Lao Voices

Video description: The Mekong region in Southeast Asia is home to more than a thousand new plant and animal species, says the World Wildlife Fund. But challenges are ahead in balancing conservation and growth.

Video description: The Mekong River,which passes through China,Cambodia,Laos,Thailand,Vietnam and Myanmar,approaches the sea via the Mekong Delta – a fertile and heavily populated area in southern Vietnam. With climate change now threatening the region,rising sea levels could have grave consequences for the people living in the Delta. International researchers are now helping Vietnam to draw up [...]

Video description: South East Asia’s largest river, the Mekong, has withstood decades of pressure from rising human numbers, growing industrial activity and more demands for water and food. But scientists now caution that climate change could upset this balance in the coming years and decades. At risk are water, food and jobs for 65 million [...]

I was fortunate to have seen Kok Mong for the first time in my life during my visit to Ban Dannavieng last year.  This innovative ancient invention was used by Lao people to hull rice in the old days.
Unfortunately, I was not able to see this particular Kok Mong in action because I arrived two [...]

The rice harvest is finally over for my neighbor, and what’s left are the rice stalks.  They started cutting them down on Monday of this week, clearing the land of one rice paddy, and they still have two more paddies to go.  I’m not sure what his plan is for the rice straw.  In some [...]

Named after cognitive scientist Richard Shepard, a Shepard scale is an auditory illusion composed out of a series of ascending or descending Shepard tones. To start the Illusion, hit the play button, and be sure to replay the video again and again and again.
Warning; might cause temporary insanity

Normally, I am not a big fan of conspiracy theories. I came across a documentary about one car, the electrical EV-1 of General Motors, that pulled me over to the conspiracy perspective. General Motors marketed the car in the mid 90s because Califonia’s law prescribed that 10% of its cars should be environmental friendly. The [...]

To quote a famous Dutch footbal player and coach, Johan Cruijff, “Every disadvantage has its advantages”. This could also become true for Laos. The people of Laos hunger for electricity to increase productivity and general comfort of life. Unfortunately, only 48 percent of Laotians are connected to the electrical grid.  High costs and a lack [...]

I created this video for those, like me, who had to get used to the new way images are posted in Wordpress version 2.5 and above. It is not necessary to use linked images and, in fact, they lead away from good interaction design of the blog and basically “break” the user experience. It is [...]

Miss Phom was kind enough to help me pick out my camera, now I’m in the market for a new lens, my current one does not give me the capacity to zoom image in closer to my liking, there are so many out there and very confusing, so I thought asking the professional photographer would [...]

I thought this is a happy news coming out of Laos. I hope the students at Vientiane Secondary School will take advantages of the computer lab and language lab. With internet access, the world is at their fingertips.
Vientiane students say ‘merci’
More than 4,300 students at Vientiane Secondary School now have a new computer laboratory and [...]

Police ban use of mobile phones by drivers
Police in some Vientiane districts have begun fining motorists who use mobile phones while driving, in line with the Prime Minister’s Decree No. 188, dated July 3, 2007.
But the Head of the Vientiane Traffic Police Station, Colonel Khampheiw Vatthanaphone, said last Friday that fines were still not appropriate [...]

Nam Theun 2 dam ready for flooding, panel says
An independent panel of international environmental and social experts has expressed support for a plan to seal a tunnel to direct water into the Nam Theun 2 dam this week and close the dam gate in June.
This will store water for electricity generation, which is scheduled to [...]

I was quite happy to read the news regarding Lao Cable TV company becoming the new internet service provider in Laos. I thought about how I can keep in touch with some of my relatives better if they have access to such service. After the excitement has died down I thought about the price for [...]

Chinese made electric motorbikes have made their way into Laos. According to the Vientiane Times Newspaper, these electric powered motorbikes have been on sale in some shops in Vientiane since January of 2008. At Nong Duang market, you can get an electric motorcycle for about 4.4 million kip or roughly $477.00 for today’s currency exchange [...]