for a major project in Laos, the government is only concerned about how much money GOVERNMENT will get! What these government officials should do is include conditions and deliverables that will benefit the local people, especially those DIRECTLY impacted. Otherwise NO DEAL!

>Examples; contract should be like this:
Project requirement by Laos government:

1 - We (Laos) want 20% of project to be completed by Local  Laotians, hence CREATING JOBS for locals.

2 - We (Laos) want YOU THE "INVESTOR" to TRAIN local Laotians
on the various tasks throughout the projects. Hence Laotians GAIN practical knowledge and skills.

3 - We (Laos) want YOUT THE "INVESTOR" to BUY materials/suppliers from LAOTIAN business and manufacturers. Hence supporting local Laotian businesses.

Again, these are just some examples of how to NEGOTIATE the project! But in reality WE know that this DOES NOT HAPPEN. These INVESTORS are allowed to bring in their OWN employees, Thai, Viet and Chinese.