That's alot of money.

You can start a small business with $200 in Laos, but that's for small profit.

With $10,000, you can own a small restaurant or clothing shop.

I am thinking of making a fish farm and selling the fish to market every 4 months when they mature. Need some land and dig out the hole and fill it with cement or something to trap the water in. Also want to build a green house to grow crops to sell, especially during the rainy season when no one else can grow any.

What type of business are you thinking about, a get rich quick scheme? My friend had an arcade/internet cafe there, not sure how well it did. How about you open a western style restaurant there.

honestly, if you're living with Western standards and a bachelors degree, 10k is not going to get you far at all in investing in Laos.

Firstly, have you seen property prices in Vientiane? but it's not like you could buy it anyway since foreigners are barred from buying land.

as for a fish farm, you can't operating a profitable business from a few ponds in the back yard, but rather acres of tanks. Not to mention pumps, plumbing, maintenance and sustaining costs of a fish farm, versus catching fish in the hundreds of rivers flowing through Laos. Same with a green house.

In the 1900's the American government gave freed slaves 40 acres of land because that was the amount of land considered reasonable to sustain a family. And keyword is sustain, not prosper. So imagine enclosing a large area like that, and only have a small, brief, and competitive market for.

We aren't talking about the 1900's anymore. My aunt has a fish farm in the back of her house, nothing close to 40 acres and they live off of that and then some and it's just a small pond. You can't compare doing business in the US and Laos, they are totally different, not to mention this is the year 2009. I don't own 40 acres of land and yet I'm doing quite well for myself. I know a guy who gave his brother in Laos 10k to buy a truck and start a trucking business importing and exporting stuff between the neighboring countries around Laos. The brother gave back the 10k after a year and is now rich. He sold out his own brother that was supposed to be his partner and instead told his brother, "here is the money back that you LENT me".
I have already invested in Laos, land and all but you got to know how to do it the Laos way, not the foreigner mindset way. If you think of fish farms and greenhouses like they have in the west, then you aren't going to suceed in Laos. When in Rome, do like the Romans.

I hope you have success in your new endeavours in Laos. Volunteer work is a good stepping-stone to employment.

Thanks guys for your input.

You can do a lot in Laos with $300k. Money talk.