Vientiane's recent decision to allow Laotian students to study for bachelor degrees in the Thai language represents a new benchmark of Thai-Lao relations.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/03/14/opinion/Our-neighbour-Laos-No-longer-...

For decades, this has been an off-area for ties across the Mekong. Until recently, students could study only for masters and post graduate degrees with English language instruction in Thai universities, when scholarships were available.

Beyond the Thai-Lao context, the change of heart manifests the growing pragmatism of the new Lao leadership, which has the vision to transform the land-locked country to become a fully developed land-linked hub in continental Southeast Asia - linking Southern China to the Gulf of Thailand.

With several infrastructure projects in the pipeline under Asean Connectivity, as well as the ongoing Kunming-Vientiane high speed train, Laos is linking its north with southern China and south with Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, as part of the network of regional connectivity. To prepare for the future, the government has dispatched its best students overseas for education and training. The Lao Communist Party, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, is also recruiting bright students to boost its credentials and relevancy.

According to the World Bank, Laos had the second highest economic performance after China last year with an average economic growth of 7.5 per cent. Such impressive growth - unprecedented in its history - was the result of economic reform and overall efforts to integrate with Asean's economy. In the next five years, Laos also hopes to graduate from the list of least developed countries and is also hopeful of joining the World Trade Organisation.

With a new found confidence, the Lao leadership is becoming more outward looking and engaging, especially with neighbouring countries. Since joining Asean in 1997, Laos' overall relations with China, Vietnam and Thailand, have intensified with strong economic ties. Except for Cambodia and Burma, these three neighbours pursue different patterns of political and economic relations, which has enabled Laos to maintain its overall equilibrium.

Lao-China relations improved dramatically in the 1980's and more steadily afterward, as China's presence in the past 6 years has increased by leaps and bounds with huge investment in infrastructure projects. For instance, in Northern Laos, China's economic and demographic presence in Boten is quite impressive. Although China was considered a late comer in comparison with Vietnam, its larger and high-impact investment and assistant schemes including all round cooperation, have all but overwhelmed Vietnam's long-held dominance. Of late, China has also boosted the defence capacity of the Lao armed forces, delivering new military hardware and training. Diplomats frequenting the northern route linking Luang Prabang and border towns in China, have witnessed long lines of military trucks for delivery to Laos.

Truth be told, as a land-locked nation with over six million population, Laos is extremely sensitive to foreign influence. Any tilt towards any country would be addressed quite readily by party leaders. At the National Assembly meeting at the end of last year, the sudden resignation of prime minister Bouasone Bouphavanh was a good case in point. Officially, family problems were cited as the main reason - but diplomatic insiders in Vientiane held different views. They said disagreement over the scope of China's role and economic influence in the country was one of the major factors.

Less controversial this time around were Thai-Lao ties. They have improved tremendously in the past two years due to the repatriation of Hmong refugees inside Thailand, which remained the thorn in the side for the past three decades. This chapter of bad history has finally been overcome. After the controversial repatriation at the end of 2009, Thailand bore t

There's nothing wrong with learning another language as long as you don't forget your own heritage.