There is another problem that I did not mention... CARS++++
There is a real problem with traffic in VT during peak hours, with
cars and motocycles.
There has been a fast increase in the number of cars - second hand
cars from Thailand, Vietnam & China - especialy.
There are stories of coulums of luxery cars from China entering Laos
as tourist but there is no way to tell if any of those cars have left
Laos...
And there are many foreign banks that are happy to loan money for any
onen to buy cars.... So, if you are in Vientiane, you can SEE the
hireachy of people with cars - the people who paid cash for their cars
got a YELLO number plate. Those who go on loan from the bank got a
WHITE number plate!!! So, if you are driving a WHITE number plate,
people will look down on you. Some Lao officials who bought their car
on loan are given a YELLOW plate... so to FIT their position!!!
Then the green number plates....and so on....
du
------------------------
2012-0625 - Asia News Network - Laos puts brakes on secondhand car
imports
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/06/25/laos-puts-brakes-secondhand-car-imports.html
Business
Laos puts brakes on secondhand car imports
Asia News Network (Vientiane News), Vietnam | Business | Mon,
06/25/2012 3:18 PM
Laos President Choummaly Sayasone has advised the ministry of industry
and commerce to introduce concrete measures to stop the import of
secondhand cars, as Vientiane is facing traffic congestion.
“The ministry should carefully check and recheck to ensure that the
import of secondhand vehicles is really halted,” Choummaly said as he
delivered the policy to leaders and officials of the ministry in
Vientiane on Thursday.
The government had ordered the ministry to stop the import of
secondhand vehicles earlier this year but the number of secondhand
cars on sale in Vientiane has remained unchanged over the past few
months, raising questions as to whether the import of these vehicles
had really stopped.
“I still see many cars on display but not yet on the road. If all of
these cars start to be used, we will not be able to move around and
people in the capital will not be able to visit each other,” Choummaly
said.
Choummaly, who is also secretary general of the Lao People's
Revolutionary Party, said Vientiane was a small city and with the
number of cars growing rapidly, traffic jams were occurring, so the
ministry should come up with new measures to stop further imports.
He also said he wanted trade policy makers to consider the increasing
number of secondhand vehicles as a serious problem which they needed
to solve.
The number of vehicles on Vientiane's roads has been increasing
rapidly over the past few years while the government allowed second-
hand vehicle imports. Lao people obviously considered the cost of
secondhand vehicles more affordable...........................