Judy Garland has the best female singing voice ever

Thank you LP Admins and happy Valentine's Day everybody.

We celebrate nearly everything in Laos, except Easter because it's about the same time as the Lao New Year.

We probably take Valentine's Day more seriously, and celebrate it more in Laos than people in Western countries.

It's funny, because it's not part of our culture, but many things have changed. Lao people these days are becoming lazier and enjoy partying more than those of past generations.

That's good to hear. Growing up in the West I didn't know about Valentine's Day celebration in Laos. Most holiday in the West is connected to business. The more people spend the better for economy. For Christmas you buy family gift, Thank giving you buy turkey have dinner with family, Halloween you buy candy, custom candy and party. Its very fun.

Admin Saovaluck wrote on 7^th Feb, 2011 at 1:39am:

26-year-old Judy Garland receives a kiss from
co-star Gene Kelly in The Pirate (1948).

Judy Garland Board

It's okay to help people you know, particularly poor relatives but don't overdo it. Laotians are like children. If you keep spoiling children with lollies, it becomes a habit and they will keep begging for more. In the case of Laotians, if you keep helping them financially, they'll never stop bothering you.

Corruption will never go away from Laos and many Asian countries are in the same boat. You can be a failure at school but if your parents are wealthy, you will live a better life than others.

Valentine's Day is an excuse to take the day off in Laos because some people want to spend the special day with their loved ones. In Laos, we complain about low wages but when you think about it, we deserve the low wages.

The help I was talkin about wasn't financial, just mostly favours like driving someone somewhere, or helping do something. It builds trust and respect between fellow people. One day you might need help in some way and someone will help you. Almost like a pay it forward.

Valentines day helps the retailers, not the consumers. I'd rather save the money and keep it in my pocket for something really worth while, like my retirement. And if my kid ever asked me for 4000 baht ($133.11 USD) just for Valentines day, I'd kick his/her ass out of the house and tell them to get a job. When I was a kid, I didn't even get $5 to buy food to eat at lunch.

I don't think anyone deserves low wages. I think the wages should reflect the living costs in the region. The problem in Laos is that you have a huge discrepancy in wealth amongst the demographics. There is about 5% of the population that are wealthy, I'm talking wealthy even by western standards. I would say 15% are average middle income, meaning they aren't poor but they aren't well off either. Then you have the remaining 80% who will remain in poverty probably their entire lives cause of the inequalities that exists in Laos and many asian countries in general. This can clearly be seen in terms of what the Admin pointed out, education, employment, corruption, who you know in the gov't. etc... The rich hang onto their wealth and guard it while the poor see no opportunity to change their situation.
Laos needs to resolve this large disparity between the rich and the poor by increasing the demographics of the middle class. I see no middle class in Laos, only super rich or dirt poor. The super rich hi so want a certain lifestyle and are willing to pay for it at any cost since they have unlimited spending potential, but the poor and not so rich cannot manage to keep up with that lifestyle so they continue to fall deeper into poverty. It is so evident when you look at the plans for developement. Megamalls, high speed trains, and new hotels and infrastructure are being planned to accomodate the rich who will benefit and can afford these ammenities, but only 20% of the population can make use of it. How can you generate enough revenue to sustain that development, and it also doesn't cater to the entire demographics. The 80% will continue to get left behind as "they do not matter" by the gov't.
Who is going to be able to afford riding this high speed train or shop at the mega mall or stay in one of these high end hotels/restaurants? And the jobs that get created for the average Lao person, the wages aren't going to be high paying either so poor are still taken advantage of so they will remain poor, while the rich keep spending the foreign aid cause of corruption. They pretend to devlop things for their own benefit and show to the world that Laos is "developing" but it's all smoke and mirrors.
I know very well the problems in Laos. I could probably do a better job at running the country but the powers that control Laos won't let anyone take their "wealth" away from them. The poor people of Laos makes them rich and they like to keep it that way. Plea for aid and help from foreign countries by showing them how poor the people are and when they get the money, another mercedes for some rich biatch. Poor still remains poor because there is no opportunity. And the gov'ts reaction to it: oh they are just lazy, that's why they are poor. Look at the other people who are rich, they worked hard to get that. But really, they never worked a day in their lives, dumber than dumb too. And the cycle continues...

Anyways, sorry about the rambling... Happy Valentines Day... let's go out and spend money when we really don't have to cause we can't even afford to!

Buk Hoo Kee wrote on 12^th Feb, 2013 at 5:29am:


The wages should reflect how much you work. In Laos we have too much time on our hands, therefore deserving of the low wages.

In your country in America, do the teachers go home for 2 hours to relax and enjoy lunch? Do you have labourers sitting around and enjoying a beer with their co-workers as if deadlines doesn't mean anything?

There's plenty of middle class in Laos. If your household owns a motorbike or two, a fridge, TV and some mobile phones then you're considered a middle class family. Middle class citizens can't afford to buy a car, but they can afford to own these basic essentials.

If you are super rich in Laos, the chances are you are involved in corruption.