Dr. Pao 2 daig report-Hmoob havzoov ua koj tsaug
pebcov...@yahoo.com
los tiv tauj peb tag es ho muab peb cov teeb meem sau tso tawm rau lub
ntiaj teb paub. peb tsis muaj dab tsi lam hais lo lus qhuav ua koj
tsaug uas koj tseem xa ib xab npav los rau peb khaws ua puav pheej
thiab.
Dr. Pov tsab report 1
Introduction
About this Report
This is an Observational Report about my visit to Laos from May 4th -
23rd 2006 as guest of the Neo Lao Sang Xat (Lao Font for
Reconstruction) to attend its VIIIth Congress held in Vientiane.
This trip came as a complete surprise to me.
My position on Laos has been well known in all circles since the
change of Government in 1975. Many people have gone back to Laos many
times and they keep asking me, "Are you going to Laos?" "No. I have
no plans to go to Laos." But it has often crossed my mind that one
day I would go to Laos although for the moment, if I go, I would only
go in some sort of official capacity.
Then the opportunity arrived. I was approached to be part of the
Australian delegation to attend the forthcoming National Congress of
the Neo Lao Sang Xat (NLSX) to be held in Vientiane in May. I was
flattered about the invitation. I know that I was the last Hmong
person to be invited to go to Laos.
I was reluctant initially. However, the Lao Ambassador called me
personally to invite me. He said that I was the one with the
qualifications and besides, I had never been back to Laos so this
would be a great opportunity for me to travel back to my home country
"yang som kiet" - with dignity. After some consideration, and without
loosing sight of my anti-LPDR sentiment which I'd had for the past 30
years, I accepted the invitation with the full realization that it
would be a major change in the direction of my life, and that there
are natural consequences that I have fully considered and accepted.
As a point of interest, while I was in Vientiane, H.E. Lengsavad told
the Australian Ambassador that even though "Dr Pao does not like our
regime; we still invited him back to Laos!"
Prior to the meeting, I traveled by car to Xiengkhouang to visit my
birth place at Nonghet. From May 10th to 14th I drove down to the
south of Laos to visit the Hmong settlement in Borikhamxay (Ban Thong
Na Mee) and Ban Na Sa-At, south of Thakhek. I also traveled south as
far as Champssack to visit the Khone Phapheng, Mouang Khong, Li Phi,
boating around the Si Phandone area and Vat Phou.
I attended the Lao Front meeting on May 15th to 17th. From May 18th
to 23rd, I had the opportunity to catch up with friends and family as
well as meet a few Lao leaders, both as part of the overseas
delegation and privately.
This report is not meant to be a comprehensive examination of the many
topical issues in Laos. The content is just a recollection of my
experiences based on what I saw, heard, was told and what I can deduce
from all the above.
The views expressed here do not represent the views of any other
individual or organization. These are entirely my personal views and
any errors or omissions are entirely my own.
Arrival in Laos:
I informed the Lao Embassy that I would be entering Laos via the
Friendship Bridge, which was funded by Australia. I flew to Udorn and
organized for my Lao team member from Vientiane to meet me in Udorn on
4th May. As he arrived he informed me that a welcoming delegation
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had contacted him and
wanted to receive me at the Bridge. However, due to the uncertainty of
my arrival time he had advised the MFA team to meet us that evening at
the Guest house where I planned to stay.
Soon after I arrived at our Vientiane Guest house, a man from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs[3][3][5] came over to discuss my touring
trip. He said that my itinerary and my touring team were cleared and
APPROVED by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 2nd May. He said that
an official escort had been arranged to ensure my safety (as the LPDR
did not want its Oz guest to disappear in Laos). The itinerary
content detailed my travel and my meetings with local officials and
attendances at an official reception/baci at the Mouang and Khoueng
level.
I was unhappy about those meetings and attending official engagements
that I did not plan. I requested that all the official engagements be
cancelled because the sole purpose of my touring trip was a private
one. At the end most of the engagements were cancelled except three -
two in Xiengkhouang and one in Savannakhet.
The next day I reported to the Australian Embassy and met the
Ambassador for a briefing about my trip and about the situation in
Laos. I also went to the UN offices in the next block to gather
information about various UN projects in Laos, especially the UNDCP's
crop replacement program for opium.
We departed Vientiane by car to Vangvieng in the late morning of 5th
May with my escort, Mr. Singhanakhone Syhalath, (Singha) from the
Office of the Committee for External Relations[4][4]. As I don't
like the idea of traveling at night, I decided that I would spend the
night at Vangvieng and leave in the morning for Phonesavanh.
When we arrived at Vangvieng, the sun was low on the horizon. We drove
around the dusty road along the river looking for somewhere to stay.
There were many guest houses along both sides of the road. We walked
into a brand new guest house which resembled a small hotel. The cost
was $40/room, the most expansive I was told. Even at Lane Xang Hotel,
it cost less than that! So, we moved on and picked two guest houses
that were closest to the walking path along the river. The first
guest house was an older building but it was cheap, costing only $7-9
per room per night with fan or air conditioner. However, one of my
team members was very scared of the Lao tukae - Lao lizards around the
house- so half of the team members decided to move to another guests
house across the road which cost $10/ night with air-conditioning.
I walked to the river with Singha and we sat at the there watching the
sun set and people floating downstream on inflated tubes until the
night set in and the light and music began to play. It was peaceful.
I just sat there gazing at the majestic mountains before me and let my
mind wonder off. Was I really in Laos? I had a dreamy feeling that
it was just a dream - what a beautiful country.... But what had happen
to this land? Why did Laos have to become the contested ground for
the Super powers? Why did some half million Lao have to live outside
this beautiful place? This place could be an exceptional place for
Laos. I could imagine and see before my eyes how Vangvieng could
easily become a "Paradise" where people with pockets full of dollars
would queue up for months to get a spot to visit Vangvieng. I could
see big hotels, convention centers, tourist attractions in natural
settings, places for meditations and soul-searching. This could be the
place where people fly to Vientiane from where they would be air-
lifted by helicopters to Vangvieng to spend an unforgettable weekend
for a business convention, silver anniversary, honeymoon or simply
just wanting to get back to nature. But as my thoughts wondered off to
no-man's land the bank of the river became alive at night and
backpackers began to arrive. It looked like a big party was about to
begin. I felt out of place, in the wrong place, as reality set in.
Yes... this was Vangvieng of 2006. We decided it was time to leave to
join out team for dinner.
There are almost endless choices of restaurants, with cuisine from
Indian to exotic Lao. We decided on one restaurant next to our guest
house and tried some Lao food which I don't like. I walked across the
street and ordered some roti pancake from the street vendor who
happened to be a young Hmong boy. I was so impressed with his attempt
to make a living by selling roti that I ordered six pancakes for the
team. I learned later from the local hair dresser that there are 6
roti pancake trolleys operating on the street and all are owned and
operated by Hmong. There is a place where the people can go and learn
that trade, and the trolleys and equipment were imported from Vietnam.
Vangvieng to Salaphoukoun:
After a quiet night at Vangvieng, we set out early the next morning,
traveling along highway No 13, through Kasy, Salaphoukoun, and
finally turned off onto the road to Mouang Souei and arrived at
Phonesavanh before sun set.
As we left the flat plain of Vangvieng, we began to climb the
mountains. The scenery changed from wet rice paddy to corn fields
along both side of the road.
The road passing through Salaphoukoun was the most picturesque but
winding road in Laos that I had seen during this trip. I was told that
the old road was repaired and sealed by the Vietnamese. It is not a
road to be driven along by just by anyone. There was a story that a
bus had rolled down the hill just a week before. Many parts of the
road were half closed due to land slides or rocks falling onto the
road. The worst thing was that the road was very winding and you never
knew what the next turn of the road could be. It could be full of
falling rocks or simply rocks that people had used to stop their cars
rolling down the road! Or landslide! Occasionally people would put
some fresh leaves on the road as a warning sign, or sometimes people
are warned by the patrolling soldiers along this part of the track.
This is the only place in Laos during the trip where I saw the
presence of the military every 2-3 kilometers, with pairs of soldiers
carrying guns walking along the road, or just doing their chores along
the road.
The very visible presence of the soldiers was suggestive that this
area is far from being peaceful and the recent alleged killing of some
Hmong near Vangvieng had crossed my mind more than once while driving
through.
Stop at Phoukoun Cross Roads for lunch
As soon as we arrived in Phonesavanh, we were notified that the
Xiengkhouang provincial Office had organized an escort party with a
car at my disposal and they were ready to pick us up the next morning
to travel to Nonghet as per my itinerary.
Phonesavanh is a new booming town. The old town was completely
destroyed during the Vietnam War and the current town was built by the
new settlers in the area after 1975. There are few big streets with
lots of 2-3 story buildings along the main street of which most are
built as guest houses. Since it is the capital of the Xiengkhouang
province it is now a large town with an airport providing a daily
flight service linking Vientiane.
We stayed at the Nice Guest House which is own by a relative. It cost
us $12/room/day. I took a stroll in the market the next morning and
had a talk to few locals and few Chinese merchants who operate shops
with almost everything in them. I walked past a group of men standing
on the side of the road, in front of the Post Office, even though it
was at an early hour of the morning. I was told that those people,
carrying bags bag, were there to exchange money that was sent from
overseas. It was estimated by a Hmong scholar that on average there
would be 100 cheques from overseas sent to the Post Office and each
cheque would be between $50-300. If we assume that the average cheque
is $100, that would amount to $10,000/day coming to Phonesavanh - that
would means that each year the overseas Hmong would send in around
$3,650,000, or over 15,000,000 over the last 5 years. That's a lot of
money! It is no wonder that Phonesavanh is booming!
I had the chance to talk to some local Hmong privately and learned
that a large number of the people are doing well, especially those who
had any sort of business. However, after driving through the different
villages from Phonesavanh to the Lao-Viet border and talking to the
Lao officials (from the provincial office and representatives of the
NLSX), the Xiengkhouang people still seem a long way off being self-
sufficient. Many new arrivals from remote villages have no land to
grow rice as most of the rice paddies have been used. I caught up
with one of my relatives in That-Jok, a model Hmong village for
tourist. The family lived in a reasonable Hmong house, but as I
wandered around I noted that it was practically empty inside. This
relative told me that he is leasing the land for his house and he is
finding it hard to feed his family. What he needs is some rice paddy
so that he can grow rice. For the moment he is doing any odd jobs
that are available around town and in Phonesavanh to put food on the
table.
The Lao officials told me that the main problem was education. Some
remote villages had no school. If there was a school, there was no
teacher because no one wants to teach in those remote places. In
addition, those remote villagers are the poorest, so they cannot send
their kids to school. Even in Nonghet, after grade 10 of high school,
the students have to attend the High School in Phonesavanh. Many
families cannot afford to send their kids. Many of the local schools
lack even a basic teaching manual.
I visited my first school at Lat Huang. I was impressed with the large
and attractive wooden building.. As I was strolling around the grounds
where I started school some 45 years ago, tears flowed from my eyes.
As a group of Hmong kids came by I was having difficulty speaking to
them. They were age 7-9 years old. One boy had just started school in
bare feet, exactly as I had done years ago at that school. We started
to talk to them and it was sad to see those kids starting school as I
had. I stopped them and I gave them a lecture about life that, "even
at this school, you never know what life has in store for you!". Then
I turned to one girl and ask her, "What do you want to do when you
grow up?" She replied with no hesitation, "Get married? I was
shocked. But what did I expect? Perhaps I expected too much after 45
years! Maybe I had lost touch with the reality that those kids are
still living!
We met the school principal who took us into the school library, where
there were a few maps on the walls and two Lao teaching manuals. He
said that the school didn't have enough teaching manuals for the
teachers and half of the students didn't have text books. When we
inquired about the problems the principal said that there are two main
reasons for them. He said that at one stage, when the students wanted
to buy the text books, the Department of Education did not have the
books available. On another occasion, when there was a good enough
supply of books the students could not afford to buy them. The
principal requested that I furnish the school library with text books
for the children and manuals for the teachers and a few maps, all of
which would amount to about $US3000. "And a computer at later stage?"
he added.
Overall, what is urgently needed is funding to support those gifted
kids that the parents cannot afford to send to school. Secondly,
funding is needed to build a dormitory in Phonesavanh Teacher's
College for the Nonghet's remote students to attend. It is hoped that
once they have graduated, those kids would return to their village to
teach. Thirdly, scholarships are needed to support those provincial
kids who would like to attend university in Vientiane.
On the health side, I did not see any major health problems in those
people that I had met or seen. I am quite amazed that those people
look quite healthy, even in the Nonghet area. But I was told that the
local hospitals need lots of assistance, especially with equipment and
manpower. One official gave one example that the Nonghet hospital has
only one sphygmomanometer ( for measuring blood pressure) for the
1000's of people in the area. There is no Specialist service either,
and it would be good to have at least some visiting specialists.
Visiting Nonghet:
Latitude (DMS): 19° 29' 38" N; Longitude (DMS): 103° 59' 14" E
(Degrees, minutes and seconds)
I planned to visit Nonghet for two main reasons. Firstly to visit my
home town and pay respects to my ancestors, and secondly to check on
the UNDP Asparagus Farming project that was named as the model project
to replace opium poppy growing in that region.
Nonghet[5][5][9] is one of the 47 poorest districts in the Lao PDR -
the majority of the population lives in small remote communities with
limited access to basic services and infrastructure. The area is safe
and free of unexploded ordinance (UXO). The region has a population
of around 36,000 people and half of the population still lives in
poverty or in remote villages.
In 1993 the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) began
experiments with asparagus activities in Nonghet as part of the joint
UN Alternative Development Project, a crop replacement programme to
replace opium poppy growing.
In Nonghet some 20 families were reported to have taken on the project
and started growing asparagus around the village, plus plum and
apricot trees, as part of this opium eradication program. The
asparagus project was reported as an almost immediate success. From
getting the seeds, a farmer can sell asparagus shoots after eight to
twelve months. The crop is harvested over seven months, from April to
October, and the farmers were reported to collect between 3 and 4
kilos each day, selling a kilo for Kip 800 in the local market and for
up to Kip 1,500 if he could get it to Phonsavanh or Vietnam. Some
families made two to three hundred thousand kip per month, almost
twice as much money as with opium, and the project was reported as
having been a model project with high success in the area as an
alternative crop to replace opium.
Hearing the success of the asparagus project, I made a request to the
local Authority that I wanted to see the success of this project. On
arrival at Nonghet we were greeted by the Chao Mouang Nong Het, a
Hmong from Omdomxay. After a successful tour of duty as an army
officer, serving in various regions including Xaysomboun, he had been
transferred to Nong Het to help to lift this area from being listed as
one of the poorest region in Laos. We were received with a large
luncheon at the local restaurant with one dish of asparagus with
chicken. The Chao Mouang reported that the asparagus project is no
longer a viable crop and that only a few villagers grow grew it for
personal consumption or just for the local Nonghet market alone. The
Chao Mounang said that to get enough asparagus, small stick of shoots,
for our lunch dish, it took 2 days to gather asparagus around town
even though we were there at the harvest season.
The crop failure is thought to be partly due to the lack of overall
planning and ongoing support by the UNDCP people. This was like many
projects around the country that have failed. As soon as the project
expert people left there was no systemic follow up to maintain the
longevity of such project as a cash crop. There was also the problem
of marketing, know-how to operate the asparagus as a commercial crop
and ongoing expert support. Soon, the project failed. Many local
people believe that those international Agencies like the UNDCP have
no real intention of helping the local people. It is just another job
for the Agency. The Agency employees had probably done their best to
teach the locals, but once they finished their contract, they left to
take on their next job. There is now a slogan that, "once the expert
people go, the project follows".
It is in the interest of the international communities who fund such
project to ensure that the projects will enhance the lives of the
local people for the long haul. To prevent this sort of failure, the
planning of future projects must include a built-in long-term strategy
to ensure the longevity of the project. In this case, asparagus is an
excellent crop for the Nonghet people and the UN hailed it as a model
project, but as reported by the Chao Mouang Nonghet asparagus is now
only gown in the villagers' back yards for their own consumption.
The villagers are now concentrating on growing corn. The Vietnamese
supply the seed and provide a pickup service from the fields as the
corn is harvested. The second group is growing plums and apricots,
also for the Vietnamese market. A smaller numbers of villagers are
now experimenting with a new project growing grass to feed their
animals. If a family can sell one to two cows per year then that would
bring sufficient money for the family to buy their essential
consumables for the year.
Potential ecotourism:
As UNESCO is working towards adding Xiengkhouang to the World Heritage
listing I can see that this region has lot of potential, and this
could be a favorite spot for tourists in the near future.
The region with the most potential is Mouang Kham, which is about 600
meter above sea level, a valley surrounded by high mountains. This
makes the area have a tropical climate known as the "hot area" in
Xiengkhouang and suitable to have "Na Seng" (2 crops of wet rice/year
with water from one of the biggest irrigation system in the north), to
grow bananas, chilies and even mangos. It is also a good spot for
ecotourism with the hot water springs and water falls that are yet to
be fully developed.
Other attractions include the enigmatic stone jars at Plain of Jars,
the 14th-century old cave of Nong Tang at Mouang Souei and the beauty
of places such as Xiengkhouangville, Mouang Kham[6][6] and Nonghet
(being only 20 km from the Vietnamese border). If developed properly
with the right infrastructure and services this area could attract
more tourists than Luangprabang or Champassack.
Paksane, Borikhamxai and Thakhek:
We departed Vientiane for Paksane mid morning on 10th May with our new
escort member, Mr Ly Ying, the Director of the External Committee for
External Relations.
We stopped at Paksane for lunch at a beautiful restaurant by the Nam
Xan river. As we were having lunch a Vietnamese vendor came into the
front of the restaurant with his bicycle-shop, carrying all sorts of
goods and soliciting our business. You can buy soap, tooth paste,
buckets and scissors as just about any household essential was hanging
from all over his bicycle. I was told that this type of Vietnamese
merchant was issued with a special permit to trade in Laos as part of
Lao-Vietnamese cooperation. This type of business is available to
Vietnamese and Chinese nationals to enable them to bring their goods
to sell in Laos to offset the import of goods from Thailand. In
addition to these mobile merchants some Lao business people travel to
Vietnam with their trucks and buy enough goods, including household
essentials (even knives) to fill their truck to sell back in Laos. I
was told that this is quite a profitable business for those few who
can afford this type of operation.
Visit toThong Na Mee:
This Hmong settlement is situated south of Paksane and currently has
about 900 families, making this one of the most vibrant settlements,
second only to Km52. Most of the people are from the Nonghet area.
As a new family arrives the LPDR gives them a piece of wet rice
paddy. The family can then clear a swiden to grow pineapples and
bananas, two crops that grow exceptionally well in the area. Along
the No 13 national highway there is a large market for the local
people to sell their produce which consists primarily of juicy
pineapples and bananas.
As we drove around the settlement I could see that there were
different types of housing including brick, timber and very poor
thatch roof houses. The old ladies from the market pointed to me, "My
son, all those brick or timber houses belong to those Hmong who have
relatives in America. People like us, we are still living in thatch
house and have no shoes, like me. And we have a very hard life here!".
After talking to the local people at the market I formed the
impression that Thong Na Mee seemed to be a successful Hmong
settlement. On closer observation, this vibrant community appeared to
have many factors which may have contributed to its success.
Firstly, the people were given rice paddy to grow rice, so that they
were not hungry.
Secondly, they could clear their swiden (then pay tax on the land they
used) to grow bananas and pineapples which can be sold at the highway
market, giving them some earnings to support their lives.
Thirdly, there is vast mountain range behind the settlement where the
people can roam freely so they can supply their families with game and
natural vegetables. Some excess game meats are even sold at the
market (e.g. wild pig meat, some of which we bought on our way home).
Fourthly, this settlement is close to town and to Vientiane so the
families get access to other services and are able to visit relatives
who lived up north.
Lastly, as the Hmong's business is booming, this has an automatic flow
on effect on the local Laolum communities which benefit from the money
being spent on other goods in the area.
We spent the night in Thakhek at the Mekong Hotel which is Vietnamese
owned and operated. We walked down the road along the bank of the
Mekong and had dinner at a roadside restaurant where we enjoyed the
local cuisine.
The next morning we departed for Ban Na Sa-at which was about 20km
south of town. After traveling for some time we could not find this
village. We stopped at the roadside and asked some local people
whereupon we were told that we had driven pass the village which was
20 Km behind us!
Ban Na Sa-at was the location chosen to resettle Vue Mai's group of
refugees who returned to Laos from Thailand as part of the UN-
sponsored voluntary repatriation. Working with the LPDR, a territory
was mapped out for the returnees. The UN assisted with building
materials, provided tractors to clear the trees, and dug out the tree
trunks to flatten the land for wet rice paddy. The UN assistance
continued for 4 years and now, according to the returnees, the UN
still visits every 4-5 years. Despite some early protests from the
local people about the special treatment of these "meo", in the early
phase of settlement things quietened down after some mediation by the
UN. The returnees were able to rebuild their lives. Having rice
paddies they could grow sufficient rice to feed their families. They
could clear any spot within the allocated land to grow bananas or
anything else. Racial tensions persisted for a few years, but
slowly, as the locals learned about the Hmong and the Hmong supported
the locals in time of death or hardship, more understanding and
interaction grew between them. Today the Hmong have a good
relationship with the locals and they are now accepted as part of the
local communities, contributing to local affairs and the local
economy. From the original 70 families of almost exclusively Hmong of
the Vue clan, there are now only 30 families left. These families have
been able to establish themselves and are now filling a niche market
by supplying a special sweet banana that is also exported to many
parts of the country.
From this banana farming some families can earn up to two to three
hundred kip per month. One family had a car that he turned into a
two-row taxi traveling around the area and which brings him an
additional income of up to $100/day. Some families are able to buy
land in Vientiane or other places.
The remaining issue for this settlement is related to land conflict
between the local people and the returnees, the small one clan
communities. Due to the increase in population in the area the local
people have encroached onto the Hmong territory as originally marked
by the UN. Unfortunately, many of the UN border markings have
disappeared and some locals had begun to move on to the Hmong land,
causing some friction. Secondly, the small community of almost
exclusively of one single clan [7][7] poses some major problems for
the community relating to functions in time of death, celebration,
courtship and marriage as the Hmong cannot marry a member of the same
clan. New Hmong are not allowed to move into this settlement unless
the new arrival is part of the immediate family, e.g. the son-in-
law's family. Furthermore, the allocated land is communal land so
that the settlers have no claim to ownership. Once a family moves out
of the area, that family has no further right to claim or use of that
land. Given these factors, the future of the Hmong here is unclear.
Although the Hmong have found a niche and a profitable market for
their bananas, some families have nevertheless bought land in
Vientiane or Thong Na Mee and elsewhere. I know of one family which
is planning to move to Vientiane in the very near future.
For this settlement to remain viable there is an urgent need to open
up the area for other Hmong of different clans around the country to
move into the settlement. Secondly, the question of land ownership
needs to be introduced. The communal land that each family has
occupied for the last 10 years needs to be assigned to that family,
giving them ownership of it, so that the people can feel secure in
their asset base and know that the land is theirs and they can improve
it or pass on to their children.
The rest of my trip to the south was made because I wanted to see how
the people of that region now lived since my last touring trip in
1974, some 31 years earlier. While in Savannakhet I visited the That
Inhang, had an audience with the Chao Khoueng Savanakhet, toured the
Dinosaur museum, walked the Lao-Thai second bridge across the Mekong,
and participated in the Boun Banfai morning offering to the monks (tak
bak) with the Savannakhet people and State officials. Then I traveled
further south to as far as Khone Phapheng and spent the night at Moung
Khong after crossing the Mekong in a bark at 11 pm. The next day we
visited Li Phi waterfall and the Vat Phou of Champassack. We were
welcomed to Champassack at a super southerner style diner at a
floating restaurant and hosted by newly elected Phouthene Dr
Sikhamtark Mitalay, Director of the Nation Lao University of
Champssack.
Members of the Laonork delegations from France, USA and Australia met
on the evening of 14th May at Lane Xang hotel. The French delegation
comprised 6 members, headed by Mr. Sengthong Soutmanivong, who is the
first ever Laonork living outside Laos to be elected as a member of
the NLSX. He has been associated with the Laonai since 1973 as the
President of the Lao Student Association in France.
The US team consisted of two members, Mr. Soulivanh Khamvongxay and
Mr. Vilay Soulatha.
My Australian team had three members, Mr. Kevin Prakounheuang, Mrs
Malithong Sinbandhit and me.
A special NLSX team of 5 members (two liaison members, one driver and
two policemen for our escort) was stationed at the hotel to look after
our Laonork delegations.
On the evening of May 14th our Laonork delegates sat down for two
hours to brainstorm and we agreed on a three-point proposal to be
presented to the NLSX and various members of the LPDR. The next day
Mr. Sengthong reported that the NLSX central committee was happy to
consider the Laonork proposal of up to 5 issues. We quickly added two
more points onto our proposal as follows:
1. To set up an Office of Laonork in Vientiane
2. For the overseas people of Lao of Lao origin to be allowed to stay
in Laos as "permanent residents" to enjoy the same rights and
privileges as any Laonai.
3. For the NLSX to host a Lao Expert International Conference of
Laonai and Laonork to identify means of assisting the development of
Laos for the betterment of the multi-ethnic Lao people.
4. For NLSX to head the way to set up an Official Committee to
network with all the Laonork.
5. For the NLSX to allow Laonork NGOs to bring expertise to Laos to
assist in the national development, in business, human resource
development and cultural issues.
Attended NLSX meeting on 15th, 16th and 17th May
The NLSX Meeting.
The official opening of the Eighth Congress of the Lao Front for
National Construction (LFNC) was held yesterday in Vientiane Capital[9]
[9][12]. In attendance were 425 representatives from both domestic
and international delegations [10] [10], of whom 193 are permanent
members of the LFNC. The rest were distinguished guests, including
the General Secretary of Party Central Committee, Choummaly Sayasone,
Prime Minister Mr. Boungnang Vorachit, Politburo Member and Deputy
Prime Minister Mr. Bouasone Bouphavanh and Politburo Member and Deputy
Chairman of National Assembly Mrs. Pany Yathotu.
Speaking at the opening ceremony was LFNC President Sisavath
Keobounphan, who was a supervisor of the public organization at the
national level. He explained that the main objective of the conference
was to evaluate the last five years of implementation of action plan
projects of the seventh era of the LFNC.
On the third day of the conference the Congress approved the action
plan for the next five years, from now until 2010. Some of the
adjusted regulations were considered and approved, which formed an
important landmark in improving and reforming the administrative body
of LFNC at all levels.
Chairman Somsavath Keobounphan gave a long and triumphal oration about
the great victory for LFNC over last five years. He said that over
the past five years, from 2000 to 2005, the Lao Front for National
Construction (LFNC) has made a great contribution to the country's
socio-economic development and poverty reduction programme. Most
importantly, the LFNC had followed the guidelines of the Lao People's
Revolutionary Party in establishing solidarity amongst ethnic groups
through mediating disputes and maintaining unity.
The LFNC has also promoted solidarity between different religions and
built respect amongst people throughout the country. Local people had
contributed billions of kip to restoring and maintaining temples and
local development infrastructure, while some religious groups had
donated funds for socio-economic development, accounting for 2 billion
kip, instigated by local branches of the LFNC under central
supervision.
The LFNC had also prompted a government-issued decree on creating
favourable conditions for religious activities throughout the
country.
The LFNC had succeeded in mobilizing a Lao citizen living in France
(Mr. Sengthong Soutmanivong) to join the LFNC, and appointed him as a
member of LFNC in the seventh era (2001) with the duty of coordinating
Lao ex-patriots with locals.
In addition, the LFNC had also enhanced its relationship with the Lao-
American Exchange Institute in the USA and three representatives of
Lao citizens living in Australia. The LFNC has so far had a good
relationship with foreign associations in Laos, from Vietnam, China,
Cambodia, India, Pakistan and other countries, through providing
consultation on local laws, how to live in Laos and enhancing
solidarity amongst them.
The establishment of village development funds and model families for
alleviating poverty and enhancing productivity was another effort of
the LFNC, pushing villagers towards self-sufficiency. The
establishment of village development funds was launched mid-2004 to
reduce poverty in 47 focal districts, and the plan will be enlarged to
other poor villages across the country.
Throughout the next period, the LFNC will focus on the establishment
of peaceful relations and good cooperation with other foreign fronts
in neighboring countries.
During the three-day conference, delegates sat and listened to reports
(that had been cleared by the LFNC Committees) from various other
delegates, talking about ideas which would enhance the LFNC's role,
and lessons concerning the unification and solidarity to shift this
potential resource in line with the realistic conditions set by Party
and Government policies. Almost all delegates enthusiastically
delivered their pre-printed speeches which had been circulated to all
the delegates on 14th May.
Mr Choummaly Sayasone, the General Secretary of Party Central
Committee, praised the success of the Eighth Congress of the LFNC.
This year is the 56th anniversary of the founding of Neo Lao Issara
(Free Lao Front), Neo Lao Xaksad (Lao Patriotic Front) and Neo Lao
Sangxat (Lao Front for National Construction), all of which have grown
to continue the promotion of patriotism and solidarity for the
nation. During the revolutionary process, Neo Lao Issara had leant
towards national conciliation, unification and solidarity amongst
people, urging participation in the revolutionary process to achieve
independence of the nation and freedom for Lao people.
Over the past 20 years of revolutionary tasks, despite the substantial
and rapid changes in the international and domestic arena, the LFNC
had always maintained the guidelines of the Party to the benefit of
the nation and of the new regime. Mr Choummaly also spoke of the
nation under construction for the next few years, during which there
would be many favourable conditions and challenges in the environment
to test the process. The entire Party and Lao people have much to
overcome to reach Eighth Party's resolution as planned, such as
maintaining political stability, security and social order and to push
forward Gross Domestic Production to grow by 7.5 percent, and to lift
Laos off the list of Least Developed Countries by 2020.
Mr Choummaly also pinned a National Gold Medal on the LFNC.
The head of the Vietnamese delegate, Mr. Pham Thieo Viet[11][11],
president to the National Font of Vietnam, also delivered a long
speech in Vietnamese, which was translated by a young Lao translator,
covering the long special relationship between Laos and Vietnam and
stressing and re-enforcing the ongoing solidarity and the special
relationship between the two countries. The Vietnamese president
presented a friendship flag as a symbol of the solidarity between the
two National Fronts.
The three Laonork delegations made their addresses to the NLSX
conference on the mid morning of the third day (17th May) - first the
French, USA and the Australian. (Video of the address will be
available online soon).
Meeting with various Lao VIPs:
17th May:
Laonork delegation received by Mrs. Pany Yathortou at Km 6 at noon.
Meeting with H.E. Somsavath Lengsavad - Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Foreign Affairs:
On the 17th May, at 5 PM, the Australian delegates and one Hmong
delegate from France were received by H.E. Lengsavad at the FM office
in a friendly atmosphere. H.E. Lengsavad talked at length about the
history of the Lao revolution and the development of Laos over the
last 30 years. He stressed that after the war much of the countryside
had been destroyed and the new government had to unite the multi-
ethnic Lao people and rebuild practically everything from scratch, and
he was happy to say that the LPDR has come a long way and the Lao
nation building has been successful as we can see today. He pointed
that prior to 1975, there was one sealed road but now the current
government has managed to build a network of roads all over the entire
country which has greatly improved communication and transportation.
The FM also stressed that no matter where the Lao people are, they
must be united, samaki and maintain their Laoness. But on the many
Hmong issues, the Minister said that he had briefed the Australian
Ambassador [12] already. But the FM said in passing that Vang Pao[13]
is bad, causing too much trouble, but he did not elaborate and I did
not pursue the matter any further. At the same time, I decided not to
raise the Hmong issue either as it was clear that he did not want to
discuss those issues at this meeting.
The FM outlined the government priority for the future. The government
needed more laws but the past deputies could only manage 5
legislations per year. "How can the government govern the people when
there is no law?" the FM told me. He hoped that the current new
deputies who have higher education can speed up the law making process
through the National Assembly. He said that Laos needs more people
(referring to Laonork) with expertise in law, language, translation
and many other forms of technical expertise. He added that the issue
of "dual citizenship" has been referred to the National Assembly for
consideration.
On the development side, the FM said that the government is
concentrating on three majors projects that wouldl generate foreign
income for Laos. The first was hydropower from the Nam Ngeum 2,3 to
5, followed by the mining of minerals in Savannakhet and Moung Phim,
and lastly cement production from Vangvieng, Mahaxay (Thakhek). He
said that with the electricity, the minerals and cement, Laos can
built itself up and at the same time generate foreign income as well.
18th May:
Received by Mr Mrs Ounchanh - President of Lao Women Union
Received by H.E. Bouasone - deputy PM at the Ministry of the Prime
Minister
Received by Dr Phonmek - Minister of Health. Met with many doctors and
students at lunchon organized by Dr Phoufay Sayasane.
Evening of 18th May - NLSX Gala dinner... meeting with various NLSX
(informal discussion about jungle people - see later report). Diner,
floor show, dances and singing.
19th May - Met with Mr Tonger Thao, vice president of NLSX and various
NLSX officials
20th May - To Phoukhao Kheui - received by the local member of NLSX.
Touring Ban Van Heua.
21st May - Hosted by Dr Vang Chue.
Attended a BBQ lunch at Dr. Bountien's range - attended by various
NLSX members and many doctors and professors. Delicious lunch with
fish from his 11 fish ponds!
Dr. Pao tsab report 2
GENERAL OBSERVATION
POLITICAL:
I. On the Governance system: Three levels.
Laos is governed by the Phak Pativat Pasason Lao which was set up in
1955 , which was part of the Indochina Communist Party (ICP), set up
by Ho Chi Minh in 1930.
As soon as the ICP came into being it adopted the Marxism-Leninism
system, quickly worked out strategies and tactics, and wasted no time
in implementing them.
By April 1930, the ICP claimed that the first communist cells in Laos
came into being in Vientiane, Thakhek, Boneng and Phontiou where a big
number of Vietnamese resided. By 1931, the ICP agents had covered
the whole Indochina including proletariats of Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia.
The Phak still hold the penultimate power in Laos, being itself as
under the control of the Vietnamese Communist Party. It is no secret
that Laos and Vietnam openly talk about their special relationship. On
the occasion of the celebration of the 75 years of Viet-Lao
relationship in Vietnam in November 2005, H.E. Sisavath Keobounphan,
President of the NLSX, said in Vietnam that, at present the Phak -
Government of the two countries have supported each other and
cooperate in all activities and all levels, ranging from the
Municipal, provincial, Mouang, departmental , all popular
organizational and at the NLSX levels". The two countries are
considered to be as one family.
During the NLSX VIII Congress in Vientiane, the Vietnamese delegation
was led by no other than the President of the Vietnam Font of
Construction, Mr. Pham The Viet. He sat on the left side of Sisavath
in the VIP table. The Vietnamese delegation of 8 people took the
first and second rows seat on the floor, while the Laonork from France
sat on the third row and the US and Australia delegates on the 4th
rows. Mr. Phan The Viet gave a long speech about the history of
cooperation of the two countries and stress and re-affirm the strong
special relation. He presented a "friendship flag" to the NLSX and
the two presidents embrace each other while the whole audience
applauded.
Based my understanding from a Phak official I spoke with, the Phak
operates without any laws but only by resolution. Hence, the Phak
It is interesting to note that the "Kana Phoua Phan Khun Lao Thang
Pathet" (Committee for External Relations) located at the Foreign
Ministry building is a Phak organization and this committee is under
the direction of the Phak and reports directly to the Phak only - not
to the LPDR. Similarly, the Neo Lao Sang Xat (NLSX) organization is a
Phak organization and it is able to invite Laonork like me to
participate in their annual meetings as per the Phak direction.
Hence, in accordance with Article Three of the Lao constitution, the
Phak hold the ultimate power. It can operate freely, independently
from the LPDR and it can override any law or can operate in areas
where there is yet no law.
This has important implication to Laos's working relationship with the
international communities and governments. In each instance, the
international communities may have know who to deal with - the Phak or
the LPDR.
As I see, the ruling elite in Laos have reached a new height of
confidence about their rule of Laos. After 30 years, the Phak has
reached the level that the Phak and the LPDR have total control of the
country. Laos has now joined the global community by having diplomatic
relations with 121 countries, up from only 44 countries in 1976. The
Lao PDR has embassies in 24 countries and consulates in six; the
country also has a permanent representative office at the United
Nations. Laos confidence can be gazed from what Lengsavad told me
about his meeting with the US Ambassador, by pointing and wagging the
fingers at the Ambassador, twice, (as Lengsavad demonstrated to me
during our meeting on 17th May) at the meeting about the missing Hmong
children. The Phak and LPDR bureaucracy have mature to an all time
high as well with a team of dedicated young people ensuring the smooth
running of the machinery. Its military has the security in the
Salaphoukoun under control. The jungle people issue is now a minor
issue and as some diplomatic source in Vientiane said, the LPDR is
confident that it is a matter of mopping up the rest of the
resistance. The only remaining concern for the LPDR is Vang Pao who
continued to cause "trouble", as raised by Lengsavad on 17th May on
two occasions - to the Australian Ambassador and to me in a period of
2 hours.
(ii) While the Lat - "Latthaban" or LPDR government -
although operated under the direction of the Phak, it can only govern
under the Constitution and by laws that were passed by the National
Assembly. However, up to now, the National Assembly has difficulties
writing laws and "how do you govern the country without laws?", H.E.
Somsavath Lengsavad posed that question to me. He told me that due to
the low education of the deputies (Phoutene), the National Assembly
can only manage a maximum of 5 pieces of legislations per years and
with that few laws, it is difficult for the LPDR to govern the
country. He hopes that with the current group of deputies (Phoutene)
many of whom have higher education, they would be able to speed up the
law writing process. He went on to say that what Laos needs most
(from the Laonork) is more people with expertise in law, languages,
translation and in various technical areas.
Based on the general assessment by non-Lao people in Laos, the LPDR is
considered to be machinery that is set up with the focus on and
dependent on foreign aid which made up of 80% of the national budget.
Currently, Laos' yearly capital expenditure (road, bridge construction
etc...) is 90% from foreign aid ( i.e. the LPDR only contributes 10% of
the money).
And Laos' recurrent expenditure (e.g. salary, running offices etc... of
the LPDR) is 60% funded by foreign aid. This puts Laos in a vulnerable
position such that any decrease in foreign aid will have a great
effect of the operation of the LPDR and on the development of Laos.
But many donor countries and organizations have taken a serious look
by going to Laos to audit their programs and the Asia Development bank
(ADB) has considered decreasing substantially its future grants to
Laos.
Countries like Australia have also begun to decrease their aid money,
and conditions will be attached to certain aid as well. Overall, there
is an aid donor fatigue, obviously due to so much corruption occurring
in Laos, and if this continues Laos will find itself in shortfall in
its projected budget, given that there are no new export products
likely from Laos nor new business to generate foreign income.
The government's development priority is in which is understandable
since 85% of population live in rural areas and their livelihood
depends on agriculture. However, agriculture alone cannot generate
sufficient income for the people to lift Laos out of the list of
"Least Developing Countries"(LDC). There is no country in the world
that with an agriculture base alone has a GDP of more than $500 per
capita. If Laos wants to be out the list of "LDC", she needs to
change her development strategy/priority from agriculture to industry
and service base. H.E. Lengsavad told me that Laos would focus on
three main industries to generation income for the country: hydro
power, cement factories and mining of minerals. However, on one
projection based on the above projects perhaps Laos can collect about
$100 million/year. It has a long way to go to be self-dependent.
Besides, Laos still has a complete lack of human resources.
In addition, the civil servants are paid very low, averaging $50 per
month, and part of the cause is the monetary mismanagement of the LPDR
which needs a serious overhaul. A simple economic question would be:
how can we raise salaries of the civil servants when the Government's
revenue is low? Hence, the LPDR needs drastic reform in the taxation
and revenue collection. For example, the reform could include simple
measure that all tax payers could pay tax directly to a nominated bank
instead of waiting for their tax to be collected by the local
officials. In this way, it would be easy to track those who have not
paid their due tax yet as well as prevent much of the collected
revenue lost in transit.
To be gradually out foreign dependence we must have a plan for gradual
fiscal reform. I think this is the key.
Hence Laos needs to focus strongly and more on human development and
other investment industries from foreign investors and service
sectors.
As the NLSX is trying to regain some of its power, it would be a good
time for the NLSX to accept the proposals of the Laonork delegation
(see detail below). The NLSX can open up the dialogue between the Lao
people inside Laos (Laonai) and the Lao people living outside Laos
(Laonork)
ECONOMY
The current state of the Lao economy is low and mainly agriculture
(which makes up 52 percent of Laos' Gross Domestic Product).
However, compared to the pre-1975 level, it is higher now. But,
compared to our neighboring countries, Laos is well below them.
The good news is that Laos has enormous natural resources (potential
hydro power, forests, minerals, etc.), but the bad news is the lack of
human resources, and the ugly news is the government's development
priority in agriculture, which is understandable since 85% of
population live in rural areas and their livelihood depends on
agriculture.
In addition, Laos is used to depend on foreign assistance for the past
70 years and currently the country is still heavily dependent on
foreign aid to the tune of $500,000,000 per year. Laos need to
change the habits to be more self-sufficient and less dependent on
foreign assistance. As sated above, Laos's expenditure on capital
infrastructure and the running of government, are largely depend on
foreign aid.
The Phak has recently approved a policy that by 2010 the slash and
burn method (shifting) of rice cultivation will be eradicated and
there will remain few poor households. In addition, the material and
moral living conditions of the people will be further improved and
raised to a higher level with the economy growing at an annua1 rate of
7.5% and the average per capita income being around US$800 per year
Although based on current projections the Lao PDR economy is expected
to grow steadily at 6-7 percent per annum in the near future, but a
large part of this growth will come from increased foreign investment
flows in hydropower and mining. Without large projects such as these
and increased investment and exports in these sectors real growth
would only be about 4.8%.
In 2004, based on the World Bank's latest report, 71 percent of Laos'
population lived on less than US$2 a day, and 23 percent on less than
US$1 a day. However, a significant decline in poverty has been
achieved during the last decade based on the Lao PDR national poverty
line (of approximately $1.5 a day), and the incidence of poverty fell
from 46 percent in 1992/93 to around 33.5 percent in 2002/03. The
social indicators have been improving too, but they remain among the
worst in the region, and close to those of an average country in Sub-
Saharan Africa. . Another goal is to halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. However,
this may not be reached.
Although the new Lao President said in his first address that "there
were still problems in Lao society which are yet to be resolved. These
problems include bureaucratic red tape, and corruption. There was
still a lack of accountability which was slowing down the development
process, a phenomenon which had expanded throughout the country and
needed to be addressed". There has yet to be any announcement or signs
that new mechanism is being out in place to tackle the "problems in
Lao society".
According to one Lao economist expert, to be gradually free of foreign
dependence Laos must have a plan for gradual Fiscal Reform - this is
the key. Hence Laos needs to focus strongly and more on human
development and other investment industries from foreign investors and
service sectors. New streamline measures and laws need to be put in
place to attract small investors to set up business in Laos as a way
to create new jobs so the people would have job to earn more income to
supplement their current earning. The lack of jobs, especially for the
young people, has pushed them onto drugs, prostitution and, if this
continues long enough, increased crime rates.
Therefore, promoting growth in sectors other than mining and
hydropower is increasingly important for ensuring stable and strong
GDP growth in the long-run. The government needs to emphasis and put
more efforts at liberalizing trade and improving the investment
climate are thus steps in the right direction.
Poverty Reduction Program
There are reports that the LPDR's quest to lift itself out of poverty
may be hurting some of the very minorities more than intended. The
poverty eradication programme in clued the relocation of the people
from the hills to the lowlands, stopping shifting cultivation and
opium cultivation. As many as 50% of villages are already thought to
have moved over the last 20 years. This programme is now hurting
people and compounding poverty as well as creating a whole new set of
problems that the government has no solution to. The Toronto-based
Probe International has gone as far as suggesting that this LPDR
policies have had disastrous effect for the people and communities
and these policies may have been violating the basic rights of
minorities in the process .
From my discussion with the local people, the main problem is the lack
of flat land for wet rice paddy. A large number of people that I met
in Phoukoun have no rice paddy so they have to slash and burn the
hills, as they have always done, to grow corn to earn income to buy
rice to feed the family. For some, the income from growing corn, on
poor soil and steep slopes, is not enough to feed the family. As
there is no other work available, they have to supplement their income
by selling vegetables that they grow on their fields at the market or
raise few cows that they can sell. Those people who have a rice paddy
have sufficient rice for the family but they still have to earn money
for other household essentials. One of my relatives whom I met in
Phoukoun said that life is very hard and they had to work harder just
to survive at their new home.
Many have to ask our overseas relative's money for food or just to
survive. Kids are seen running around the street, not attending
school.
The main concern for the these people is food on the table to feed
the family. It is well known that wet rice cultivation alone is less
effective to feed the family when compared to shifting cultivation,
based on the survey of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Laos in
June 2005. It was found that of households doing shifting
cultivation, 71% produced enough food, compared to only 28% who were
doing wet rice cultivation. Along the way from Vangvieng to Kay, one
just has to look at the slash & burn practices (swiden) along the (see
pictures). There are swiden everywhere as far as the eye can see.
High hopes are in the Nam Theung 2 hydroelectric project. However, if
the power purchase agreement is approved, a state-run Thai company
will be obliged to buy more than 90 per cent of the power for the next
25 years providing US$200 million annual revenue, about half of which
($100 million) would go to the Laotian government.
In order to improve its record on poverty reduction, Laos will need to
shift away from its traditional strong focus of promoting mining,
hydropower, cement production and agriculture. With regard to hydro
power, mining of minerals and cement production, as we know. these are
concession projects for 25+ years. These projects are for long term
future (25+ years). Currently we can only tax on their profits which
are not able to be off-set by the donor assistance. Based on current
projection, Laos can collect about $100 million/year. This is far from
the amount of income that is requiring eradicating the poverty of the
Lao people. It has a long way to go to be self-dependent, unless Laos
works on fiscal reform as well as putting more focus on improving the
investment climate to attract small investors to set up business in
Laos.
In the short term (or now), in the industry sector, Laos can start by
promoting import substitution, mainly in food areas and household
appliances. In the service sector we can promote ecotourism.
Currently the Government is promoting it, but very little (in terms of
policy, such as open air for low cost airlines).
Medical/health care should be improved. I know a friend in Laos,
whose family always goes across to Thailand for treatment for small
head or stomach aches. This is also due to policies in the health
sector which do not allow foreigners to operate in the private sector
so a large amount of the Lao moneys have gone out of the country.
Since Laos is now Land-linked (not landlocked any more), we must make
use of promoting our transport and communication sectors. Off-shore
banking is one of the possibilities. All these can be easily done by
policy reform.
The government will have to stop the relocation scheme and abandoning
the policy to stop shifting cultivation as there is no ecological
evidence to support that this practice is damaging the environment.
Logging, increase population and high concentration of people in a
given area are more damaging to the environment.
What is urgently needed is to reassess the Government policies of
relocation and stopping the sifting cultivation. Ecologically, there
is no evidence to support the environmental damage from shifting
cultivate as the people in the hills have enough land to rotate and
the land do recover. The most destructive to the environment is
logging, increase population density in a given area and flooding the
land from dam building.
Improve revenue collection and a whole new set of taxes, especially in
goods and services, property and land tax, need to be implemented
immediately.
The next immediate task is to organize a group of Laonork economists
to sit down with the Government technocrats especially the Planning
and Investment Committee staff to review the short, medium, and long
term objectives of the Government. It takes a team of expert overseas
Laotians and Lao authorities to have a one week retreat together.
TOURISM AND LAONORK
Based on LPDR information, in 2004 there were 894,806 visitors
arriving in Laos, generating an income of more than US$118 million.
And the figures as at May 2006, show a jump to more than one million
arrivals last year and more than US$146 million for the national
economy. Following the current trend, the LPDR expects that over the
next five years 1.5 million tourists will arrive in Laos each year,
and between 2010 and 2015, the figure will rise to 1.8 million each
year, with 2.2 million tourists by 2020.
Based on the LPDR figures above, out of that figure, in 2004, the
average spending per tourist is $132 and for the current year $146/
tourist per year - this figure seems to support my observation that
Laos has attracted mostly low budget tourists such as I have met in
Vangvieng or Champassack. A casual browse through the internet shows
that a 14-day tour of Laos would cost on average about $1500. If the
current tourist industry continues, attracting only low budget
tourists, by the year 2020, the tourist industry could add another
$300,000,000+ income to Laos.
Laos will need to provide more infrastructures, better facilities, top
service and more marketing to attract the big tourists to Laos.
Laonork contribution to Lao Economy:
One interesting fact that has never been brought to our attention is
about the contribution from the Laonork and Hmongnork.
Last year, there were more than 20,000 US Hmong visiting Laos and each
bringing an average of no less $3000 to spend in Laos - that adds up
to $60,000,000 as foreign income to Laos. In addition, each year the
US Hmong have send no less that $25,000,000 to help their families in
Laos, and this amount is not including the money sent in to buy rice
paddy, lands and houses. Hence, each year, the US Hmong alone (not
taking the contribution of the Hmong in other Western countries) have
contributed no less than $85,000,000 to Laos to maintain and improve
the living standard of the Lao Hmong.
Furthermore, based on the World Bank, IMF, and ADB, Laotians overseas
have transferred about $200,000,000 (two hundred million) each year to
Laos, bringing to total Laonork and US Hmong contribution to about
$285,000,000 per year. If we extrapolate this figure and considering
all the moneys that Laonork & Hmongnork sent to Laos to buy lands and
houses, through various channels, it would not be an unrealistic to
say that the overseas Lao communities have contributed to the Lao
national economy in the vicinity of $300,000,000 per year!
In total, each year, the Lao economy has been pump up with
$500,000,000 foreign aid, $1450, 000,000 from tourists and some
$300,000,000 from the overseas Laos communities. This is a whooping
$945,000,000 - just under one billion dollars per year!!! One has to
ask, where has all this money gone to?
Hence, it high noon for the Phak and LPDR to embrace the overseas Lao
communities by providing incentives for Overseas Laotians (Laotians =
all multi-ethnic Lao) to return to live and invest in Laos. I have
strong reason to believe that this move is not only boost the economy
substantially but this will brain power as to help Laos to move to
achieve its many national goals.
Taken all the above into consideration, on the evening of May 14th,
the Laonork delegates (from USA, France & Australia) sat down for two
hours at Lane Xang Hotel to formulate a Five-point proposal that we
presented to the NLSX Central Committee and various LPDR officials:
1. To set up an Office of Laonork in Vientiane
2. For the LPDR to expand its current practice to allow overseas
people (of Lao origin) to stay in Laos as "permanent resident" to
enjoy the same right and privilege as any Laonai. This will pave the
way for may Laonork, especially the self-funded elderly retirees, to
return to live in Laos permanently.
3. For the NLSX to host a Lao Expert International Conference of
Laonai and Laonork to identify means of assisting the development of
Laos for the betterment of the multi-ethnic Lao people.
4. For NLSX to set up an Official Committee to network with all the
Laonork .
5. For the NLSX to allow Laonork NGO to bring expertise to Laos to
assist in the national development, in business, human resource
development and cultural issues.
And I like to recommend two more points:
i) For the Phak and the LPDR to have open dialogue with the overseas
Lao communities by inviting Laonork delegations to visit Laos. These
delegations can include trade, education, medical, business, bio-
technical, engineering, IT and cultural.
ii) For the National Assembly to consider the issue of Dual
Nationalities.
EDUCATION:
There is currently a target to ensure that, by 2015, children
everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full
course of primary schooling. The proportion of children reaching
grade 5 had increased to 62% in 2000/2001. I do not see any problem
achieving the target for primary schooling in the urban regions but in
the rural areas, some remote villages have no school. Often if there
is a school, there is no teacher because no one wants to teach in
those remote places. . However, for Secondary Schooling, there is a
real challenge. Many students drop out after year 10 (Mo 3). For
example, in Nonghet, after grade 10, the students have to attend the
High School in Phonesavanh. Many families cannot afford to send their
kids. In addition, many local schools lack even a basic teaching
manual, especially in rural communities.
I visited my first school at Lat Huang. I was impressed with the large
and nice wooden building. As I was strolling around the grounds where
I started school some 45 years ago, tears flowed from my eyes. As a
group of Hmong kids came by I was having difficulty to speaking to
them. They were aged 7-9 years. One boy was just starting school in
bare feet, as I did years ago at that school. We started to talk to
them and it was sad to see those kids starting school as I did. I
stopped them and I gave them a lecture about life that, "even at this
school you never know what life has in store for you!". Then I turned
to one girl and ask her, "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
She replied with no hesitation, "Get married?" I was shocked. But
what did I expect? Maybe I expected too much after 45 years! Maybe I
have lost touch with the reality that those kids are still living!
We met the school principal who took us into the school library, with
few maps on the walls and two Lao teaching manuals. He said that the
school didn't have enough teaching manuals for the teachers and half
of the students didn't have text books. When we inquired about the
problems the principal said that there are two main reasons. He said
that at one stage, when the students wanted to buy the text books, the
Department of Education did not have the books available. On another
occasion, when there were enough books the students could not afford
to buy them. The principal asked if I could furnish the school
library with text books and manuals for the teachers and a few maps,
which would amount to about $US3000. He also suggested a computer at
later stage. This is one area that needs urgent attention.
Urgent Funding Required:
In addition to furnishing the school libraries for text books and
teaching manuals, there is an urgent need to have a new set of funding
to support those gifted kids that the parents cannot afford to send to
school.
Secondly, funding is needed to build a dormitory in Phonesavanh
Teacher's College for the Nonghet's remote students to attend. It is
hope that once graduated, those kids would return to their village to
teach. Thirdly, scholarships are needed to support those provincial
kids who like to attend university in Vientiane.
Direct funding for the school is another issue that needs to be
considered by the Government and/or any Foreign Aid donor. Aid funds
could easily be implemented in this area. At the primary school
level, this would be in the form of at least a single teacher in every
village who would teach as well as train local primary teachers. In
addition funding would pay directly for a building and books. At the
secondary schooling, it would be similarly funded on a regional
basis. In this way the schools would be run properly and staff would
get paid regularly and sufficiently, and basic education would be
actually free.
The standard of education would be related to the better quality of
the teachers employed and many more students would be sufficiently
well educated to move on to trade schools and tertiary education.
In the medium and long term the skilled labour force would increase.
With increased basic literacy all forms of commerce would improve.
In addition the international community could fund students to live
and be educated within their own communities. These could be in
addition to any existing scholarships.
The aim should be full secondary education to year 12 for all
children. Since most students drop out after year 10 this period
should receive the closest attention.
At present Government policy is to allocate 20% of tertiary places to
rural or otherwise disadvantaged students. It would help if this
policy were to include granting of tertiary scholarships for students
to study overseas.
GENERAL HEALTH
In the big cities there are General Hospitals offering specialty
services, but the standard of care remains significantly lower than
that offered in adjacent countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. At
the district level the hospitals are smaller and minimally staffed by
under trained doctors working in substandard facilities.
For those patients who can afford it travel to Thailand and Vietnam
are the preferred options.
Even nearby Thai hospitals such as some in Nongkhai provide an
ambulance service to bring patients from Laos for treatment.
One consequence of this is that a large amount of Lao money spent on
health care leaves the country.
If a country like Thailand can provide such a service then a similar
service could be provided from within Laos at lower cost, and the
benefit is that the money stays within Laos and the standard of care
would steadily improve.
On the health side I did not see any major health problem in those
people that I have met or seen. I am quite amazed that those people
look quite healthy even in the Nonghet area. But I was told that the
local hospitals need lots of assistance, especially in equipment and
manpower. One official gave one example that the Nonghet hospital has
only one sphygmomanometer (for blood pressure) for the more than 1000
people in the area. There is no Specialist service, and it would be
good to have at least some visiting specialists.
At the District level primary care services should be the priority.
For major care transportation to Regional hospitals should be provided
free.
At the village level one trained paramedic should reside in every
village. These paramedics could be individuals from the village
concerned who has been trained at a nearby hospital and funded by the
International community.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Basic education and training in many aspects of general health is
required.
Topics needing urgent attention relate to hygiene, sanitation, mental
health, infection control, waste disposal, family planning, sexually
transmissible diseases, basic nutrition and healthy lifestyle.
Examples of areas that need immediate attention relate to the
following.
In 1998, 29% of the population suffered from nutritional deficiencies,
compared with 31% in 1990.
This cannot be considered a significant improvement in view of the
lack of increase of income-generating activities which are imperative
to improve the nutritional status of people in the upland areas.
Income-generating activities are imperative to improve the nutritional
status of people in the upland areas.
Another target to halve, between 1990 and 2015, is the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger. This may be achieved in urban areas but
not perhaps in rural areas.
Child malnutrition (% of children under 5) as of 2004 was 40%
compared to 15% in South Asia.
Similarly, Poverty (% of population below national poverty line) was
34%, Life expectancy at birth (years) 55% compared with 70%, and
access to an improved water source (% of population) 43% versus 78%.
Under-5 mortality rate declined from 170 per 1,000 live births in 1990
to 106 in 1999. Even the Infant mortality rate dropped from 87 per
1,000 live births) in 2002 to 82 in 2004. However, this is still
almost three times higher than the rate for South Asia as a whole, but
they remain among the worst in the region, and close to an average
country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The target for 2015 is likely to be met in some areas, but certainly
not nationally.
Maternal Mortality Rate dropped to 530 (per 100,000 live births) in
2000. Progress towards reducing this by three quarters is on track,
but further improvements in nutrition and reproductive health care
will be needed if the present positive trend is to be sustained until
2015.
There is the goal of halving, halting by 2015, and begin to reverse,
the spread of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency
syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
HIV prevalence currently remains low at 0.06%. With increasing
regional integration, increased efforts and awareness are needed.
Another target is to halt by 2015, and begin to reverse, the incidence
of malaria and other major diseases.
Even though the death rate associated with malaria decreased from 9
per 100,000 in 1990 to 3.5 in 2002 there is much work to be done. It
is good news that the Lao PDR was declared polio-free in 2000 and
remains so.
Another target to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without
sustainable access to safe drinking water Improvements have been
stalled on the percentage of the population with access to safe water.
In 2004, the percentage was 37%. Achievement of the goal will not be
easy
Similarly, to achieve by 2010, a significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers is slow.
Slum dwellers are not a serious problem at present, but will be with
rapid urbanization. The percentage of the urban population with access
to sanitation increased significantly from 30% in 1990 to 67% in 2000
However these are national figures and rural areas are much worse off,
making such simple statistics misleading at best. Hence, the proposed
targets for 2015 may not be met in rural areas or even urban areas
unless urgent measures are taken immediately.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Roads and Transport:
As I traveled around, the most noticeable thing was the improvement
of the main roads linking major towns. This is one priority that I
always wanted to see and I was impressed to experience it first hand
and able to travel from Phonesavanh to Nonghet and back on the same
day - something that would have taken days in the past. This was
excellent work and I congratulate the LPDR. Similarly, we were able
to travel from Vientiane, visiting and stopping along the way, and
arriving in Thakhek at night on the same day; or leaving Pakse in the
morning and arriving in Vientiane by the late afternoon. I was told
that the roads in the north are built by the Vietnamese, being
narrower and more zigzag due to the terrain and mountainous region.
Some sections of the roads, especially in the Salaphoukoun area need
to be improved with more signs or warnings.
The only warning signs are the soldiers who patrol the roads, or
people who had left some fresh leaves on the road. More importantly,
there seemed to be NO road maintenance. For example, on our way to
Xiengkhouang there were many sections of the road filled with falling
rocks and/or land slides. Five days later, on our return, the same
sections of the roads had not been cleared and there were even more
sections with rocks and landslides.
The only danger during our traveling by car was the children and
animals roaming on the main highway (e.g. No13). There seemed to be
no planning whatsoever and along the highway No 13, there were houses
built on the kerb of the road on either side of the highway. Children
were playing on the highway as this is the only clean surface.
Animals, cows, dogs and pigs loved the warm and clean surface of the
road and they would hardly move out of our way. Sometimes the car had
to stop so someone could get out and chase them away!
Recommendations: More safety measures need to be implemented to keep
children and animals away from the main highway.
Water & sanitation:
Water is essential to sustain life and a satisfactory (adequate, safe
and accessible) supply must be available to all. Improving access to
safe drinking water can result in tangible benefits to health. It is a
well known fact that on a global scale, 3.1% of deaths are related
unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Most of the places I visited had clean water. The only place that had
a problem with water was Phou Khao Kheui where the villagers have to
go down to the valley to carry the water up the hill to their houses.
Even though there is clean water most people told me that the water
was not suitable for drinking, and the local people have to boil their
water - this is certainly different from my time some 30 years ago
when bottle water was unknown. These days during our trip throughout
the country, we had to buy bottled water wherever we went - big
business for water vendors..
Recommendations:
Every effort should be made to achieve a drinking-water quality as
safe as practicable as diseases related to contamination of drinking-
water constitute a major burden on human health. Interventions to
improve the quality of drinking-water provide significant benefits to
health.
Sanitation is another important health issue and I was impressed to
see that everywhere that I visited, including remote villages, from
north to south, there were good and clean latrines. This is a
commendable effort.
I noted that even the local people as far as Champassack, along the
bank of the Mekong river, were innovative enough to use their personal
latrines to generate some income from tourists like us who paid kip10,
000 per usage. In one instance, after a boiling hot and dusty day
from Li Phi,
I even got a special treat that included a wash as well.
The main concern is hygiene and waste disposal. As people are moving
to live in larger communities and forming larger towns, hygiene will
become a health issue in time of outbreak of disease. Waste disposal
is the most concerning issue that I have noticed. As I traveled from
north to south, the
"Window disposal" method was the only method and I find it disturbing,
especially from some one who spent most of his life outside Laos. As
people finish eating anything they throw the trash out of the window!
I asked my escort could we keep the trash and dispose it somewhere.
No. There is nowhere to dispose of it. So, the logical way, as I
understood it , was to dispose of it along the road, spreading it
along the vast countryside! Along the way we stopped at a few places
for "personal release" and it was quite noticeable that there was
trash lying along the road, and it is only a matter of time before
this trash will have an adverse impact on the environment and the
health of the people.
High priority should be given to this waste disposal by education and
placing waste collection facilities along the highway and in and
around the towns.
This will ensure a more sustainable supply of clean water, and better
sanitation services to reduce the burden of disease caused by these
risk factors.
PEOPLE & OTHER ETHNIC ISSUE
As I traveled around National Highway 13 from Xiengkhouang to
Champassack, I had the opportunity to see and to talk to some local
people.
Overall, the people have reached the point where their basic needs
are met and their main concentration is to generate enough income for
their day to day living. Some people are involved in farming and
selling their produce, big or small, along the highway to generate
some income. On the way to Kasy I saw a Lao Theung sitting at the
side of the road selling his Nploos (Porcupine) that he had just
killed. We bought it from him for kip180,000. That is good income for
him and we had a great meal in Phonesavanh that night.
It is interesting to note the differences in the villages along the
way. The Lao Theung villages are the poorest with kids running around,
with one or two little stalls to sell a few cans of drinks or water.
The Lao Lum villages would have more stalls to sell few chickens,
sticky rice, and fish. While the Hmong villages would have more stalls
to sell vegetables, cucumbers, papaya, drinks, clothes and few other
essential consumable goods. One noticeable difference was that all
the Hmong settlements (Km52, Kasy, Thong Na Mee at Borikhamxay) had
wooden or brick houses of various shapes and sizes. To satisfy my
curiosity, I went in to ask some old Hmong ladies about this (if you
want to know the truth - ask an old Hmong lady!), the stories are
fairly consistent: "Those people (with good houses) have relatives
abroad!"
THE HMONG
Traveling around the Hmong settlements, it appeared true that the
Hmong living standards had improved as the Lao authorities
consistently said. However, the reason for this improvement was not
that given by the Lao authorities [14] [12] [10]. They maintain always
that the improvement was due to the LPDR "national development",
especially quitting the slash and burn farming and the eradication of
opium poppy cultivation and moving the people down from the hills to
the lowlands under the government's relocation program in 2000.
Based on my personal observations, the improvement in the larger Hmong
settlements was only partly related to the LPDR policies. After
touring and talking to many Hmong in Xiengkhouang, Vientiane and
Borikhamxay, the only thing that the LPDR provide to the new settlers
is the allocation some wet rice paddies for those early arrivals. As
far as building their life is concerned, the people did this on
their own and for those who had an improved living standard this was
almost solely related to the monetary assistance from their overseas
family members (not by any monetary assistance of the central
government of the LPDR). For example, a casual observation at
Phonesavanh's post office, there would be an average of 100 US cheques
arriving per day and each cheque would average $50 -300.
Let's assume that the average is $100 - that would amount to $US10,000/
day
x 360 days = $3,600,000/year coming to the Hmong in Phonesavanh. Over
$3 million of foreign income to Laos/year! In addition, one source
has told me that every year the US Hmong sent no less than $25,000,000
(25 millions dollars) to help their relatives in Laos, not counting
the $100's of thousands from others overseas and the money sent in to
buy rice paddies and land around Vientiane. Not to mention that each
year, there are no less that 20,000 US Hmong visiting Laos and each
would spend an average of no less than $3000 - that would amount to
$60,000,000/year as foreign income to Laos!
Hence, in total, it can be said that each year the overseas Hmong have
contributed no less than $85,000,000 to Laos! And that the success
settlement of the Hmong in Laos is effectively entirely the result of
the overseas Hmong communities. The government should acknowledge this
contribution and would be morally obliged to perhaps contribute to the
Hmong extra on a $ for $ basis.
As stated earlier, the overseas Lao community yearly sends over
$285,000,000 to Laos to help their relatives. This money compares
favourably with the $500,000,000 of foreign aid that Laos receives
each year. However, the foreign aid reaches only a small fraction of
the general people whereas overseas Lao communities' contributions
reach the people 100%. This explains why the Lao rural economy seems
to be able to operate independently of the LPDR government.
The Hmong in the jungle
There is undeniable evidence about the existence of the jungle people
- or what the LPDR refer to as "remote people". There are still
people living out in the jungle and at least two members of the NLSX
whom I have discussion with acknowledge the existence of such people.
Whether these people are anti-government resistance fighters or
"bandits", does not change the fact that those people in the jungle
are citizens of Laos and they require the same treatment as any Lao
citizen as described in the LPDR constitution.
Based on my conversations with some senior members of the NLSX, the
total numbers may be in the 100's and they are facing extreme
hardship. One senior member of NLSX asked me, "How can anyone help to
get these people out of the jungle so that their children can attend
school, receive medical care and so on. Why don't these people want to
come out?" He ponders that thought. I told him that I had no contact
with the jungle people but I had heard of people who could communicate
with them through satellite phone. The stories I heard about why they
were not coming out were twofold:
Firstly "those who want to come out are too afraid of the LPDR due to
past stories about how the returnees' leaders died under mysterious
circumstances. Whether the deaths were due to the LPDR or not, it
matters enough to those people in the jungle that their safety cannot
be guaranteed and they would not risk their lives by just coming of
the jungle."
I suggested that a third party needs to be brought in to give comfort
to the jungle people, and I have seen in the recent past that the
Secretary General of the UN has indicated that the UN is willing and
ready to assist the Lao government should it ask for assistance. The
same senior NLSX member said that as long as the UN does not want to
dominate and take over the issue, and as long as the UN agrees to work
in cooperation side by side with the LPDR, it is acceptable. But he
believes that the UN would not agree to work alongside the LPDR. I
then suggested that if the LPDR agreed to that idea, perhaps other
governments like the Australian government could facilitate the
dialogue between the UN and the LPDR to work something out. That NLSX
member was very happy with that formula. However, another senior
member of the NLSX told me later that the current Lao Government would
never allow the UN to get involved in this "minor" internal Lao issue
because it could open up a huge can of worms and it could be very
messy. I suggested to that senior NLSX member that it may be seen as
a "minor" issue for LDPR but the international communities see it as a
major humanitarian issue. In addition, the international communities,
in the midst of a global aid donor fatigue are waiting to see some
genuine approach to this humanitarian issue in a transparent manner
that LPDR is serious about moving on for the betterment of the multi-
ethnic Lao people, including the most remote people.
The second reason that people are afraid to come out is related to the
lack of information about those who came out earlier. To date there
has not been any independent report about the well being and
resettlement of those many 100's of people who have already come out.
For example, there is no follow up report on these people like those
171 people who came out last year at Phou Khout. What has happened to
them? While I was in Phonesavanh, I requested to visit a Hmong
village which is about 12km from town and inhabited by mostly people
from the jungle. The purpose of that visit was to get some
information about those returnees and to see how they have settled.
I was unable to visit the village, even it was cleared from the
Vientiane office. The reason, as I was told, is that there was a
heavy rain and the road was flooded.
To satisfy the international curiosity, I suggest that the NLSX
consider these two suggestions:
(1) To allow an independent delegation of various international
members to visit those alleged settlements of the remote people in
Phou Khout, Phonesavanh, Lat Huang and around Xiengkhouangville.
(2) For NLSX to set up a "Special Committee" to canvass international
assistance to the settlement and rehabilitation of the remote people.
(3) For the hardcore group, Laos will need the participation of the
international communities to solve the issue. Solutions would include
allowing these people to be resettled in other countries.
For the international communities, it is time to take a serious look
at this issue. Pressure need to be brought onto the LPDR and the Phak
to solve this problem at the earliest possible opportunity. Foreign
should be continue to help Laos as an economic boycott would hurt the
people more. Bu at the same time, conditions will need to be attached
to that money to ensure that the moneys go to the intended projects or
people.
Missing Hmong children in Laos.
When I arrived in Laos, the missing Hmong children were still
looming. The diplomatic communities believe that those Hmong children
are still being held in Laos. However at that stage they were prepared
to wait in order to give the LPDR and the Thai Government time to
solve this issue quietly.
The second issue, as I arrived in Vientiane, was about the alleged
killing of 26 Hmong by Lao soldiers near Vangvieng. As I was traveling
to Vangvieng, Kasy, Salaphoukoun and Xiengkhouang, I talked to many
Hmong on the way and trying to see if there was any news about this
story, but I was unable to get any information from anyone. It was
obvious that along this Salaphoukoun route there was a visible heavy
military presence patrolling the highway. When I was in Xiengkhouang I
talked to some Hmong officials but no one had head about the alleged
killing. So... the story still stayed looming as I left Laos with
no concrete evidence available to prove or disprove the issue, and
the LPDR officials maintained that there was no such killing.
It is worthy to add that the US Embassy made a formal complaint about
the missing children but the Embassy or other international agencies
did not follow up. Similarly, as I left Laos, the US Embassy made
similar complaint to the LPDR but the US Embassies failed to follow up
the issue as well. This lack of action has occurred several times in
the past, and now, which tends to suggest that the US Government has
no commitment to seeing such matters resolved. Why did the US Embassy
make the complaint in the first place? And why no follow up? What
agenda are they following?
So... this issue will remain as another unresolved Hmong issue,
adding to all other issues that have surfaced in the past which were
labeled by the LPDR as simply "fabrication".
The Hmong issue in Laos as a confusing and conflicting issue to me. On
the one hand the LPDR has consistently maintained that the Hmong in
Laos have the opportunity to take on various government positions in
LPDR. Examples are Pany as a Politburo member and also Chaleuan
Yiapaoher as Minister of Justice in the new LPDR.
At the provincial level the Hmong are faring quite well also. And I
have met with many Hmong along the route of my travels and I have
spoken freely with many of them, and I concur with the view of the
LPDR . The Hmong in Laos are doing better in some part of the
countries than other ethnic groups. Many Hmong are found in various
government department like Justice Dept, Education, Planning, Post And
telecommunication and even inside the Committee of External Relations
of the Phak. The local people along the route to Xiengkhouang and
South of Laos seem to be content with their current lives, despite all
the predicaments that many have found themselves in.
However, privately few people told me that many Hmong issues that
remain as real concerns to the future of the Hmong in Laos as some of
the central government initiatives seem to have more negative effects
on the Hmong that intended. Life for many is harder than before and
there are potential problem in the future due to the very small number
of Hmong students in higher education or attending schooling
overseas.
The jungle people remain as a real concern as the LPDR see it as a
"minor" problem that would be solved soon. There is a fear that the
LPDR would mount a mopped up operation which could be potentially
serious.
FOREIGN AID
One of the reason for my travel to Xiengkhouang is to visit Nonghet to
pay respect to my ancestors and the check on the Asparagus farming
project. Nonghet is one of the 47 poorest districts in the Lao PDR -
the majority of the population lives in small remote communities with
limited access to basic services and infrastructure. The area is safe
and free from unexploded ordinance (UXO). The region has a population
of around 36,000 people and half of the population are still living in
poverty or in remote villages.
In 1993 the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) began
activities in Nonghet as part of the joint UN Alternative Development
Project, a crop replacement programme to replace opium poppy
cultivation. The UNDCP started experimenting with asparagus which
requires relatively little labour and commands a good market price.
The asparagus grew well in tests and in 1995 villagers were offered
seeds to replace their opium poppies.
This opium eradication program can be traced to the US government's
criticizing Laos for being the world's third largest opium producer,
even though the country produces a relatively insignificant amount of
opium for export compared to Burma or Afghanistan. In 2000 the UNDCP
radically stepped up its anti-opium efforts in Laos, promising the Lao
Government a carrot of US$80 million in aid if they would agree to
make the country 'opium-free' by 2005. In 2001 the Phak responded to
the US pressure, and the UN's promise of aid, and declared that Laos
would be opium-free by the end of 2005. Following the 2001 resolution
national and local LPDR officials began to aggressively pursue
eradication.
In Nonghet some 20 families were reported to take on the project and
started growing asparagus around the village, plus plum and apricot
trees, as part of this opium eradication program. The asparagus
project was reported as an almost immediate success. From getting the
seeds, a farmer can sell asparagus shoots after eight to twelve
months. The crop is harvested over seven months, from April to
October, and the farmers were reported to collect between 3 and 4
kilos each day, selling a kilo for Kip 800 in the local market and for
up to Kip 1,500 if he could get it to Phonesavanh or Vietnam. Some
families made two to three hundred thousand kip per month, almost
twice as much money compared to opium, and the project was reported as
being a model project with high success in the area as an alternative
crop to replace opium.
Hearing of the success of the asparagus project I made request to the
local authorities that I wanted to see this project. On arrival at
Nonghet, we were greeted by the Chao Mouang Nonghet, a Hmong from
Omdomxay. After a successful tour of duty as an army officer, serving
in various regions including Xaysomboun, he was transferred to Nonghet
to help to lift this area from being listed as one of the poorest
region in Laos. We were received with a large luncheon at the local
restaurant with one dish of asparagus with chicken. The Chao Mouang
reported that the asparagus project was no longer a viable crop and
only a few villagers grew it for personal consumption or just for the
local Nonghet market alone. The Chao Mouang said that to get enough
asparagus, small stick of shoots, for our lunch dish, it took 2 days
to gather asparagus around town even though it was the harvest
season.
The crop failure is thought to have been partly due to the lack of
overall planning and ongoing support by the UNDCP people. This is not
uncommon with many projects around the countries that have failed. As
soon as the project expert people left, there was no systematic follow
up to maintain the longevity of such a project as a cash crop. There
were also the problems of marketing, knowing how to operate the
asparagus as a commercial crop and ongoing expert support. Soon, the
project failed. Many local people believed that international
agencies like the UNDCP have no real intention to help the local
people. It was just another job for the agency. The agency employees,
although having done their best to teach the locals, once they
finished their contract they leave to take on their next job. There
is now a slogan that, "Once the expert people go, the project
follows".
It is in the interest of the international communities who fund such
projects that they ensure that the project will enhance the lives of
the local people for the long haul. To prevent this sort of failure
the planning of future projects must include a built-in long-term
strategy to ensure the longevity of the project. In this case
asparagus is an excellent crop for the Nonghet people, and the UN
hailed it as a model project, but as reported by the Chao Mouang
Nonghet Asparagus is now only gown in the villagers' back yards for
their own consumption.
The villagers are now concentrating on growing corn for the Vietnamese
who supply the seed and provide pickup service from the field as the
corn is harvested. Growing corn is hard work and by looking around,
the corn fields have not change much from the old days that I
remember.
The second group of the villagers is growing plums and apricots, also
for the Vietnamese market. A smaller number of villagers are now
experimenting with a new project growing grass to feed their animals.
If one family can sell one to two cows per year this would bring in
sufficient money for the family to buy their consumable essentials for
the year.
FOREIGN AID- HELPING OR HINDERING?
Over 80% of Lao people are rural.
Foreign aid goes to both rural and urban dwellers.
The only real benefit of foreign that what spent on roads, school,
hospitals which has great positive effect on rural people.
However, the foreign aid that is spent on stopping opium cultivation
and finding other alternative crops, has not to produce any positive
change in the Xiengkhouang area as I have seen, especially in reducing
the poverty levels of the growers. And the rural aid on diverting
slash and burn farming to other farming techniques has produced no
change in the poverty levels of the growers, except negative changes.
Urban aid is spent on urban infrastructure and bureaucracy and has no
significant benefits for rural communities.
Urban aid is spent on improving the living standard of government
officials and has no significant benefits for rural communities.
Clearly, over 80% of Lao people have not benefited significantly from
foreign aid.
These facts are well known to the International Community but a blind
eye is continually turned to them. Why is this?
Perhaps things are better than they seem at first glance.
I have a few suggestions for the International Community.
It would not hurt anyone if the status quo (i.e. no more relocations,
no change in slash and burn cultivation), were to be maintained, with
a few small exceptions.
Exceptions would include steady improvement in education, including
infrastructure and teaching, which would be of enormous benefit to all
levels of society, both rural and urban.
Health delivery could be much improved to especially rural areas at
little extra expense.
General infrastructure improvements throughout the country such as
maintenance of roads and power supply would be appreciated by
everyone.
To the Phak and LPDR and NLSX I suggest that it is time to acknowledge
the contribution of the overseas Lao community to the wellbeing of
Laos.
Not to just embrace the overseas Lao but to work co-operatively with
them for the benefit of the Lao people.
Moobsib
Zag nua tsi zoo le zag u lawm poj? Puas yog koj moog tsuj tau Moob
haavzoov le quav lawm os? Hahahahaha... J/K.
That's a long report. It'll take me 3 days to finish it.
MS
pebcov...@yahoo.com
Xyov ua li cas dr. pao tsis kam lees peb cov hav zoov lub tsaug tej
zaum yawg xav tau peb lub nploos thiaj loj quav iab nploos thiaj iab.
Pao
That report is just my FIRST draft report...un-edited and INCOMPLETE.
As time goes on the report grew longer and longer and it was not yet
release. It may come out as a booklet when I have time to finish it.
So, please keep it in mind that that posted report was a very first
draft version only - circulated to few people for feed back only. It
was NOT meant to be released and I don't know the author who posted
that report as he/she did so without my consent.
Pao
listh...@yahoo.com
Tij Laug Pao awv,
Nej cov 1/2 hmong 1/2 Nplog ces mus los yuav tsis ntshais os. Txawm
mus los txog los, nyaj yuav ua tsis tau dab tsi li thiab os. Cuag koj
kwv Wane Thoj mus los los tib ua tsis tau dab tsi li thiab os. Kuv
nrog yawg ib tug yawm yij tham ces, lawv hais tias mus tham hluas
nkauj xwb no
Freedom II
Pao
Ua muaj leej twg tau hais tias yuav muaj qhov hpmpliaj yuav mus ua ub
us no mas... hluag mus ncig teb ncig chaw tas es luag los piav rau
sawvdaws mloog li sawvdaws xav paub xwb nas.
Lino es yus pheej yuav mus hais ub hais no rau lum tus.
Yus yuav tsum hais txog yus xwb mas... Lwm tus twb tsis yog yus tej
tub qhev, tub txib thiab yus twb tsis tau tsa leej twg los ua ib yam
haujlwm dabtsi rov yus, thiab yus twb tsis tau tawm ib kis nyiaj pab
luag mus ncig ua si, luag mus luag lag-luam... es yog vim licas, koj
pheej yuav los yws-yws yus tij ywm li koj na yawg!
Moobsib
Yawg Listhoj tsis tau mus txiag pim (nws cov muam) tim Laos lawm es
thiaj los dhia cuag tus tsi li no mas.... hahahahahahah.... J/K...
Muab koj lub sijhawm muaj nuj nqis coj mus khwv nyiaj zoo dua os.
ms