The emergence of a middle class can be a positive development. The middle class is essentially a class of moderately productive people with the skills necessary to generate resources to fulfill their basic biological needs as well as to pursue other interests and passions.

It is inevitable that Laos will open up to the rest of the world and it is inevitable that globalization will fundamentally change the culture. However, safeguards should be in place to promote the Buddhist ethical approach and way to life and the government should prevent the infiltration of foreign media and values into Lao society. Foreign media will only undermine the traditional values of Lao society and will only serve to poison the minds of the youth.

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You didn't take sides with the admin, you took sides with me, because you said you walk and take public transportation.

Read between the lines, Peter.

Hi-So is a part of biodiversity. Let it be, Lo-So the same.

We are animals, sophisticated, we need forest to live in, forest has many stratum of life. 

My foolish opinion is that Mak Nad's argument would benefit from a change of tone and a refrain from scathing criticism and personal attack. Words have the power to cause lasting internalized harm and we should think and speak in a productive and restrained manner. Criticism is justifiable in this context because there is much in Laos that deserves criticism and only speech and discussion can change opinion and behavior.

Although I disagree with Miss Administrator's point of view, I respect her talents and capability nonetheless.

Development is necessary to lift the masses out of poverty and to provide material support for a growing middle class. People mostly act in what they perceive as their own self-interest. Often times, however, their perception is misguided and founded upon ignorance. Therefore, it is imperative for the Lao PDR to guide its subjects, to instill in them excellent habits, and to provide them with correct information and to stop the contaminating influence of Thai media culture from corrupting the hearts and minds of the whole-hearted Lao people. Therefore, the Lao PDR is correct to require women working for the government to wear the traditional sinh. Therefore, the Lao PDR is correct to impose curfews and to censor foreign sources of media.

Also I don't exactly believe that Laos has to open up to the world, Cuba seems to be doing just fine.  I just wish Laos could be more like Cuba. They are still traditionally Communist but have been doing well for themselves lately. I'm not sure whether they have Hi So people or not, but to me Hi So is more of an East Asian concept,  since westerners aren't so snobbish about it.

Well now food is harder to find in the bushes/forest because there's a higher population than before so everyone needs more land for farming, and more trees get cut down and less habitat for animals which were traditionally hunted for food. Back then all the tribes were warring and killed rival tribes for resources. This couldn't go on forever because eventually slash and burn would've decimated the forests until none are left.

Anyway, in Laos there are so many uneducated rural people that I think it will take maybe 100 years or more for it to reach Thailand's development status. Even if Laos becomes developed only a minority of wealthy people will benefit from it, while the majority remain impoverished. Thailand had universities since the early 1900s I think, or maybe before.


One of the reasons Thailand is so developed is because of its infrastructure, most rural areas have internet and schools, but even despite having access to school, lots of Thai kids drop out because Thai culture is just stupid and doesn't place importance on intelligence. That is why all the Chinese families have money and the Thai people are stuck doing the low wage jobs. I think if Laos ever gets as developed as Thailand, maybe in 50-100 years, then we will see the Vietnamese and Chinese making all the money and the Lao kids still getting pregnant at 12 years old. No offense to Lao people but the culture is similar to Thai culture and they mostly just want to get married and do the S-E-X but aren't interested in academic pursuits.

Yeah, the Siamese had their king to help them, the Laos had nobody.

That's one of the reasons why Laos is still underdeveloped, also because the leaders are conservative and don't let foreigners run wild in Laos.

In Thailand foreigners can go anywhere and do what they want.

In Laos they have a law that prohibits foreigners from having sex with Lao nationals. I don't care what Lao people say or any unhappy foreigners say, I think this is a good law. I actually think all foreign things should be completely banned from the country 100%.

The fact that Laos is underdeveloped might be bad for some Lao people, but it's good for people like me, who believes that the traditional culture of Laos is worth keeping alive.

Yes, Thailand is developed, but it doesn't have its identity anymore. There is nothing really "Thai" about Thailand anymore. Do you want that for Laos?

I'm not gonna criticize Thai people anymore, and I won't criticize westernized Lao people, but the leaders of the country should block all foreign languages and media and not allow foreigners to enter the country, that way there wouldn't be any westernized people in the first place.

For those who say the people were starving, I don't think so. There used to be a lot of frogs and animals to eat, until they brought in pesticides which is a foreign good. The pesticides kill all the animals and contaminate the land.

And for those who say there's not enough food for the population, back then women had several children, but not all of them survived. Nowadays thanks to modern medicine women can have as many children as they want and all of them can survive, which makes the population high.

Of course people should have medicine, though, but there should be no foreign films, foreign music, and foreign cultures attacking our beautiful country and causing its destruction.