“They have tons of money. There’s more money flowing through here than you can imagine. These people have the money to do a lot more,” the fifty-something year-old American man at the Scandinavian Bakery told us yesterday.
“They just don’t see the value. This place has so much potential! They hire cheap Lao contractors to do crappy work with Chinese style construction. Nothing nice. They save all their money – even though they have tons – because they just don’t see the value!”
First, let’s acknowledge this man is a complete ass – or as my ardently feminist wife would say, a douche.
The douche is self-admittedly racist despite having lived in Vientiane for six years and Thailand for five years before that. He’s a contractor who specialized in doing American quality work for expats with money. The man speaks perfect Lao and Thai, but believes their cultures and attitudes suck. So much so that he’s happy to demean them loudly and publicly in their dining establishments which he frequents….
That said, even a racist douche knows something.
Looking around Vientiane, there’s no doubt that there’s a lot more money here than there used to be. A shocking number of Mercedes and BMWs roam the streets and even beyond that, a lot of new pickup trucks. When I came to Vientiane in 2001, there were very few cars and people traveled mostly by motor scooter and tuk tuk. Today, there are plenty of Toyotas on the road.
Emily and I have been impressed with how many nice cafes and restaurants we’ve been to have not just a few, but a lot of Lao patrons. In fact, on Saturday night they took up at least half the tables at one of the nicest and busiest French restaurants in town. In so many places we’ve been including Vietnam, Bali, Nepal and most of India restaurants of that type are dominated by tourists.
It doesn’t really make sense in a country with a per capita income of $986. However, this is Vientiane – not the villages along the Mekong or the Plain of Jars. Despite the fact that it feels like a small town, Vientiane is the capitol – and I believe this accounts for a lot of it.
“I kinda’ like it and I kinda’ don’t,” the douche said, “The way you can just do anything, get what you want by paying something. It’s part of what makes it so easy, but I guess it’s part of why nothing works.”
As anyone in Indonesia will explain, corruption is part of the culture. In fact, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore said the issue is throughout Asia. Singapore solved the problem by paying officials and especially police well and then holding them accountable. However, Singapore is really the only Southeast Asian country to pull this off and I don’t think Laos will be joining ranks anytime soon.
Indeed, companies, individuals, and foreign governments can slip the right people in Vientiane the right money and all things are possible.
What’s worse is that like so many third world nations, foreign aid money doesn’t always make it where it’s supposed to go. I have no doubt there are a lot of Toyota trucks and probably a fair number of Mercedes purchased courtesy of numerous nonprofit aid organizations and foreign government support.
Of course, that doesn’t discourage many dedicated folks.
The other morning at breakfast, I overheard two people at the table next to me having a business meeting. An American woman in her late 40’s was telling a man from Sweden how she has been in Vientiane 15 years working on aid projects – mostly related to education. She admitted that the government is not always helpful and that corruption exists, but emphasized that there are good people who need and get help.
It was clear from my periodic eavesdropping that she is very dedicated to her work and has fought a few battles to get funding and support from the US government and donors.
For decades, the Lao government did little to develop the country – which in a sense is part of the wonder of Laos. I always feel bad when talking with people who also appreciate Laos’ beautiful, undeveloped way when we discuss how much we don’t want Laos to change. Please, don’t develop jobs, businesses and infrastructure so we can enjoy your quaint simplicity and agrarian lifestyle – while 50 percent of your children have soil-borne parasites and only 30 percent of your citizens have access to sanitation.
The thing is, the government has only done anything when someone else is paying. Even then, there’s a little skimming off the top before the sewers can be dug or the schools built.
Now that the nominally communist government has become more open to outside trade and economic development, it’s opening the doors to foreign direct investment. Companies are coming to Laos not for the cheap labor – and certainly not for a new consumer market – but for the vast natural resources. Laos contains gold, silver, copper, gems, minerals, forests, and rare animals yet to be legally protected. Laos is quite literally a gold mine.
Of course, so is Indonesia whose people enjoy a sad $600 per capital annual income. Corruption.
Laos’ major industries are agriculture, mining and Beer Lao.
So, what to do? Well, there are people who offset the douche by taking matters into their own hands. Instead of coming to Laos to built houses for the wealthy and corrupt at higher wages than they could get in the United States, while denigrating the country’s inhabitants, some people develop businesses to benefit Laos’ poorest classes.
Emily stumbled upon Saoban, a store selling beautiful silk scarves. It’s been officially open for just over a month and is gaining popularity among tourists. A Singaporean woman and her Lao husband who met during college in the United States came back to Laos and founded a nonprofit to help alleviate poverty in rural villages. They provide education to people who can’t afford it.
They realized eventually that all the education and skills were going to waste because the villagers had no one to buy their wares. That’s where the store comes in. Saoban sells the artisan work of villages – not only in its Vientiane store, but also to distributors in the US, UK, Germany and Japan. The nonprofit created a storefront and distribution network that allows weavers, rattan workers, sesame growers and disabled seamstresses to bring their goods to market.
It’s not a handout, it doesn’t rely on government and the profits get back to the villages. That’s good work.
These are the anti-douches of the world and we salute them.
We also bought a bunch of their products and recommend them to anyone looking for an incredibly affordable silk scarf. They’re online.
Scarves won’t fix everything, though. At some point, the Lao people outside Vientiane prefecture will have to demand better for themselves if they ever want things like running water and higher education. Neighboring Thailand, with its fair share of corruption, has five times the per capita income and more than ten times as many people. It can be done – but it will take the will of the people, who maybe just don’t care that much. Most of them are, after all, living the lifestyle they’ve always known and they’re happy enough with that.
Maybe some of the problem with the racist contractor is that he believes the Lao should want big, fancy American-style buildings. Why wouldn’t they want a higher standard? Why wouldn’t they want more business and tourism? Why not live the dream?
I’m no Laologist. But I suspect that they aren’t necessarily interested in leading our lives. As far as I’m concerned, that’s part of what makes them special. There is no “it” to get. The Lao people will have to figure out a way to negotiate development and modernity in a way that works for them and their beautifully unique society. Hopefully, part of that will include not letting a few people in Vientiane rip them off – but that’s their choice.
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