I'm British (yes white thanks for asking???).  I've been in Laos for 20 years with my Lao wife and two teenage sons.  

There is a Lao way of doing things regarding business and you just have to fall in with that.  Dealing with officials can be frustrating at first, but you need to develop a relaxed attitude to them.  I have had a lot of experience with Lao officials, but the only 'corruption' I have encountered is of a very mild kind.  For a typical example, an official might indicate to you, "We can process this license application for you in about two or three weeks.  However, if you want it quickly you could pay US$10 and we could have it ready for you tomorrow afternoon.  That kind of thing.  I've usually waited the extra time except when things were really urgent.

Another example of 'mild corruption' is when we were building and opening our resort, we had countless visits from govt. officials from all levels and departments for various registration processes and it was only polite and the accepted 'norm' to provide them with lunch.  Not to have done so would have seemed impolite.  Remember these officials make only a tiny monthly salary.

If you can't put up with this kind of thing, then Laos may not be the place for you to invest in.  But good luck anyway!.....

Old Man

Larb Dip wrote on 5^th Mar, 2011 at 3:26am:


I missed it. Please say what is on your mind.

I believe that I already expressed my opinion on this subject. So I will remain silent, for now.