Lao Voices

This little play area in Pakse city is located near a busy intersection (on the right side) and opposite of Wat Louang.

Sala Kham was built a little over a year ago. It has a great view of the river and a favorite spot for the locals to hang out and watch the sunset. The finish line for this year’s Boun Suang Huer or Boat Racing Festival was in front of Sala Kham.
I only went by the [...]

This kind of thinking came from a lady by the name of Rose, I once read about her that she went back to school at the age of 87 because she wanted a college degree, which her dream came true, plus a bonus of had had many friends. A week after she graduated, she [...]

Earlier this year I followed the Thai soap opera, Pleng Ruk Rim Fang Khong and saw something that I bothered me a bit. During commercial break, there were many ads for skin whitening products, in the form of cream or lotion. As a kid in Laos that watched a great deal of Thai TV, I [...]

If anyone has visited Nye Noona’s blog lately, they will definitely notice her beautiful coverage of Elle Fashion Week Thailand. I won’t be surprise to see some of the designers cross over to the US soon. And one of the most popular fashion designer of Thai descent (here in the US) is Thakoon [...]

The small Chinese community has made a home for themselves from day one in Pakse. San Jao Sop Se is a place for worship and relaxation for the Sino-Lao and the Lao. With a new wave of investors coming from China, many businesses have signs posted in both Lao and Chinese characters. It will be [...]

For the villagers at Ban Phonsikhay, the high light of Boun Hor Khao Padapdin is the Lai Fai Din ceremony. A Tai Viengchanh like me have never heard of such thing. My cousin Mo explained to me how Tai Pakse have held Lai Fai ceremony for many generations. For those temples that are located next [...]

Lao movie about bird flu, produced by Lao Art Media.
Part 1

This is a bad year for many farmers in Laos. Due to torrential rain in Laos in late September and early October, thousands of hectares of rice fields in Champassack Province were flooded. My cousin Mo told me how the farmers in Pakse were harvesting the rice, trying to save what they can from the [...]

I found this article in Koosang Koosom Thai Magazine and I think that this is something that many Laotians can relate to as well; this is based on an article written by Prap Traipuph (a man) in Thai language, translated by yours truly.
It is a bit sad and depressing to see that elephants, Thai water [...]

I can’t swim anymore. I don’t know how you can forget how to swim. But when I was a little kid in Laos I just knew how to swim since we were living along the Tad Luang canal and close to the dam. I can remember doing a dare with friends to see who can [...]