I've mentioned time and time again about the regular road accidents in Laos, but sadly this time it involves a very close family.

My 16-year-old cousin and his friend were riding a motorbike on the way home together on April 11, 2011. The both of them were killed instantly when their motorbike got hit by a speeding dump truck. Poor boys, they can't celebrate the Lao New Year. I love you young man.

For foreigners planning a trip to Laos, please be careful on the roads. Our roads are more dangerous than ever before.

• Accident involving a foreigner
• Motorbike accident in Vientiane
• Road accident in Vientiane
• Road accidents in Vientiane
• Speeding Thai kills 17-year old Lao girl in BBK

They say that elders live longer than young people, because the elders never go out.

I will die one day too, but I don't want to die that way. He was their only son and now they have two beautiful girls left.

Three people are dead in Vientiane road accidents last week according to Vientiane Times. I've seen and heard plenty of accidents in the run up to the Lao New Year. Maybe more deaths coming in the next few days, it's terrible.

My condolences  nang.

Very sorry to hear that, best wishes and condolences.

I'm very sorry for your family's loss.

Thank you to everyone for the condolences. My cousin's sudden death doesn't affect me much on a personal level, because he isn't an immediate family member, but still a very close relative, and his family is obviously devastated.

It was time for him to go. None of us will be here forever too, we just have to make the most of our time on Earth and do good things because Buddhist followers believe in reincarnation, and it gives us hope to be reborn into human life again and live a much happier life. Or our spirit stays longer or eternal in heaven and there is no more suffering.

Admin Saovaluck wrote on 13^th Apr, 2011 at 10:13pm:


I have a few enquiries concerning Laos' departing rituals. It's been a while since I last sacrificed my mane and eyebrows out of love and respect for the deceased. I know it is expected, as males, to become ordained as monks in such circumstances. Wrapped up in orange robes is the expectation, right?

How about the women? What are they expected to 'sacrifice'?

Here's something interesting-slash-odd-slash-peculiar-slash-weird-slash-bizarre-slash-scary you can fill me in on:

When one finally departs into the unknown, why do their kin have them displayed in their fiefdoms like ancient Egyptian pharaohs? The whole community gets the chance to pay their respects while at the same instant, peek into their tombs. This, I found, was putting me off. Even more so, when I found out that I had to 'sleep' in the adjacent room. I didn't doze off until my eyelids weighed as heavy as a dumbbell. There was also an elder - one of the higher ups in the community -whose 'job' it was to sleep next to the coffin and keep the dead company.

What's the story behind these superstitions? What is HE really going to do, if the recently departed decides he needs to relieve himself? Wakes up and hops out of his resting place.

Exorcising spirits/demons is a part of the impressive arsenal of monks, isn't it? FLYING even - from the myths that I've heard - is a skill that all the devout monks possess, right? Wouldn't a monk have been the apt guardian in this circumstance? I know it would have given me peace of mind.