Lao Voices

The story of the British Samantha Orobator has become a well known phenomenon in many media channels. Samantha has been caught muling drugs in Laos and was heading for a – rarely executed – capital punishment in Laos. In order to avoid the death penalty, Samantha became pregnant in prison. Of course, men and women [...]

Ladies and gentlemen, today we write about a phenomenon that is both well-known but also mysterious. It is the unwritten law of Lao help Lao. The logic behind this law seems somewhat similar to quid pro quo which means “something for something”. Is Lao help Lao another “a favour for a favour”, a “what [...]

It was good weather in High point North Carolina. A fine day for some Tum ma khun, beer Lao, some Lao music and traditional dancing. How could anyone  be against that? After all, a Buddhist temple ceremony and Lao traditional dancing will not offend anyone, will it?
Wong. Wong. The Lao festival should have been vewwy, [...]

At Laovoices I have a few faithful “followers” (that I simply adore) who won’t let any opportunity go by to name me “commie” in their comments. These Bushies,  named after their favourite president, are usually characterized by their red state location, their unwillingness to travel outside a 30 miles radius from where they were born [...]

If you want to see a good movie this weekend I sincerely  recommend you to go out and see Gran Torino, a movie directed and featuring Clint Eastwood.
This movie has many intricate links to Laos. The movie tells the story of a disgruntled Korean War vet Walt Kowalski who ends up coaching his neighbor, a [...]

The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the Dutch and Lao people are (culturally) related. Apart from the obvious differences and distance of 8966 kilometers or 5571 miles, I think there are many similarities.
Both countries have been dominated by the French. The Netherlands received these unwanted southern visitors [...]

When I think of New Zealand, I usually think of Lord of the Rings.  And of course the endless beauty of the natural landscape and kind people.  But I was surprised to learn that there are some Lao refugees that got resettled there in the ’80s.  Despite the beauty of the land, the Lao refugees [...]

According to the World Food Program (WFP), half the children in rural Laos are chronically malnourished. Many of these children are from ethnic minorities and it is also a fact that policies of LAO PDR contribute to the problem.
A study released by the United Nations food agency in November 2007 estimated that 255,000 children [...]

Bob Malaythong, championship badminton player, who was born in Vientiane, Laos is representing the USA at the 2008 Olympic Games. He will be teaming up with Howard Bach for men’s badminton. It’s really nice to hear about these things once in a while. And if you ever catch the VitaminsWater commercial [...]

Two nice clips of Hmong American kids experiencing the typical life of Hmong Lao kids from a village in Muang Hong. Life is simple but fun with everyone doing their fair chair of daily chores.

See what daily life is like at a Hmong village in Laos.

Here are some short video clips of the naming ceremony at Ban Phonsikhay as Lao cultural village of Pakse, Champassak Province.

Additional photos from the naming ceremony of Phonsikhay as Lao cultural village of Pakse, Champassak Province.

Ban Phonsikhay, home to one of our book box library has been named a cultural village of Pakse or Ban Wattanatham. There are several crierias that a village must met before being given a certificate of recoginition. The ceremony took place on the school ground and was covered by Lao National Television. Below are photos [...]

The land of Si Than Don is known as the Ou Khao and Ou Pa. This episode is about the way of life of the people living in Khone Xuang and how they make use of the water that is surrounding their island.