JLS Volume 2, Issue 1, Jan 2011
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National Geographic Traveler
an APPETITE for LAOS The complexity, grace, and taste of Luang Prabang unfurl one delicious bite at a time The Nam Ou river was once a major transport route, bringing people and produce from northern Laos to Luang Prabang. By Andrew Nelson Photographs by Ewen Bell 54 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM SOMETIMES Raise a spoonful of tom kha kai, a traditional Laotian coconut chicken A PORTAL soup, to your lips, and a tantalizing perfume of lemongrass, lime, and galangal wafts upward. Its scent is ISN’T A DOOR. sublime and earthy, hot and sour. The fragrant plume comes with a peppery kick. The sensation is vivid, somehow poignant, and utterly transporting. IT’S A BOWL The memory brings a smile as I stand in a line of passengers at Luang Prabang airport, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. I’ve traveled OF SOUP. 9,000 miles to Southeast Asia inspired by Van Nolintha, a charismatic 32-year- old Laotian-American restaurateur in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose inventive renditions of his child- hood dishes from his native land have earned the acclaim of diners and food critics alike. Now I’ve come for a taste of the real thing. Upon leaving the airport, my first views of Laos are the Phou Thao and Phou Nang mountain ranges, which surround the ancient royal city of Luang Prabang like an embrace. The slopes are lush with trees that comb and catch the low-lying clouds. As I enter the city, a cluster of motorbikes overtakes my taxi, trailing fumes and impatience. A teenage girl, sitting sidesaddle in a Laotian silk tube skirt called a sinh, flashes past. -
Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia
Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia Geographically, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are situated in the fastest growing region in the world, positioned alongside the dynamic economies of neighboring China and Thailand. Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia compares the postwar political economies of these three countries in the context of their individual and collective impact on recent efforts at regional integration. Based on research carried out over three decades, Ronald Bruce St John highlights the different paths to reform taken by these countries and the effect this has had on regional plans for economic development. Through its comparative analysis of the reforms implemented by Cam- bodia, Laos and Vietnam over the last 30 years, the book draws attention to parallel themes of continuity and change. St John discusses how these countries have demonstrated related characteristics whilst at the same time making different modifications in order to exploit the strengths of their individual cultures. The book contributes to the contemporary debate over the role of democratic reform in promoting economic devel- opment and provides academics with a unique insight into the political economies of three countries at the heart of Southeast Asia. Ronald Bruce St John earned a Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of Denver before serving as a military intelligence officer in Vietnam. He is now an independent scholar and has published more than 300 books, articles and reviews with a focus on Southeast Asia, -
Air America in Laos III – in Combat by Dr
Air America in Laos III – in combat by Dr. Joe F. Leeker First published on 29 May 2006, last updated on 23 March 2018. When, in May 1987, during the unveiling of the Air America Memorial at UTD’s McDermott Library at Richardson, former CIA director William Colby said that Air America aircraft were not combat aircraft, but transport aircraft, that was only true for most of Air America’s flights. But in at least three programs Air America crews flew or were to fly combat aircraft in Laos: B-26s in Projects Mill Pond and Black Watch in 1961 and T-28s as A-Team pilots for the Tango program. Already in July 1955, 2 C-47s chartered from CAT had participated in the first post-ceasefire combat jump flown by C-47s of the ANL (Armée Nationale Laotienne or Lao National Army), when the aircraft dropped the ANL’s airborne battalion, the Seno-based 1er Bataillon de Parachutistes, over the garrison of Moung Peun beleaguered by Pathet Lao forces.1 In August 59, PEO again contracted an Air America C-46 and C-47 for use in the Moung Peun paratroop drop.2 Then there was another absolutely unofficial use of Air America transport aircraft as bombers dropping “Hot soup”. Finally, many Air America aircraft flew combat support missions that brought them very close to the actual fighting: This was true for many missions flown by Air America’s helicopters, that is by the UH-34Ds assigned to the Madriver-contract and later especially for the Bells and S- 58Ts assigned to the AID-439-713 contract. -
Echoes from the Sacred Mounts: the Challenge of Female Tutelary Spirits in Luang Prabang
Echoes from the Sacred Mounts: The Challenge of Female Tutelary Spirits in Luang Prabang Thararat Chareonsonthichai Abstract—Many studies on Lao rituals focus on symbolic legitimation of the authority of the king and are written from the perspective of royalty and state leaders. This focus emphasizes the changes and reinvention of traditions in socialist Laos, with the absence of the king. By contrast, this paper, drawing on the ritual life of Luang Prabang in popular culture, or non-official context, examines Nang Kwang Hi, the legendary queen who became the great tutelary spirit of Luang Prabang, whose popularity and significance has not yet been investigated by scholarly work on Lao rituals and spirit cults. The paper argues that only by including female spirits in our analytical framework can we understand how Lao spirits are gendered, and how female gendering is significant in the study of Lao tutelary spirits. The paper also demonstrates how the traditional political and social structure of “Muang Luang Prabang”, as embodied in the female tutelary spirit cults, has persisted in contemporary Laos. Introduction This article examines the potency of female tutelary spirits in Luang Prabang, the former Lao capital. Many studies on Lao rituals focus on the perspectives and roles of royalty and political authorities, emphasizing the legitimating aspects of rituals. Such studies investigate the spirits associated with the establishment of the royal line or the mandala structure (e.g., Archaimbault 1973; Aijmer 1979; Holt 2009). In contrast, this research draws on the memories and experiences of the original townsfolk who are the main preservers and custodians of Luang Prabang traditions, especially women, who form the majority of participants in both Buddhist rituals and those relating to the spirits. -
Iron Man of Laos Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa the Cornell University Southeast Asia Program
* fll!!I ''{f'':" ' J.,, .,.,Pc, IRON MAN OF LAOS PRINCE PHETSARATH RATANAVONGSA THE CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM The Southeast Asia Program was organized at Cornell University in the Department of Far Eastern Studies in 1950. It is a teaching and research program of interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, social sciences, and some natural sciences. It deals with Southeast Asia as a region, and with the individual countries of the area: Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The activities of the Program are carried on both at Cornell and in Southeast Asia. They include an undergraduate and graduate curriculum at Cornell which provides instruction by specialists in Southeast Asian cultural history and present-day affairs and offers intensive training in each of the major languages of the area. The Program sponsors group research projects on Thailand, on Indonesia, on the Philippines, and on linguistic studies of the languages of the area. At the same time, individual staff and students of the Program have done field research in every Southeast Asian country. A list of publications relating to Southeast Asia which may be obtained on prepaid order directly from the Program is given at the end of this volume. Information on Program staff, fellowships, requirements for degrees, and current course offerings is obtainable· from the Director, Southeast Asia Program, 120 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. 11 IRON MAN OF LAOS PRINCE PHETSARATH RATANAVONGSA by "3349" Trc1nslated by .John B. �1urdoch F.di ted by · David K. \-vyatt Data Paper: Number 110 -Southeast Asia Program Department of Asian Studies Cornell University, Ithaca, New York .November 197·8 Price: $5.00 111 CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM 1978 International Standard Book Number 0-87727-110-0 iv C.ONTENTS FOREWORD • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . -
Singing the Lives of the Buddha: Lao Folk Opera As an Educational Medium
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 368 224 FL 800 756 AUTHOR Bernard-Johnston, Jean TITLE Singing the Lives of the Buddha: Lao Folk Opera as an Educational Medium. PUB DATE May 93 NOTE 351p.; Doctoral Dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. PUB TYPE Dissertations/Theses Doctoral Dissertations (041) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Acculturation; Buddhism; Culture Conflict; English (Second Language); Epistemology; *Folk Culture; *Land Settlement; *Lao; Native Language Instruction; *Opera; Refugees; *Teaching Methods; Uncommonly Taught Languages ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the role of Lao folk opera as a medium for constructively addressing problems of cultural conflict and acculturative stress that have risen among lowland Lao refugees and their children in urban America. The central focus of the inquiry is on the ways Lao folk opera currently functions as a learning medium in the resettlement context. The need for validation of such locally produced endogenous media has become increasingly apparent as long term resettlement issues continue to emerge as threats to linguistic and cultural diversity. The review of literature encompasses the role of oral specialists in traditional societies, Buddhist epistemology in the Theravada tradition, and community education in rural Lao culture. These sources provide the background necessary to an understanding of the medium's capacity for encapsulating culture and teaching ethical values in ways that connect past to present, distant to near. (Author) *********************************************************************** -
JSS 098 0K Reviews
239 REVIEWS of the overflow has already appeared in a special issue of South East Asia Research in 2009. Rachel V. Harrison and Peter A. Jackson, Much of the weight of the first task, editors, The Ambiguous Allure of the tracing the encounter with the farang, West: Traces of the Colonial in Thailand. falls on Pattana Kitiarsa. He takes Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Edward Said’s famous proposition Press and Cornell University Southeast that the West constructed the Oriental Asia Program, 2010, xxiii + 268 pages. to suit Western purposes, and flips Hardbound: ISBN 978-962-209-121-4; it over as Occidentalism, the Thai paperbound: ISBN 978-962-209-123-8 construction of “the West” to suit Thai purposes. In mid Ayutthaya, the This ambitious book with its aptly Siamese elite found farang useful as alliterative title has at least a trio of craftsmen and engineers, but boorish agendas. First, to examine “the Thai as missionaries. In late Ayutthaya, encounter with the farang, and all that the farang disappeared and were not it constitutes,” especially over the last missed. But from the second quarter of century and a half. Second, to bring the nineteenth century, they could not Thailand into postcolonial theory which be avoided. The elite then selectively is enjoying great popularity in cultural adopted things and techniques from the studies syllabi in Western universities. farang, both in order to fend them off, And third, in order to enable the second and in order to present themselves as objective, to dispose of the mantra of more modern and thus more special than Siam/Thailand “never being colonized” the rest of the population. -
Down Mekong River Thai Lan Border – Laos – 5 Days
DOWN MEKONG RIVER THAI LAN BORDER – LAOS – 5 DAYS DAY 1: CHIANG RAI (THAILAND) - HOUEI XAY - PAKBENG (L/D) After your tour in Thailand, you must prepare to get into Laos through the Border of Huay Xai You are transfered from the Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong. After passing through immigration, you cross the Mekong River to Houei xay in Laos where your Lao guide will be waiting for you at the immigration point. After completing border formalities, you board a ready traditional boat for the trip down the Mekong River. As you cruise down the river, you will stop at some tribal minority villages such as the Hmong, Yao and Khmu. Stay overnight in Pakbeng. DAY 2: PAKBENG - PAK OU CAVES - LUANG PRABANG (B/ L/-) Check out Pakbeng stopover, and today you keep cruising from Pakbeng to Luang Prabang, you will pass areas of virgin forest with hill tribal villages along the riverbanks and perhaps the odd elephant or two with his mahout. You'll visit a fishing village and a rice wine making village and perhaps even taste some of the infamous beverage known as Lao Rice wine. Then you'll visit the Pak Ou Caves. After that, you'll spend the day visiting Wat Xiang Thong- the most important Buddhist monastery in the country. Stay overnight in Luang Prabang. DAY 3: LUANG PRABANG - CITY TOUR - KUANG SI FALLS (B/ L) Today you have a full day of city tour and excursion. Explore Wat Visoun, Wat Khili and Wat Mai. Later, visit the former Royal Palace. It now is a National Museum where you will find ornate, gilded and brocaded reception rooms as well as Buddha and spectacular artifacts including the Prabang- a large holy image which was given in the 14th century by the Khmers to King Fa Ngum. -
Lao Pdr Tourism Recovery Roadmap
TOURISM RECOVERY ROADMAP LAO PDR Short, medium and long term priorities POINTS TO BE COVERED 1. Assignment Objectives 2. Tourism in Lao PDR: 2019, 2020 3. Pandemic Related Challenges for the Tourism Sector 4. Strategy Considerations for Lao PDR 5. Proposed Priorities and Actions for Recovery 2 1. ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES SCOPE OF WORK 1. Update data on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector 2. Identify interventions for MOICT to help tourism recover (domestic tourism, travel bubble, green and sustainable tourism) 3. Identify priorities, actions, responsibilities for implementation, based on case studies in other countries LIMITATIONS 1. 16 days starting mid November, to be completed by end December 2. Deskbased driven 3 2. TOURISM IN LAO PDR 2019 1. Tourism contribution: 9.1% to the Lao economy & 300,000 jobs 2. Source of foreign exchange earnings: tourism in 3rd place 3. Tourism arrivals: 4.79 million (Thailand 45% - China 21.3% - Viet Nam 19.3% - Republic of Korea 4.2%) 4. Domestic tourism: 2.3 million 5. Tourism promotion budget: US$ 200,000 (US$ 0.04 per international arrival) Then came 2020 ….. 4 2. TOURISM IN LAO PDR ct’d 2020 closures, lay-offs, income decline % change from Impact of COVID- Source Impact area Jan - Sep ‘19 to 19* market Jan - Sep ‘20 International arrivals -74% Thailand -77% Revenue - restaurants, -72% to -81% China -47% accommodation, tours, attractions Viet Nam -73% Income decline (75% of MSMEs) -41% to -60% Republic of -70% Cash flow reserves (55% of SMEs) 5 months Korea Staff measures** : leave without pay 30 - 60% of staff reduced pay 10 - 30% of wages laid off Up to 75% of staff • Reference period varies for the different Domestic tourists in accommodation -33% impact areas (Jan - Mar 2020, Jan - Sep 2020, Jun - Jul 2020) International tourists in -82% accommodation ** Sector specific measures as per report table 4 5 3. -
V-4 Tourism Industry Development Plan
PLANET CPC – JICA V-4 TOURISM INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT PLAN V-4.1 Present Condition of Tourism in SKR 1) Tourism Resources and Products The major interest for tourists visiting Lao PDR are (i) nature, (ii) local life observation, and (iii) culture, which differ from tourism observed in ordinal tourism destinations. 1 It means that Lao PDR is an eco-tourism destination for international tourists, in lieu of ordinal sightseeing tourism. The major tourism resources in Lao PDR are (i) Vientiane, (ii) City of Louang Prabang which is a World Heritage site with old Lao style buildings and temples, (iii) Jar highland with Jar pots, (iv) Wat Phu Kmer heritage which is a candidate for the World Heritage, and (v) Boloben plateau in Champassak province. More than 50 % of the tourists visited Louang Prabang, and 15 % visited Jar highland and Champassak Province. Savannakhet and Khammouan provinces, receiving approximately 3-4 % of the tourists as shown in Figure V4-1, are not the major destinations for international tourists. Popular Destination for International Tourist in Laos (%) (duplicated answer) 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Jar Bakeo Huapanh Vientiane Xayabouli Champassak KhammouanBolikhamxay Luang Namtha Savannakkhet Louang Prabang Source: Statistical Report on Tourism in Laos, 1998 Figure V4-1 Tourist Arrival by Destination in Lao PDR The major tourism destinations in SKR are listed below, and their distribution is illustrated in Figure V4-2. 1 Statistical report on Tourism in Laos, 1998 reported that international tourists show main interest in 1) Nature (72%), 2) People (54%), 3) Culture (35%), etc. -
2009 Statistical Report on Tourism in Laos
Visit Laos Year 2012 2009 Statistical Report on Tourism in Laos ºö¤¡¾-êȺ¤-êȼ¸-Á¹È¤-§¾© Lao National Tourism Administration Planning and Cooperation Department Statistics Unit ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) publishes annually, statistics relating to tourist arrivals, foreign exchange earnings from tourism, tourist expenditures, the average length of stay of tourists in Laos as well as an accommodations profile. The purpose of this Statistical Report on Tourism is to provide the public with clear information on a rapidly expanding sector of the Lao economy. The LNTA would like to take this opportunity to express its gratitude to the following agencies: Provincial Tourism Departments / Offices, The Lao Immigration Department, Wattay International Airport Authority, Lao travel agents and hotels for their cooperation as well as their valuable assistance in the processing of statistical data and conducting statistical surveys. On behalf of the LNTA, I hope that the 2009 Statistical Report on Tourism in Lao PDR will be useful and beneficial to all of you. Somphong Mongkhonvilay Minister, Chairman of the Lao National Tourism Administration Source of data: Lao National Tourism Administration Table of Contents Page Background Information 1 Statistical Data Part I : Visitor Arrival Statistics 2009 5 Table 1: Number of Tourist Arrivals, Revenue from Tourism, and Average Length of Stay, 1990-2009. 5 Table 2: Number of Tourist Arrivals by Region, 1992-2009. 6 Table 3: Number of Tourist Arrivals to Laos by Category 2008-2009. 7 Table 4: Revenue from Tourism by Category, 2009. 7 Table 5: Tourist Arrivals to Laos by Nationality (Percent Increase) 2003-2009. -
Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Laos
Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Volume 5 Issue 1 The Journal of Mine Action Article 32 April 2001 Laos Country Profile Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU (CISR) Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal Part of the Defense and Security Studies Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Recommended Citation Profile, Country (2001) "Laos," Journal of Mine Action : Vol. 5 : Iss. 1 , Article 32. Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol5/iss1/32 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction by an authorized editor of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Profile: Laos s s DEMINING In 1996, the government established a national office, the UXO Lao, to coordi nate UXO clearance and awareness and LAOS implement a national UXO strategy and MYANMAR demining projects. UXO Lao is one of the nation's largest employers, with Lao People's Democratic Republic over 1,000 employees. There are several Burma Karen State, from 1998, report that it programs involved in mine/ UXO clear produces nearly one civilian land mine ance in Laos. MAG, HI, NPA, World Vision amputee per day. Reports also state HISTORY Australia, Gerbera and MiiSearch all HISTORY that 30 percent of landmine victims die support demining efforts in Laos.