Progress towards the MDGs in the Lao PDR MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Woman speaking to group.
In order to achieve gender equality, it is necessary, to place women’s empowerment at the center of national development plans. This includes ensuring that women and girls enjoy a set of basic human capabilities as measured by indicators on education, health, and nutrition; have equal opportunities to use or apply their basic capabilities, including in non-agricultural wage employment and political representation; and have reduced vulnerability to violence and abuse.
Elimination of gender disparity in education in Lao PDR has made slow progress. Fewer girls than boys are enrolled at all levels, and this share is even lower at the higher education levels. The number of girls per 100 boys in primary education has risen from 77 in 1991to 86 in 2006. Over the same period, indices for lower secondary education improved from 66% to 78%, for upper secondary from 56 to 74 and for tertiary from 49 to 62%. Low educational levels of girls adversely affect women’s prospects of non-agricultural wage employment. In the 10-year period (1995-2005) for which data is available, the share of women in wage employment increased less than 1percentage point per year, which is close to the rate at which girls narrowed the school enrolment gap. Because of the very slow pace at which the gender gap closes, achieving the MDG targets for elimination of gender disparity at all levels of education by 2015 seem ambitious. Young woman at Pi Mai
The picture is different, however, when it comes to women’s political representation. The proportion of women members of the national legislature tripled between 1990 and 2003 and is among the highest in the region. More analysis is needed to assess whether and to what extent policy priorities have shifted as a result, to focus more on benefits for women, children and families. The national trend of increased women’s representation has not yet been extended in equal measure to the sub-national levels, where the real rigidities on gender roles may lie.
Meeting the targets: Meeting the Goal 3 targets requires a better understanding at all levels of the dynamics that sustain and/or create gender inequalities; targeted policies, strategies, actions and re-prioritising public expenditure. And this, in turn, requires committed leadership and political will. As gender inequality is deeply rooted in entrenched attitudes, societal institutions and market forces, political commitment at the highest national level is essential to institute the policies that can trigger social change and to allocate the resources necessary to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The newly set up Lao National Commission for the Advancement in Women (LNCAW) provides an excellent opportunity for the government to mainstream gender issues across various sectors. Although the government has begun to collect data disaggregated by sex, there is a need to further pursue data collection and dissemination on gender issues, in order to better sensitize decision-makers and communities to the problems faced by the female population.
Progress towards the MDGs in the Lao PDR MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education Questions at school.
Education is among the better performing sectors in Lao PDR as reflected in the continuous progress across all key indicators. Net enrolment rates in primary schools rose from 58% of primary school-age children in 1991to 84% in 2005. Progress in retention of students at the primary level, however, is slow, like in other countries of a comparable level of human development. The primary completion rate increased by slightly more than 1percentage point per year during 1991-2003. At this rate the MDG target looks beyond reach. Literacy rates increased nationwide, and priority districts improved more than the national average. At primary age (basic education), literacy almost doubled from 31% to 58%. The increase in the secondary age groups was more modest.
National averages hide variations across regions and ethnic groups, and often provinces with low enrolment rates are the ones with high proportions of rural, poor and children of different ethnic groups. There are still considerable differences in literacy rates between ethnic groups. Hard at Study
Meeting the targets: Pushing up enrolment and literacy rates are usually the first policy interventions of any government. While progress on both these indicators has been satisfactory so far, reaching the last 15-20% of the population is always hard and will require additional effort and resources. It is also important to ensure that the government’s push toward attaining the MDG enrolment and literacy targets is such that it benefits all people regardless of their location, gender, ethnic background or wealth.
Effective public expenditure management reform is required to allocate adequate resources and infrastructure across provinces, for all pupils to complete the primary and lower secondary education and to improve the quality of education, develop a pool of trained teachers and improve curriculum to build its human resource capacity and extend educational opportunities to all. Special efforts need to be made to extend the benefits of education to the people without adequate access to basic education. Performance and retention rate in the ethnic area will improve if teachers who are not ethnic or local people know ethnic language and culture and actually TTC or PES or DES should provide the specific training for them. Multigrade teaching has been encouraged in the rural and remote areas. Improvement in enrolment rates needs to be combined with improvement in teacher training to ensure modern methods of teaching sciences, languages and technology.
Progress towards the MDGs in the Lao PDR MDG 1: Eradicate Poverty & Hunger Smiling Harvest Woman
Poverty in Lao PDR declined steadily from 46% to 33% during the decade 1992-2002and the country is on course to attain the MDG target of halving poverty by 2015. While the incidence of poverty has declined, and the poor are getting less poor on average, the share of the poorest quintile in national consumption fell from 9.6% to 8%. This suggests an increase in disparity during 1992-2002, thereby confirming evidence from other sources about increasing gap among the poor and the non-poor.
Food poverty declined faster than overall poverty between 1992/3 to 2002/3, and the average number of months without sufficient rice in villages dropped between 1997/8 to 3. Malnutrition remains a significant concern in Lao PDR. Estimates suggest that despite considerable efforts, 38% of children under five years of age are underweight. Chronic malnutrition or stunting remains a problem in Laos (affecting 41% of children under the age of five) and requires urgent attention by both government and the development community. As a first step, it is recommended to include stunting as an additional MDG indicator for Lao PDR to ensure constant monitoring and action. Traditional Lao Food
Following the widespread conviction that poverty can only be reduced if people have a decent and productive job, a new target on employment was added under MDG 1in 2006: Reaching full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.
Even though a significant slice of growth in the last two decades has originated from the non-agricultural sector, the overall structure of the workforce has scarcely altered. More than 80% of workers are still engaged in subsistence-oriented agriculture and allied activities. There is little impact of the high and sustained growth in recent years on the workforce (especially agrarian and unprotected urban sectors), where low skills and poor health are widely prevalent.
Meeting the targets: Continued poverty reduction in Lao PDR needs to have a strong focus on sustainable agriculture, rural employment and income generation, and promote alternative livelihoods and development of rural infrastructure. In 2003 agriculture still contributed approximately half of the total GDP and provided employment to 80% of the workforce. Over the last decade, agricultural growth averaged nearly 5% per year and was the most important driver in reducing rural poverty. Non-farm rural income opportunities are limited and agriculture’s importance to rural households is high.
To sustain the reductions in poverty, Lao PDR needs higher employment and higher unskilled wage-rates. Lao PDR has the potential for high rates of sustainable agricultural growth that are key to continued reduction of rural poverty, and aiming for a 5-6% annual rate in the next decade is reasonable. Achieving this will involve transitioning from past reliance on extensive growth to a future that will depend more on intensive sources of growth.
Poverty reduction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to meet the targets on reducing malnutrition. Poverty reduction will not automatically result into an improved nutrient dietary intake. There is an urgent need for inter-sectoral policies to address both malnutrition and poverty in a comprehensive way. An inter-sectoral Nutrition Policy is being set up and acknowledges that nutrition is central in development and has listed ten main objectives for 2020.
ບອກ ຊື່, ນາມສກຸນ, Email, Zip code > Create an Account And fill up the rest > every body can do it. We petition the Obama administration to: Seeking a release for Laotian political prisoners who were on street protest on October 26, 1999 in Vientiane, LAOS The Lao Students Movement for Democracy ran on street in Vientiane, Laos on October 26, 1999 for public demonstration and Lao Government put Misters Thongpaseuth KEUAKOUN, Seng-aloun PHENGPHANH, Bouavanh CHANMANIVONG, and KEOCHAY imprisoned.
Mrs. Kingkeo Phongsely, a Laotian human rights activist has been held in Laos on November 2, 2009 with no trial since.
We would like to ask US Government to do whatever it can to release these students, human rights activists and political prisoners in Laos.
We, the members of Royal of Laos government in exile RLGE cordially invite all fellows compatriots around the glob to set up Celebration party where you are living and perform Ceremony to remembrance our National Constitution created on May 11, 1947. and its 65th Anniversary that will be coming on May 11, 2012. The Celebration will create massive force to call for elimination of LPDR and Shadow Vietnamese installed government of LPRP and save the Royal of Laos and Royal Lao government that granted Independence by France in 1949. Call upon International Community to reconvene and revive Paris Peace Agreement Treaty Accords which it was violated by the Vietnam Communist and its lack key Communist LPDR AND ITS Lao People's Revolutionary Party's Vietnamese shadow government. Enjoy your Celebration Party, Save your birth land Nation of Royal of Laos from Vietnamese annexation. Lord of Buddha Bless you All, With Best regard. White Condor.
Asian American Air Force Pilot is the Real ‘Top Gun’ At 5 feet 3 inches tall Kari Asai fell one inch short of the pilot height requirement, but that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing a career as a navigator in the U.S. Air Force.
When people ask her what she does for a living Kari Asai says, ‘Have you seen “Top Gun”? OK, I’m Goose.’
By Christine McFadden, Correspondent November 2, 2011 Tweet Facebook Yahoo! Email ShareThis Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version More Photos »
By the time Kari Asai was three years old, she had already asserted her independence. It became apparent one day when her mother Jan was helping her get dressed.
“She looks at me and said, ‘I don’t need you,’” Jan said. “And I just went ‘Oh, ok.’ I just let her do her thing.”
Over two decades later, Kari, a half-Japanese Yonsei who graduated as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) pilot with distinction, is stationed as a captain in the Air Force in Cambridge, England.
“I’m not surprised she’s as mentally strong as anybody I know,” said Jan.
With a family full of pilots — her maternal grandfather and maternal uncle were a former U.S. Air Force pilot and Thunderbird pilot, respectively — Kari was no stranger to the service.
“I would say it was probably a self-conscious motivator,” she said about growing up “in a house with a lot of pictures of planes.”
In the Air Force, Kari, 26, is often one of the few women among men.
“A quarter of airmen are women,” she said. “Once you get to aviation, it’s maybe 10 percent of them.”
But she’s used to that.
“I was probably a tomboy in the sense that I played soccer, baseball, taekwondo,” she said about her childhood. “It probably didn’t help that my mom gave me a bowl cut.”
Kari began the process of getting a pilot’s license when she was just 15. Now as a captain, she has already been deployed to Libya.
From Art Major to Air Force Captain
While attending high school in Vancouver, Wash., she applied for and won an Air Force ROTC scholarship. With the ROTC scholarship, she attended Washington State University to major in fine arts and minor in psychology and aerospace studies.
Both she and her older sister, Kristen, ended up pursuing radically different paths.
“I was the painter that became the fighter pilot, and she was the ballet dancer that became a lawyer,” she said.
Kari graduated with a 3.98 GPA in 2007 and earned ROTC distinction as the number one cadet for her region.
“Once I kind of got engaged in it, I realized that I really wanted to pursue a flying course at the Air Force,” she said.
While some people wait months after graduation before going active, Kari waited only a week before driving from Washington to Pensacola to become an officer. She completed her navigator training in two years with the Navy while attending flight school.
After getting her “wings”, she had top pick for which aircraft she wanted to be placed in. She chose the F-15.
“I think I chose it because I like the idea of a challenge. Going through flight school, it’s kind of the elite aircraft. It can bomb, do air-to-air engagements; you always have to be current in all these different ways to deploy.”
Kari then entered survival training in Pensacola, and completed two-month Fighter Fundamentals training in Mississippi where she learned basic fighting maneuvers.
“If you watch ‘Top Gun’, that’s what we learn,” she said about the 1986 movie.
She also endured “the centrifuge” at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico — the same one that potential astronauts have to survive.
Francois Hollande: The New French President And India – OpEd
Written by: B. Raman
May 7, 2012 When Francois Mitterand, the then leader of the French Socialist Party, was elected the French President in 1981 defeating Giscard d’Estaing from the right of the political spectrum, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, had reasons to be concerned.
The French Right always had greater warmth for her and India than the French Left. She remembered how Georges Pompidou, who succeeded Gen. Charles de Gaulle as the President, and his Minister For Culture, Andre Malraux, stood by her and India during the exodus of millions of refugees from the then East Pakistan to India in 1971.Pompidou sent Malraux on a visit to the refugee camps as a mark of humanitarian solidarity with India.
She also remembered with gratitude the first steps towards a strategic partnership between India and France under the Presidentship of Giscard. The two flagships of this partnership were the close Indo-French co-operation in the nuclear and space fields and the co-operation between the external intelligence agencies of the two countries in collecting intelligence about developments in the Indian Ocean region.
She also remembered —but with embarrassment— how the French Left—particularly the Socialists— was embarrassed by her proclamation of the Emergency in 1975 and went out of its way to help George Fernandes and his wife Leela when they tried to evade arrests by her Government. The French Right too was embarrassed by the Emergency, but it did not show it in public and did not allow it to affect the relations between the two countries.
Of the French leftist parties, only the Communist Party, taking its cue from Moscow, kept quiet on the Emergency, but the Socialist Party made no secret of its discomfort over the violations of human rights and the trampling of democracy by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency.
It was, therefore, not surprising that when Mitterand became the President in 1981, there was an ill-concealed unease in both New Delhi and Paris as to what impact the lingering bad taste of the Emergency in the French Socialist Party circles would have on bilateral relations. It spoke well of the political maturity of both Indira Gandhi and Mitterand that they did not allow this to come in the way of the developing bilateral relations. But there was a difference.
Warmth and substance were the defining characteristics of Indo-French relations under Pompidou and Giscard. The warmth continued under Mitterand too, but the substance became less noticeable. The co-operation in the nuclear and space fields continued, but the intelligence co-operation tended to get diluted.
Mitterand developed a good personal equation with Indira and Rajiv both of whom paid successful visits to France which were reciprocated by him. Mitterrand understood the importance of India as a market for the French aircraft industry. He was attracted and he admired the Indian democracy. He was uncomfortable with what was going on in China particularly after the Tianenmen Square massacre. India stood as a shining light in comparison with China.
But, still, he was not convinced of the importance of a substantial strategic relationship between India and France. In bilateral relations, warmth alone is not sufficient. Without substance, warmth serves only a limited purpose.
Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy who succeeded Mitterand after he completed his term in 1995, restored the badly-needed substance to Indo-French relations. They attached as much importance to India as they did to China—if not more. They supported India’s aspirations in the nuclear and space fields. Chirac refrained from creating difficulties for India after it carried out the 1998 nuclear tests.
Sarkozy became a very unpopular leader in France. He was hated because of his perceived arrogance, lack of sensitivity and other negative qualities. It is said that Francois Hollande has now been elected by the French people as the President not because he is Hollande, but because he is not Sarkozy.
But, Hollande is an unknown quantity even to the French. He has hardly held any important Government position. He has hardly ever made any important political statements on international relations. He has never been known as a man of vision. He is a good man, a noble soul. But that alone is not sufficient in leadership. The ability to think far ahead and to give practical shape to one’s thinking is important too.
He is equally an unknown quantity for us in India too. The Fench are a warm people—unusually warm if you can speak to them in French. One can expect with hope that he will be warm towards India like Sarkozy, Chirac, Mitterand, Giscard and Pompidou. But will he neglect the substance that was the characteristic of the days of the Right and let it be frittered away due to less interest in India?
François Hollande: le nouveau président français et l'Inde - OpEd Écrit par: B. Raman
7 mai 2012
Lorsque François Mitterrand, alors chef du Parti socialiste français, a été élu le président français en 1981 battant Giscard d'Estaing à partir de la droite de l'échiquier politique, Indira Gandhi, alors Premier ministre, avait des raisons d'être inquiets.
La droite française a toujours eu plus de chaleur pour elle et l'Inde que la gauche française. Elle se souvenait de la façon dont Georges Pompidou, qui a succédé à Gen Charles de Gaulle en tant que président, et son ministre de la Culture, André Malraux, se tenait près d'elle et l'Inde lors de l'exode de millions de réfugiés du Pakistan oriental en Inde en 1971.Pompidou envoyé Malraux lors d'une visite aux camps de réfugiés comme une marque de solidarité humanitaire avec l'Inde.
Elle se souvient aussi avec gratitude les premiers pas vers un partenariat stratégique entre l'Inde et la France sous la présidence du Giscard. Les deux fleurons de ce partenariat ont été la fin indo-français de coopération dans les domaines nucléaire et de l'espace et la coopération entre les agences de renseignement extérieurs des deux pays dans la collecte de renseignements sur les développements dans la région Océan Indien.
Elle se souvenait aussi, mais avec embarras-faire de la gauche française, en particulier les socialistes-a été gênée par sa proclamation de l'état d'urgence en 1975 et sortit de sa façon d'aider George Fernandes et son épouse Leela quand ils ont essayé de se soustraire à des arrestations par son gouvernement . La droite française a été également gênés par l'état d'urgence, mais il ne le montre pas en public et ne lui permettent pas d'affecter les relations entre les deux pays.
Parmi les partis français de gauche, seul le Parti communiste, s'inspirant de Moscou, gardé le silence sur l'état d'urgence, mais le Parti socialiste n'a pas caché son malaise face aux violations des droits de l'homme et le piétinement de la démocratie par Indira Gandhi lors de l'état d'urgence .
Il était, par conséquent, pas surprenant que, lorsque Mitterrand est devenu le président en 1981, il y avait un malaise mal dissimulé à New Delhi et Paris quant à ce que l'impact le goût persistant de la mauvaise urgence dans les cercles du Parti Socialiste Français aurait sur les relations bilatérales relations. Il a bien parlé de la maturité politique des deux Indira Gandhi et Mitterrand qu'ils ne permettent pas de venir dans la voie de développement des relations bilatérales. Mais il y avait une différence.
Chaleur et de la substance sont les caractéristiques qui définissent les relations franco-indo sous Pompidou et Giscard. La chaleur a continué sous Mitterrand aussi, mais la substance est devenue moins visible. La coopération dans les domaines nucléaire et spatial a continué, mais l'intelligence coopération tend à se diluer.
Mitterrand mis au point une équation personnelle de qualité avec Indira et Rajiv qui ont tous deux effectué des visites réussies en France qui ont été réciproque de la part lui.Mitterrand a compris l'importance de l'Inde comme un marché pour l'industrie aéronautique française. Il a été attiré et il admirait la démocratie indienne. Il était mal à l'aise avec ce qui se passait en Chine en particulier après le massacre Tianenmen Square. L'Inde était comme une lumière qui brille en comparaison avec la Chine.
Mais, encore, il n'était pas convaincu de l'importance d'une relation substantielle stratégique entre l'Inde et la France. Dans les relations bilatérales, de la chaleur seule ne suffit pas. Sans substance, la chaleur ne sert qu'à des fins limitées.
Jacques Chirac et Nicolas Sarkozy qui a succédé à Mitterrand, après avoir terminé son mandat en 1995, restauré la substance mal nécessaire à l'indo-français des relations.Ils ont attaché autant d'importance à l'Inde comme ils l'ont fait à la Chine, sinon plus. Ils ont soutenu les aspirations de l'Inde dans les domaines nucléaire et l'espace. Chirac s'est abstenu de créer des difficultés pour l'Inde après avoir effectué les essais nucléaires de 1998.
Sarkozy est devenu un chef de file très impopulaire en France. Il était haï à cause de son arrogance perçue, manque de sensibilité et d'autres qualités négatives. Il est dit que François Hollande a été élu par le peuple français que le Président n'est pas parce qu'il est Hollande, mais parce qu'il n'est pas Sarkozy.
Mais, Hollande est une quantité inconnue, même pour les Français. Il n'a guère occupé un poste important du gouvernement. Il n'a pratiquement jamais fait de déclarations politiques importantes sur les relations internationales. Il n'a jamais été connu comme un homme de vision. Il est un homme bon, une âme noble. Mais cela seul ne suffit pas en matière de leadership. La capacité de penser loin et de donner forme concrète à sa pensée est important aussi.
Il est également une quantité inconnue pour nous en Inde aussi. Le Fench sont un accueil chaleureux des gens-inhabituellement chaud si vous pouvez leur parler en français. On peut s'attendre à de l'espoir qu'il sera chaud vers l'Inde, comme Sarkozy, Chirac, Mitterrand, Giscard et Pompidou. Mais sera-t négliger la substance qui était la caractéristique des jours de la droite et laissez-le être gaspillé en raison de moins d'intérêt en Inde?
Hepatitis C Drug Can Cause Depression May 7, 2012 There’s a high rate of depression among patients with hepatitis C, but a standard treatment for the disease includes a drug, interferon, that can cause depression. In a review article, researchers tackle the complexities of diagnosing and managing depression before and after initiating treatment with interferon. Dr. Murali S. Rao of Loyola University Medical Center is a co-author of the study, published in the International Journal of Interferon, Cytokine and Mediator Research. “Depression is a relatively frequent and potentially serious complication of interferon therapy for hepatitis C virus infection,” the researchers write. “However, other etiologies [causes] of depression may coexist and have to be carefully excluded.” Hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the United States. At least 4 million people have been exposed and 3.2 million are chronic carriers. The drugs ribavirin and pegylated interferon are mainstay treatments. Pegylated interferon can help relieve muscle and joint pain and reduce the disabling fatigue. But a well-established side effect of interferon is depression of variable severity — including suicidal thoughts. The prevalence of depression among hepatitis C patients receiving interferon has been reported to be between 10 percent and 40 percent, depending on the screening method used. One of the main concerns in treating hepatitis C patients is the risk of suicide, especially since many patients already are depressed before beginning therapy. Patients who have a personal or family history of a serious mood disorder, depression, suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts “should be carefully interviewed and referred to a specialist for assessment of suicide risk and treatment of the underlying disorder before treatment with interferon can be considered,” the authors write. The SSRI class of antidepressants, such as citalopram (brand name, Celexa), have been shown to be effective in treating depression in hepatitis patients treated with interferon. The related SNRI class of antidepressants, such as milnacipran (Savella), also can reduce depressive symptoms in patients taking interferon. But there have been conflicting results in studies on whether giving antidepressants before starting interferon can prevent depression, the authors write. Interferon can affect the level of serotonin, a compound that is responsible in part for regulating mood and other brain functions. This may be the reason why antidepressants don’t always work in patients who take interferon, the authors write.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SPECOM To: Laosnetworkroom Sent: Saturday, 5 May 2012 3:21 AM Subject: To know about Corrupt leadership
déja les médias se contredisent : entre Hollande et Sarkosy, les écarts se réduisent :
après le primaire socialiste H. 55% contre S.45%, au 6 mai 2012 avant le 1er tour présidentiel, H.54% contre S.46% au 6 mai 2012 après le 1er tour présidentiel , H.53,5% contre S.46,5% après le 2 mai 2012 disant que H. prside le débat, mais H.53% contre S.47% au 2ème tour du 6 mai 2012 aujourd'hui, samedi 5 mai 2012 avant minuit, fin de campagne, les médias avec les sondés donnent toujours Hollande ganant avec 52,5% contre Sarkosy 47,5% ! demain le 6 mai 2012 avant 20h00 , quel sera le résultat final ? est-ce sera comme comme celui du 1er tour présidentiel :
28% Hollande, 27% Sarkosy, 18% Le Pen, 11% Mélanchon, 9% Bayrou.... Ah le sondage s'est complètement trompé !!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ath Dhatpa To: "laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com" Sent: Saturday, May 5, 2012 6:42 AM Subject: Re: 264 ) ລັກສນະ ຂອງຜູ້ນໍາໃຊ້ໜ້າທີ່ສໍ້ໂກງTo know about Corrupt leadership
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: SPECOM To: Laosnetworkroom Sent: Saturday, 5 May 2012 3:21 AM Subject: To know about Corrupt leadership
ພວກໂຈນຫ້ນາຫມາຊາດຊາດຊັ່ວຢູ່ໄດ້ກັບການຂໍທານສັງຄົມໂລກ ແດກຫ່າມາໄດ້37ປິແລ້ວເທົ້ານັ້ນ Amélioration de la station routière de la capitale
(KPL)-- L’entreprise d’Etatdes bus de Vientianelanceun projet d’amélioration de la station routière située à côté du Talat Sao. L’objectif est de pouvoir accueillir l’arrivée des 42 nouveaux bus offerts par le gouvernement du Japon.
Ces travaux seront assurés parl'entreprise de co...nstruction Chitchaleun après que celle-ci ait obtenu l’autorisation des autorités de Vientiane.
Les plans pour la nouvelle gare routière sont encore en discussion entre les différents secteurs car pour le moment on ne sait pas encore quand les travaux commenceront, a confié le directeur de l’ entreprise des bus de Vientiane, M. Khamphoune
« Un bâtiment de huit étages sera construit sur le site de la station routière actuelle de la capitale. Le rez-de-chaussée servira de station de bus, les deuxième et troisième étages seront utilisés pour le stationnement des voitures privées, et les autres étages abriteront des magasins et autres points de vente commerciaux », a-t-il précisé. Le directeur adjoint de la station a ajouté aussi que l'entreprise aura une concession de 70 ans pour exploiter le nouveau bâtiment.
« Nous sommes en train de chercher deux endroits pour servir de stations de bus provisoires pendant les travaux. Il est probable qu’on trouve une parcelle de terrain située dans la zone du kilomètre 5 vers le village de Chommany, dans l’arrondissement de Xaysettha ou dans un autre endroit situé près de l’ancienne gare routière du Nord au village de Nakham, de l’arrondissement de Sikhottabong.»
La nouvelle gare routière du Nord est située actuellement au village de Dongnathong, dans l’arrondissement de Sikhottabong.
La remise des 42 bus du gouvernement japonais aidera à réduire les embouteillages et les émissions de gaz carbonique ainsi que le nombre de motocyclettes et de voitures sur la route. Cela permettra d’encourager les citadins à opter pour les transports en commun.
Depuis 1988, le Japon a soutenu le secteur des transports du Laos. En 2 000, le gouvernement japonais a fourni 56 bus au Laos.
Les embouteillages sont de plus en plus fréquents à Vientiane malgré la taille de la ville, et le nombre de personnes utilisant les transports publics restent faible.
C O M M U N I Q U E on the occasion of the « International Day of the Freedom of the Press » : May O3 , 2012
All over the world , May 03 is the occasion to inform the public on the violations of the freedom of expression and recall to it that numerous journalists have run a risk for death and prison in binging violations to their daily news.
Appointed Secretary general of « People’s Revolutionary Party » at the 9th Congress in April 2011 and Chief State ; Comrade Choummaly Sayasone has not altered the country’s ideological line. All media remain under control of the Party.
At time when the international situation is faced with profound political changes, Laos fondamentally remains a marxist-leninist dictatorship where the single Party (communist People’s Revolutionary Party) undeservedly governs the country and foreign Press is prohibited , prisonners of opinion are still always incarcerated without trial . The press is controlled by the Party-State , several opposition journalists are always imprisoned without trial and inhumanly treated . The repression of press liberty affects also the foreign journalists , these people are supervised by strict regulation relating to their movement , their interviews, etc…They are constantly followed and are unable to carry through their task.
The People’s marxist-leninst Revolutionary Party holds its influence on the medias of the country and does n’t tolerate any critics . On can find in the laotian press the identical articles, written by official Press Agency KPL (KhaoSane Pathet Lao) and the jounal of the Party ( Paxaxon or People) or by the civil-servants of the Ministry of Information. All the journalists are employers of this Ministry and the majority between them are also members of the Party . There is no independant newspaper.
The detention and the arbitrary accusations issued against Thongpaseuth Keuakoun, leader of the « October 1999 Movement », author of numerous articles and satirical tracts on the situation of Laos and the necessity of democratic reform, along with this friends : SengAloun Phengphanh ; Bouavanh Chanmanivong, Khamphouvieng Sisa-At and Keochay prove more than ever the importance of the International Day of the Press that we are celebrating today May 03 . Finally, we are always without news about the leaders of the October 1999 Movement (Sisa-At died in prison in 2001 after being tortured and ill-treatment). We strongly urges appeal to the communists Autorities of Vientiane to release immediately these prisoners of conscience , well as the 12 people arrested in 2009 during the « Sea Games » and 25 people arrested just before of the festival of « Thatluang » in 2011 .
Accordance with the interests of the nation and to meet the most fervent legitimate aspirations of the people’s Lao , the Lao National Council for Democracy, composed of democratic forces and representatives of the Opposition to all forms of dictatorship, the struggle for democracy, freedom, reconciliation and human rights, strongly urges :
1-the release without conditions of the prisoners of conscience incarcerated without judgment and inhumanly treated and this , without any reprisals ,
2-the freedom of speech, demonstration and press ; all the patriotic parties and all organizations without distinction of political tendency are free to carry on their activities ;
3-the cessation of all acts of violence and arbitrary arrests committed against all facts to Lao Patriots peacefully claiming their views on social justice, freedom , democracy and the multiparty ,
4-the immediat stop of the repression of religous minorities, including Christians ,
5-the cessation of torture, inhuman treatment in prisons and detention camps
6-the cessation to persecution of ethnic minorities, particular the Lao-Hmong minority ,
7-the organisation of a constructive dialogue between Authorities of Vientiane and the Lao representatives of democratic movements abroad, wishing to participate in rebuilding their homeland in the rule of law.
The Lao National Council for Democracy remains committed to ending all forms of dictatorship in Laos and that by peacefull actions, and is cooperating fully and with the same objective . We urge all Lao to work in solidarity and to openly claim to right to live in a lao democratic and free society .
Sabaiidee Phinong Lao nok Lao leaders thung laii, I would like to share this comment that was originally posted in laohomelaoactiveboard website but unfortunately it has been deleted by the owner. But i wanted to share and warn all lao nok leaders about keo-deng vietnameese commuist lackeys that are blending in with us right now. They are nobody other than than Bouaruoy and than Sounthala. Both of these men worked for communist and are fighting with anybody who is in their way to protect their interest and their rank their fame. These two guys sold us out, sold our names, sold our informations. Everyone in overseas are walking in the same path except these two including nang Norkham from France. Please take a close look at them and reconsider again. They are not true patroits or nationalists. They are out here to destroy us. They have nothing to loose during the fall of Laos in 1975. because they are originally from Ubon Thailand who migrate to Laos in the 60s. All their families did not get killed, all their properties did not get stolen because they are from Thailand. These people are working both for Thaksin and SPPL. maa pan hup sai keo-deng..kii kar thard siam(thai slave) Please beware of these doggies. Teuane ma douy khouam wung dee. P.S..he wrote a letter to lao nok leades in Australia ask all organizations to support and sign their names with him. he including nang ong karn khong nang Vanida from France in his letter. he also sent the history book that he wrote. even for free. people in here still don't want them because it is not correct. and how can it be correct when the person who wrote it is not true khon lao. he doesn't know lao history. i have alot of letters from him lying including asking for money for human rights and i will keep you posted. ນັກ ການເມືອງ ຫລື ນັກກວນເມືອງ ກັນແທ້?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: toukhaty@hotmail.com To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Laos the promised land for investors Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:35:44 +1100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:08:53 -0600 From: specom2009@comcast.net To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Subject: Laos the promised land for investors
Laos the promised land for investors http://vietnambusiness.asia/laos-the-promised-land-for-investors/
In the 1970's and 1980's the Soviet Union seemed to be one of the most stable political units in the world. In international politics the Soviet Union was very strong and seemed only to be getting stronger. It was, for example, securing political client states in Africa. The Western powers believed this image was valid. But in the Soviet Union few things were really what they seemed to be.
Leonid Brezvev In 1974 there was a power summit meeting near Vladivostok, U.S.S.R. between President Gerald Ford of the U.S. and Leonid Breznev of the Soviet Union. After the meeting Breznev went to his waiting train. The train however did not depart. The journalist and others who traveling on the train with Breznev were not told the reason for the delay even though the delay extended through the night. The next day they were told that Brezvev had suffered a stroke. Breznev's personal physician, Mikhail Kosarev, said the problem was an overdose of his sleeping medication rather than a stroke. The symptoms were similar, slurred speech and muscle weakness. Kosareve said that if effect Breznev was a drug addict during this period and had merely miscalculated his dosage. It was no uncommon for the top leadership in totalitarian states to be addicted to sleeping potions. Mao and the top leadership of the Communist Party in China had been addicted to sleeping pills by the time of the Long March. Totalitarian leaders have a hard time relaxing and getting to sleep.
There were many economic problems for the Soviet Stalinist system. One very general problem was the the lack of incentives for productivity. As anonymous Soviet citizen said They pretent to pay us and we pretend to work. The Russian economist, Grigory Yavlinsky, who ultimately became an important advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev, became convinced to the need for reform when he investigated the low productivity in the Soviet mines. He found the miners were not working because they had no incentives to work. Said Yavlinsky The Soviet system is not working because the workers are not working.
But there were more immediate causes for the collapse. In the middle 1980's about seventy percent of the industrial output of the Soviet Union was going to the military. Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB official who defected to Britain, asserted that at least one third of the total output was going to the military. British intelligence could not believe such a high figure but later Western intelligence sources estimated that it was at least fifty percent. One can only imagine what a severe shortages of industrial goods there were for the rest of the economy. In the U.S. the Reagan Administration increased the budget for the military and presented the possibility that it would implement a Star Wars antiballistic missile system. To maintain a parity with the U.S. under those developments would have required an even larger share of industrial ouput going to the military. The planners and decision-makers had to face the fact that it was economically impossible for the Soviet Union to increase the share of its output going to the military. The Soviet authorities then ended the arms race and called off the Cold War. When the justification of an external threat was removed there was no reason for the Russian public to toleratel the totalitarian regime and the political system fell apart. The agreement between Ford and Breznev led on to the Statregic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). While Soviet negotiators were talking detente with the West in Helsinki, Finland the Soviet military were installing medium range nuclear missiles, the SS20's. Only the inner circle of the military-industrial complex knew about those missiles. The SALT negotiators did not know; even the higher levels of the KGB intelligence staff did not know. The negotiators and the KGB only found out about the SS20's when Western sources publicized their siting. The U.S. and western Europe reacted to the SS20's by installing Pershing and Cruise missiles in western Europe. The Soviet reacted to those sitings by starting a peace movement in western Europe to protest the siting of the Pershing and Cruise missiles. Elena Bonner, a human rights advocate in the Soviet Union and the wife of Andrei Sakharov, characterized the peace movement as a movement of Soviet Con Artists. She also characterized the SALT agreements, which the West was proud of, as an agreement in which 300 million people who were living in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe were handled over forever to totalitarianism. What the West got for the Stategic Arms Limitation was a Soviet agreement to honor a set of human rights measures, the so-called Third Basket. From documents that were later found after the fall of the Soviet Union is that the Soviet leaders had no intention of honoring those agreements concerning human rights. The Soviet leaders concentrated on amassing military power. By 1970 the Soviet Union had achieved parity with the United States in military power. They managed to do this even though their military budget was supposedly on one half or one third of that of the U.S. But achieving parity with the U.S. was not an end to the arms buildup. Soviet leader Andropov suggested that the Soviet Union should strive for parity with the combined forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plus China. Part of the military buildup of the Soviet Union was in tens of thousands of tanks. They had 25 thousand in East Germany alone. They were very pleased and confident with this vast superiority in tanks. This confidence held up until President Jimmy Carter announced that he was considering the development of a neutron bomb. The neutron bomb would produce armor-piercing radiation which would kill the crews of tanks but leave the tanks unharmed. This would have made the tank force of the Soviet Union not only ineffective but a danger since enemies could take over the tanks after the crews had been killed and use them against the Soviet Union. The Soviets organized an international peace campaign against the neutron bomb. It was run by the KGB office near Moscow. It was effective enough to get Jimmy Carter to cancel the development of the neutron bomb only a year after he announced its consideration. Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980 and he never believed detente with the Soviet Union was feasible or desirable. In July of 1983 he made a speech in which he labeled the Soviet Union a evil empire. The Soviet Union the leaders of the military-industrial complex were overjoyed. They immediately received and increase in budget. The budget increase for the military came at the expense of investment in the rest of the economy. Nikolai Leonov, a general in the KGB, described the result as follows: First there was a visible decline in the rate of growth, then its complete stagnation. There was a drawnout, deepening and almost insurmountable crisis in agriculture. It was a frightening and truly terrifying sign of crisis. It was these factors that were crucial in the transition to perestroika. The Reagan Administration justifiably gets credit for destroying the Evil Empire, but the irony of it is that the successful strategy arose as a result of a blunder rather than rational decision. David Stockman tells us that the dramatic increase in the defense budget arose as a result of a mistake. David Stockman was the head of the Office of Management and the Budget (OMB). The OMB practice in putting together a budget was first to make forecasts of the budget figures assuming no change in price levels; i.e., no inflation. An estimate was made of the rate of price increase and the constant price projections would be multiplied by an appropriate factor for inflation. Stockman says that in one year the inflation-adjusted figure for the Defense Department budget was mistakenly reported as the constant price figure. The mistaken figures were released before the mistake was caught. When OMB discovered the mistake the Reagan Administration tried to tell the Pentagon that a correction would have to be made. The Pentagon people said, in effect, "No way! If you adjust that published figure we will tell people that you are cutting the Defense budget." The political fallout would have been too great so the Reagan Administration sanctioned the accceptance of the published figure and made a second inflation adjustment. This was why there was such a big increase in the Defense budget. Many scientist doubted that the Star Wars anti-missile system would work. The Soviet strategic planners had to presume that it would work. Gorbachev's Glasnost and Perestroika When Mikhail Gorbachev was assured of gaining control of the Communist Party and the government of the Soviet Union he sought out Aleksandr Yakoblev, a specialist in North American affairs, to be one of his closest political advisors. Gorbachev and Yakoblev did not intend to dismantle the communist system. Instead they intended to make it work. Years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Yakoblev said in an interview It seemed to us that all we had to do was to remove some prohibitions, some brakes. Free everything up and it would start to work. It would work. There is a good engine there. It has got a bit old and rusty. It needs oil. Then just press the starter and it will set off down the track. And we went along under this illusion for one and half to two years. But as soon as we began to make really radical reforms, in foreign policy say, we immediately came up against the resistance of the system, that is the military-industrial complex, the central core of the system. It began to resist. And that is when we began to understand that if we wanted radical reform we would inevitably come up against the resistance of the system. And that is what happened. And from that moment on people began to say that the system is unreformable and the Party is unreformable. Although there did remain some illusions, some hopes, that it could all be done without major conflicts. Andrei Grachev, the Deputy Head of the Intelligence Department of the Central Committee, summed up the denouement of the downfall quite cogently: Gorbachev actually put the sort of final blow to the resistance of the Soviet Union by killing the fear of the people. It was still that this country was governed and kept together, as a structure, as a government structure, by the fear from Stalinist times. The other thing that was keeping this country together wa the invented outside threat. So Gorbachev's foreign policy [which] confirmed to the people that there was no danger from the outside, actually played a bad or a good joke with his country because then it did not have any particular reason to keep the structure of this camp. And then it fell apart. But there was a more immediate explanation for the collapse of the Soviet Union provided by Yegor Gaidar, who had been acting prime minister of Russia from June of 1992 to December of 1992 and a key figure in the transformation of the Russian economy. In his last work, Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia, published in 2007 Gaidar provides a powerful explanation for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Soviet agriculture had stagnated in the 1980's but the demand for grain in the cities was increasing. It was necessary to buy grain in the international market. While the price of petroleum was high it was feasible to finance the purchase of grain from internal sources. When the price of petroleum fell in the last 1980's the Soviet Union needed to borrow the funds from Western banks to purchase the needed grain. This severely restricted the international activities of the Soviet Union. It could not send in Soviet troops to put down the rebellions against communism in Eastern Europe because such an action would have resulted in a refusal of Western sources to lend the money needed. Likewise the attempted coup d'état was doomed to failure because the coup leaders would not have been able to borrow the funds needed to stave off starvation in the major cities. Although Gaidar's book does not delve into the reason for the decline in petroleum prices in the late 1980's there is evidence that this occurred because of a conspiracy between the American Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) the leaders of Saudi Arabia to punish the Soviet Union for its invasion of Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia increased its production of petroleum drastically and consequently the price of petroleum fell. The supposedly progressive system of socialism actually was a replication of feudalism in that was the absence of personal freedom of the common people and also in that the core of structure was an elite oriented toward militarism. The common people, the workers, were treated like serfs and slaves: they were given the necessities of food, shelter, clothing, transportation and medical care but little else. This is the same regime that prevailed under slavery.
THE GOOD THING IS TO ASK ALL LAO NORK TO SEND MESSAGES TO RFA, C/O MAYSOULY WHO WAS READING THAT LETTER ON AIR TO WORLD PUBLIC, COMPLAINING THAT RFA ADMINISTRATION MUST BE RESPONSIBLE TO READ THAT LETTER AND DEMANDING,THE DIRECTOR OF RFA AND ALSO NANG MAYSOULY TO ASK FOR EXCUSES TO ALL LAO NORK...BECAUSE OF MANY REASONS AS FOLLOWS: 1.. RFA IS A NON PROFIT ORG.AND RECEIVED THE FUNDING FROM PUBLIC OR PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS IN USA AND THAT FUNDING IS COMING FROM PEOPLE TAXES.. 2. THE MAIN GOAL OF RFA IS SERVING LAO PEOPLE IN GENERAL AND TARGETING TO FREE ASIA, DELIVERING FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY TO LAO PEOPLE IN THE WORLD... 3. THE RFA ADMINISTRATION IS RECEIVING THE SALARY FROM THIS ORGANIZATION AND MUST SERVE THE PEOPLE WHAO HAS PAID TAXES TO BENEFIT THEM FOR YEARS... 4. THE SPP LAO GOVERNMENT AND LAO PEOPLE HAVE NOT CONTRIBUTED TO THE RFA FUNDING AND HAVING NO RIGHTS TO BLAME OR DISCRIMINATION THE LAO NORK WHO BECAME THE US CITIZENS AND PAYING TAXES TO SUPPORT THEIR AGENCY... 5. ALL RFA STAFFS MUST REVIEW AGAIN THEIR POLICIES AND THEIR JOB DESCRIPTIONS, SEE WHAT THEY CAN DO AND WHAT THEY CANNOT DO....AND SEE WHAT ARE THEIR GOALS AND THEIR MAIN TARGETS.....IF NOT ALL LAO NORK MUST SEND A COMPLAINT OR PETITION TO THE US GOVERNMENT OR CONGRESS TO CANCEL THEIR SERVICES AND THEIR FUNDING IN THE DAYS TO COME... ANY COMMENTS,PLEASE LET ME KNOW... HAKPHENG,
As we all have learn and known that communism is a failure and destructive political system in the world. There's no progress improvement in Laos for the last 37 years. I am sure everyone should know by now why USSR had collapsed during the cold war, right? Why is the uprising in Middle East, Burma, and many other part of the world today? People wants freedom, democracy, dignity, human right, and all dictatorship system must end now!!! Look at South Korea and North Korea with two different political system and how much progress and modernize of South Korea compare to dictatorship regime that run country to the ground. Lao communist is far worst than North Korea in term of progress in the country. What has really change in Laos for the last 37 years when communist neo Lao/Keo took over the country. Here's some of the thing that already had happen in Laos today.
1. Drug problems and trafficking through out the country. This is the worse in all time of the history of Laos in any era, decade, and even century. There's no plan to resolve this issue nor any program to help people get out of this problem. Government only slowly killing many younger people or use them to do more drug trafficking throughout a country. Have we ever heard this during Lao royal government?
2. Prostitution and sex slave on the rise throughout the country. Many bars, coffee shops, hotels, casino and all kind of activities to promote prostitution every where from country side to a major city. I guess when there's no regular job nor any employment can sustain and help its citizen then these people have no other choice just to sell their body for money. Was there anything like this during the Vietnam war?
3. Aids and sexual transmitted decease are on the rise in a great numbers and there's nothing to cure nor the government care to help eliminate these problems. This was none existence before 1975 nor even heard of.
4. Employment: There's more and more foreigners ownership of Laos land, building, Hotels, manufacturing, and some other industries. Because neo Lao/keo are so SALAD SONGSAI that allowed many foreigners to invade and take over Laos without any vision nor care about its own citizen. There's not enough Lao professional nor expertise in many fields that can run, support, nor sustain its profession.
5. Freedom/Human right: What is this? I guess there's none existence throughout Laos today. All citizen can only see but cannot say anything to government without being persecuted or sentence to jail for a long time. This way everyone is dumb and blind nor want to contests with government. There's no justice and no rights in anything.
6. Religion: there's no right to practice any religion only the neolao/keo religion only. what's neolao/keo religion??? It's only way to saying but not practice. No other religion allowed!!! many more and more different sect of Christianity had been persecuted and many churches had been destroyed. Buddhism doe not teach nor practice any violent nor killing...Only Neolao/keo religion allow that!!!!
7. Education: I guess the leaders only finished grade school level and why is that so important for its citizen. When compare to the last three decades, many Laos leaders achieved and attained higher education degree from foreign countries and its education level is still somewhat competitive with neighboring countries. But nowadays.... Dongdok degree is nothing compare to high school diploma in modern country. by the way, the so called leader or ministry of various department are buying a fake diploma from Thailand or Vietnam. I guess for the most modern country would seek advance degree in USA, England, or France. But only the Salad Songsai neo lao/keo want to go to Vietnam for advance degree. The difference is that when you earned any degree from USA education institution you can work any where in the world. I guess you can understand why USA is so powerful around the world.
8. Corruption: This is the worse of all time in Laos history and it's a mind boggling that neo Lao/keo government had surpassed Columbia in this category. I think this is just make me so sick and disgust when I hear about this and it's so obvious from top to the bottom. The average income is still far below the poverty level in modern country living standard, but the neolao/keo party members had more money than you can imagine because of corruption. They (neolao/keo) will sell everything that they can get their hands on from natural resources, land, and much more for personal gain and continue to corrupt.
I guess these topics are enough for all of us to digest and sure hope everyone should bring these up and tell the entire world about these evil neolao/keo regime had done and will continue to destroy and persecuted its own citizen. Moreover, Laos will be be wipe out from a world map soon if these evil neolao/keo will continue to run the country. As for khon Lao around the world, we must wake up and united and work together no matter what group, political party, nor race, nor background. If we are still fighting among ourselves, show off, competition, and think you know more than anyone else...then we are definitely walking in circle with no point to begin nor direction to go... Let's join in hand and share the vision, knowledge, lessons learn, and move on with a better thing and healthy future. Laos kingdom has 68 tribes, 3 main groups, Lao theung, Lao Loum, and Lao soung. United we stand and can do much more wonder.... Please excuse myself if I may have say many thing that might have offend some one here...But I think there's more young mind like myself that can participate and help reunited our people and let's do it with pride and dignity as khon Lao. Please share your visions and plans to help us understand where we are coming from and where we are going.
021602 Thailand-- Lao FM to attend ASEAN meeting in Thailand: offic Topic List Reply 021602 Thailand-- Lao FM to attend ASEAN meeting in Thailand: official
Saturday February 16, 5:54 PM
Lao FM to attend ASEAN meeting in Thailand: official
BANGKOK, Feb 16 (AFP) - Lao Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad is to attend a meeting of Southeast Asian ministers in Thailand next week, a Thai official said Saturday amid speculation he could be ousted from the regime.
Somsavat has taken three months' leave of absence just weeks before an expected government reshuffle, sparking reports that he faces being booted out of the secretive communist government.
"Mr. Somsavat will come to Thailand for the Phuket meeting on the morning oF February 20," a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) talks on the resort island.
No official announcement of Somsavat's leave of absence was made before his departure for Singapore earlier this month, diplomats in Vientiane said.
But the minister told foreign envoys that he was going to study English and that his deputy, Phongsavath Boupha, would hold the fort during his three-month absence.
The authorities used the same excuse of overseas training when Khamxay Souphanouvong, a minister in the prime minister's office, won asylum in New Zealand in November 2000 in one of the most high-ranking defections from Laos.
KHAMSAY SOUPHANOUVONG AND A REVOLUTION THAT NEVER CAME By eDemocrat
The nostalgia that the Lao people have for the royal family and members of the aristocracy remains strong as ever. Despite Khamsay Souphanouvong's ideological attachment and allegiance to the Communist party in Lao, many Lao expatriates seems to be willing welcome the new defector amongst its fold. Any defector from Vientiane now tends to expose the cruelty of the regime, while at the same time exposing the frailty of the ruling elite. After his return from the Soviet Union, Khamsay climbed to the pinnacle of the political structure of communist Lao. He became a Member of the Central Committee of Lao People's Revolution Party (LPRP) and held a ministerial post that oversaw millions of dollars. In the mid 1980s, when Kaysone Phomvihane instituted the reform campaign known as "chintanakan mai" or new thinking, Khamsay fell out of favor among the oligarchs. The case of Khamsay's loss of power and influence is nothing special in Lao politics. After the death of Khaysone Phomvihane, his wife---Mrs. Thongvinh Phomvihane---was immediately embroiled in lawsuits and allegations of trafficking narcotics between Lao and Vietnam. Thus, when Khamsay lost his post, it appeared to be more than a political reshuffling. Khamsay was found to be in the wrong side of the equation. Having been educated in the Soviet Union, he might have thought that by taking a pro-Russia stand would secure his political foundation among the communist cadres. After all, Russia was the superpower of the eastern block. By all account Khamsay's political thinking was sensible at the time. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, Russia became increasingly less influential over the politics of Lao. Foreign aids were cut. Not having sufficient fund to keep its contingent of advisers in Lao, many Russian military advisers were recalled home. Foreign aids from Russia were dwindling while the Lao Communist Party increasingly turned to Hanoi for guidance and protection. Many Lao intellectuals who had been educated in Russia or the former Soiviet Unions appeared to be more moderate and forward looking in there thinking. Khamsay would not have been an exception. It would not be surprising if Khamsay had indeed foreseen the impending doom of the Soviet Unions while he was studying there, and thus aligned his political thinking accordingly upon his return to Vientiane. If that had been the case, it is more of an irony than fate that the oligarchs in Vientiane beat him to the race by seizing the opportunity of the day and quickly turn to Hanoi for support and guidance fearing that Vientiane will follow Moscow. The Bangkok Post and The Nation wrote that Khamsay left Lao incognito probably because he could not take the embarrassment after having lost his influence and power in Vientiane. That may be true, but such reasoning does not tell us the whole picture of politics in Lao. Recall that Mrs. Thongvinh Phomvihane became immediately embroiled with lawsuits alleging that she stole millions of dollars from some government cooperative enterprises. Moreover, there were also allegations of drug trafficking against her. In the case of Khamsay, there is more to it that just having lost his job at the Central Committee of Party. This is a case of an ex officio who fled from failed reform efforts. Politics in Lao very much depends on its allies. During the 19060s and 1970s, the leadership in Vientiane, so too in Sam Neu, closely watched every move made by the US. In particular, the secret negotiations between Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam and Henry Kissinger concerning the Vietnamization process and the eventual domino falling of Indochina. In the late 1990s, this domino mentality remains etched in the thinking of all Lao intellectuals. Khamsay would probably thought----and sensibly so---that the down fall of communism in Moscow would spell similar chapters in Vientiane and Hanoi. After all Lao s neighbor to the south, Cambodia, had changed almost overnight with the restoration of democracy---albeit tenuous, and the return of the monarchy. However, this time proxy politics of Indochina is no longer dominated by bipolar politics of the late 1970s. The fall of the Soviet Unions and other fraternal countries of the eastern Blocs did not deter the socialist commitment of the die hard revolutionaries of Indochina. It appears that China and Vietnam remain two influential countries holding Lao under its ideological spells. In this case of Khamsay, the day of student uprising and younger intellectuals, including those from the west and those in Lao and had been educated in the Eastern Bloc, never came. Lao students in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc. who saw political dissidents unfolding the tricolors over a tank in front of the Russian Dumas had high hope that the three white headed elephant in red back ground would once again be flown in Vientiane. However, this hope was quickly dashed when the oligarchs in Vientiane tighten their reign. The day of the nouveau revolution in Vientiane never came. That that dream for a better for Lao shall never die. The cry for freedom must be heard. The call for liberty must be answered. Be it dissident by choice or defector by circumstances, the Lao people must work toward restoring democracy to Lao and its people. Come, my Lao compatriots. Awake from your long nights of lumbering sleep and look at what is going on in your country today. Communists are fighting among themselves. Some of the diehard revolutionaries cannot even sleep in their own house and must seek shelter in far-flung quarters of the globe. The current situation in Lao must remind some of us of the old days of the 1960s 0r 1970s of communist China when chaos replaced order. Listen. Can you hear it? Can you hear the humming cries of our people to bring those who flee from justice to the bench and bar of law to be judged for their transgressions? You will almost hear it if you allow yourselves to listen for these cries are louder than the call of the million elephants of Lao. Speak. Speak amongst yourselves about the destiny of your country and people. The killing has long ended, but the raping and plundering are in earnest. We all hope that communism will fall in Lao and when it does, what will be left for us to see. Billions of dollars in foreign debts. Decayed physical infrastructure. Dilapidated institutional framework. More than 70% of our rain forest destroyed. These pressing issues deserving your utmost attention will go unnoticed and questions go unanswered unless you speak up and make known your love and concerns for your country and people. Think. Yes, think about your future and the future of your country. Every Lao expatriates has his or her future inextricably tied to Lao. It is unthinkable to think that communism is a victimless crime against the Lao people. In the course of our history, we had made conscious decision of which path to take. Many had chosen to follow the path to Socialism. For them, to kill a thousand for the sake of saving the seat of a few is worth doing. There are also those among us who chose the road to democracy. As the night of tyranny began to hover over Lao, we fled to safety and had been since sheltered by the free world. Despite having lived in relative security of the free West, we must not forget those who we left behind. We must listen to their cry for freedom. We must speak for them when their ability to cry in protest has been muted by brute force. We must think of their plight because their destiny and ours are inseparable.
From: black saphire To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 8:00 AM Subject: RE: ( 249 ) ກົບ ເລືອກນາຍ ແລະ ລີງກັບລີງ ຊິງກັນຂື້ນໄມ້ ບາດຈະໄດ້ ບັກໂກກນາໂຖ.
Vietnam, Laos NAs promote cooperation!!! The National Assemblies (NAs) of Vietnam and Laos opened a conference in the northern province of Son La on April 23 to discuss boosting mutual cooperation, solidarity and friendship.
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and Lao NA Chairwoman Pany Yathotou. (Source: VNA) Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vietnamese NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung welcomed his Lao counterpart, Pany Yathotu, and her entourage to the conference and conveyed his best wishes to the Lao people on their Bunpimay festival. He emphasized the significance of this year’s conference, saying it marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties and 35th anniversary of the signing of the Friendship and Co-operation Treaty.Lao NA President Pany Yathotu said the event offers an opportunity for both nations to review the strong ties, friendship, solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, and peoples, which were founded by the late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Cayson Phomvihan and nurtured by their successors. She said that over the past decades Laos and Vietnam have joined hands to attain great achievements and feats of arms during their struggles for national independence, which makes their bilateral relationship an invaluable heritage.We are proud to see that despite regional and international complications, the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Laos and Vietnam has developed substantially, for prosperity and happiness of the two nations, said Ms Yathotu.The Lao Party, State and people will continue working together with Vietnam to foster their traditional relationship and special solidarity to make mutually beneficial and comprehensive cooperation more effective, Ms Yathotu stressed.On behalf of the Lao Party, State and people, she expressed gratitude for Vietnam’s assistance to Laos during its revolutionary cause.The Vietnamese people have always stood side by side with Laos, helping it to achieve victory over foreign imperialists and reap achievements on its path to socialism, she said.At the plenary session after the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Lao counterpart Somsavad Lengsavad highlighted the effective bilateral cooperation between the two countries since they signed the 1977 Friendship and Co-operation Treaty.They also proposed measures to fully tap their potential for mutual benefit, especially by raising awareness of their relationship and strengthening cooperation in all fields. Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:09:19 -0700From: ath_dhatpa@yahoo.comSubject: Re: ( 249 ) ກົບ ເລືອກນາຍ ແລະ ລີງກັບລີງ ຊິງກັນຂື້ນໄມ້ ບາດຈະໄດ້ ບັກໂກກນາໂຖ.To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com ສະບາຍດີທ່ານທັງຫລາຍ,
March 7, 2012 A pastor has been released from prison in Laos after being locked up for nearly 13 years because of his Christian activities, ASSIST News Servicereports. Bounchan Kanthavong was set free Feb. 2, having been arrested in June 1999 and sentenced to 12 years in jail for treason and sedition. According to the ministry Barnabas Fund, Bounchan's only "crimes" appear to have been receiving Bible training and sharing his faith with customers in his clothing shop; his actions were perceived as a threat to national security and the traditional Lao religion of spirit worship, and were thus interpreted as treason. Lao authorities warned him repeatedly to stop practicing and sharing Christianity, and ordered him to cease all worship activities at his shop, but his witness led to around 70 people accepting Christ. Following his arrest, his wife took over the leadership of their Christian community, which has grown to more than 3,000 believers today. Bounchan refused to renounce Christ to leave prison early, and his health suffered during his time in jail.
WikiLeaks on Laos The Laos files from WikiLeaks underscored the country’s underdevelopment, endemic corruption in the bureaucracy and the fragile state of its environment. But we already know that. What makes the cables interesting is the kind of frankness that we don’t often get to see or hear from diplomats’ public statements.
For example, here’s how the US Embassy in Vientiane described the poor and unequal economic conditions in the country:
‘Although GoL (Government of Laos) ministers and officials with salaries of less than S75 per month sport cars villas and worthy of Monte Carlo, GDP per capita is still officially less than $400...Unemployment is epidemic, underemployment is endemic, crime is rising, and the investment climate is among the least hospitable in the world.
‘There is almost no rule of law or basic human freedom in Laos, and education is in the hands of a corrupt and ideologically hidebound ministry that uses ADB money to build a grandiose but unnecessary new ministry building while rural children sit on logs and try to remember what a teacher looked like.’
One report even declared a ‘direct consequence of decades of abuse of power is that there is no public trust’ and that ‘government officials are presumed to be corrupt unless proven otherwise.’
These corrupt officials apparently approved the implementation of several development projects that are hurting the poor:
(KPL)-- La Pharmacie américaine Walgreens a déclaré lors de la cérémonie du lancement de campagne de vaccination contre la grippe et de célébration de la semaine mondiale de vaccination, le 24 avril qu’elle offrira un don en vaccin antigrippe d’une valeur totale de 9 millions de dollars au gouvernement de la RDP du Laos pour soutenir son projet de vaccination contre la grippe qui pourrait se produire pendant l’hiver . Le ministère laotien de la Santé publique de commencer la distribution de ces vaccins le 26 avril et durera jusqu’à la fin mai 2012. Ce don fait partie des efforts de coopération commune entre le centre de prévention et de contrôle des maladies des Etats-Unis et le ministère de la Santé publique du Laos, sur la base de la coopération existant depuis longtemps entre le ministère laotien de la santé, l’OMS, le centre de prévention et de contrôle des maladies des Etats-Unis et l’ambassade des Etats-Unis à Vientiane. Cette aide reste un but prévisionnel de Walgreens pour vacciner les personnes en risque qui sont les femmes en ceinte, les enfants et les personnes âgées ainsi que celles touchées par les maladies pulmonaires et cardiaques. De son côté le ministère laotien de la santé prévoit de vacciner plus de 357000 personnes contre la grippe.
Remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers repatriated from Laos
(KPL/VOV 27.04.12) - A ceremony was held in the central province of Nghe An on April 22 to rebury 84 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who had sacrificed their lives on the former battlefields in Laos.
The remains were found and excavated by a special working group of Vietnam' s Nghe An province and Laos' Xieng Khouang and Vientiane provinces during a joint search campaign in the two Lao provinces in the 2011-2012 dry season.
Earlier, local Lao people and Vietnamese nationals in Xieng Khouang province held a requiem to commemorate the fallen Vietnamese soldiers and experts.
Over the past 28 years, the Military Command of the Nghe An province has searched, repatriated and reburied more than 12,000 sets of remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts at Vietnam-Laos War Martyr Cemetery in Anh Son district and a war martyr cemetery in Do Luong district.
Of the total, nearly 800 remains have been identified.
LAOS: Communal land titles could save more than forests
Photo: Contributor/IRIN A villager cuts bamboo from the local forestVIENTIANE, 16 April 2012 (IRIN) - With pressure on natural resources increasing in Laos, the first community land titles granted to five villages in Vientiane Province could provide a national model for environmental protection while safeguarding the livelihoods of villagers.
“It’s very important because the communal land titles can give communities the right to access and harvest natural resources, and overcome land concessions to companies,” Souvanpheng Phommasane, an advisor for SNV Netherlands Development Organization told IRIN.
The title deeds cover an area of 2,189 hectares of bamboo-producing forest. After a two-year process the land was finally handed over to the five villages in Sangthong District, 50km west of the capital, Vientiane, in February.
Hanna Saarinen, coordinator for the Land Issues Working Group, which represents 40 concerned civil society organizations, says the issue of land ownership is becoming more urgent.
“In the last five to 10 years there have been more and more competing interests [seeking control] over natural resources,” she said. Private sector companies as well as communities “have been using the same land, the same forest for years”.
The government’s 2011-2015 development plan sets a target of at least 8 percent annual economic growth, driven primarily by extractive industries, such as mining, hydropower and plantation agriculture. All these activities require significant land allocation, while slash-and-burn agriculture and logging further diminish forested areas.
Trees once spread across 70 percent of Laos, but in 2010 the Department of Forestry estimated that this has now been reduced to just 40 percent. The decline in forest cover not only has wide environmental impacts but also affects rural incomes.
Per capita income stands at just over US$1,000 per year, the World Bank reports, and 75 percent of the country’s workforce earns a livelihood from agriculture.
Government statistics note that non-timber forest products, such as bamboo, contribute about 40 percent of rural income.
A bamboo trade association in Sangthong District, set up in 2007, designs and produces furniture and handicrafts made from local bamboo. The district administration states that households involved in the project can earn an additional 2 million Lao Kip ($250) a month - a significant amount for villagers living in one of the 46 districts designated by the government as the poorest in the country.
Photo: Contributor/IRIN Villagers practice slash and burn agriculture in northern Laos Salongsay Mixay, the head of Na Po village, says the local forests were under threat before the land titles were granted.
“There were different cases. A big truck comes from somewhere - no one knows where, maybe the city - and they cut [bamboo] and went away. The second case is the investor who talks to the villagers and says, ‘I want to cut this much [bamboo],’ and pays a little amount of money, and leaves.”
Replicating the land-grant model across this Southeast Asian nation may not be straightforward. “In Sangthong it was a specific case because they had this bamboo project - they were already managing the bamboo areas, they had a forest management plan - but there are no clear guidelines or manuals, so the districts do not know how to do it in practice,” said Saarinen.
Support from a number of development organizations, with funding through the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, and implementation by the United Nations Development Programme, helped the Sangthong District administration to tackle the procedures needed to apply for and eventually be granted the title deeds to the land.
Phommasane from SNV Netherlands believes that if other districts receive similar support they could also get communal land titles. The government is carrying out a land policy review that is expected to formalize the procedures for granting communal land titles.
Giving ownership of more of the land to the villagers who earn their living from it could be critical to the government’s stated ambition of restoring forest cover to 65 percent of the country by 2015.
Khamoon Tiengthila, the Sangthong District deputy governor, says he is proud of what his district has achieved. “It’s a small project that contributes to preserving the world’s environment. The forest is important for development and the economy.”
Champassack calls for almost 100 billion kip for road repair
By Vinnaly
(KPL25.04.2012) The authorities of Champassack province has called for 98 billion kip for the renovation of bridge and road hit by severe flooding and landslide removal.
More than 300 million kip fund is now an urgent request for repairing the damaged roads.
A senior staff of Champassack Public Works and Transport Service, Mr. Phitsahong Phoummavongsa said Champassack province was hit by tropical storm Nork Tene between July and August, triggering flash flood.
Over 80 roads in 10 districts have been reportedly broken caused by severe flooding.
The worst-hit districts are Paksong with more than 100 km long, following by Soukhouma with the stretch of 70 km, five bridges.
The budget for road and Mekong embankment renovation cost 98 billion kip, Mr Phitsahong said.
He added that many roads in Parkse municipality have been broken. ຍາມຝົນມາຮອດແລ້ວ ຖນົນ345 ສາຍ ຂັວ34ແຫ່ງ ແລະ ໂຮງຮຽນໂຮງຫມໍ182 ທີ່ຖືກພັຍທັມມະຊາດ(ສູນເສັຍທັງຫົມດ 1600ລ້ານ ດລ ໃນຂະນະທີ່ງົປມານທັງ ປທ ມີແຕ່ 1800ລ້ານ ເດິສັດເດັຍຣະສານທັງຫລາຍ) ທຳລາຍໃນປິ 2011ຍັງບໍ່ມີຄວາມສາມາດສ້າງສາບຸຣະໄຫ່ມຂື້ນໄດ້ ຊ້ຳໄປ ເສຶອກ ຕົບມື ຮ້ອງໂຮແບບຊີ້ນສຕີວ່າ ປິ ນີ້ ເສຖກິດ ໂຈນແນວລາວມັນຊີໂຕອິກແລ້ວ ໂຄດຊັ່ວສຸ
(KPL24.04.2012)-- L’ambassade des Etats-Unis au Laos a remis un chèque au Fonds mondial de conservation des animaux sauvages au Laos. Cette aide est destinée à la mise en œuvre de l’étude sur les sites et sur l’habitat des pangasius (pa Beuk) du Mékong. Ce poisson peut peser plus de 350 kg et mesurer 3m de long.
Cette aide vise également à protéger les poissions rares et à financer des études sur les nouvelles espèces de poisson du Mékong, a déclaré M. Victor Cowling, représentant du Fonds Mondial de Conservation des animaux sauvages au Laos.
La remise de cette aide a été organisée, le 23 avril à Vientiane par S. E. Mme Karen B. Stewart, ambassadrice des Etats - Unis au Laos et M. Victor Cowling.
The war in Laos was merely a tail of the war in Vietnam. While the Vietnam problem was not resolved, the Lao problem would not be satisfactorily resolved. Therefore, in 1968, while Vietnam peace talk was taking place in Paris, various Lao factions also started to negotiate. On July 22 1968, the central committee of the Lao Patriotic Front announced that it no longer accepted the 1962 domestic agreement to create a three-way Lao coalition government, and that all Lao resolutions must be based on the 1962 Geneva conference on Laos. In the mean time in Vientiane, Phouma stuck to his well-worn position that there would be no new negotiation, the four seats belonging to Lao communist in the coalition cabinet remained vacant until they “returned”. On March 6, 1970, the Lao communist, still under the banner of the central committee of the Lao Patriotic Front, advanced a concrete five-point proposal to serve as basis for all negotiations. This proposal was modelled after the ten-point comprehensive resolution put forth by Vietnam communist on May 8, 1969 (under the cover of the People’s Liberation Front of South Vietnam), aiming at re-establishing a new coalition government (naturally based on the new arrangement), accepting five principles for peaceful coexistence and requiring the U.S. to withdraw personnel and arms from Laos. Phouma responded by rejecting the key requirement (for the U.S. to cease bombing), and demanding immediate cease-fire, letting the International Commission of Control supervise the cease-fire, and convening the three factions afterwards. On April 27 1971, the communists again put forth two demands in a joint announcement at a conference between the Lao Patriotic Front and the Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutral Forces. These demands were no different from the previous five points, as they merely repeated the same demands but under the banner of a broader coalition. On June 26 1971, Phouma rejected the new demands and repeated his position that “the urgent issue presently is to arrive at a cease-fire throughout Laos.” Pursuant to this was a series of letter exchanges between the royal brothers Souvanna Phouma and Souphanouvong which contained an important change of direction, such as the June 22, 1971 letter from Souphanouvong accepting cease-fire as a first step, the July 27 1971 letter from Phouma accepting the five-point plan as a basis for peace talk. Of course, these were the agreements between Hanoi and Washington, and the two Lao princes were merely spokesmen. The basic difficulty in arranging for peace talk was the representation of the neutral faction. On July 20, 1972, an announcement from the central committee of the Lao Patriotic Front on the 10-year anniversary of the 1962 Geneva conference on Laos accused the Phouma government of being the reactionary force aiding U.S. sabotage and invasion, and also repeated the old position that the three-way coalition government no longer existed after the April 6, 1964 coup. Finally, peace talk got under way and each of the two sides claimed to represent itself as well as the neutral side. So the Lao communist delegation included a Lao Patriotic Front representative and the Alliance Committee of Patriotic Neutral Forces (general Phoume Sipraseuth). In reality, both were controlled by Phoumi Vongvichit, the general secretary of the Lao Patriotic Front. On the other side, Vientiane tried to re-establish Phouma as the “neutral prince” and form a neutral party (but its central committee was not elected until February 17 1973). The conference started with numerous procedural maneuvers, and not until the conclusion of the Paris peace talk on Vietnam on January 27, 1973 that the conference did get into gear. Even then, it took more than a month, on February 20,1974, for both sides to agree on a document known as the Agreement on Peace and National Reconciliation in Laos. Lao communist accepted the agreement because Vietnam communist agreed to it. North Vietnam accepted because it had completed moving to its Indochinese base 15,000 troops, 250 tanks, 50 armored trucks, a large number of 120 and 130 mm artillery, and over 1,300 tons of ammunition and war supplies despite non-stop U.S. air bombardment of the Ho Chi Minh trail, with over 50 B-52 sorties and 200 tactical sorties daily throughout this period. On the U.S. side, it wanted a Laos agreement in hand before attending the international conference on Vietnam in Paris on February 26, 1973. So, the White House sent Sullivan to Vientiane to pressure Phouma. Specifically, the U.S. let it be known that it would unilaterally stop all bombing starting February 25. Phouma reluctantly agreed, in the face of the irony that his government would be known only as the Vientiane government (instead of the government of the Lao Monarchy), while the other side was called the patriotic fronts! On February 21, the agreement was signed at 11 AM at the private mansion of prime minister Phouma. The agreement comprised of five parts and 14 conditions. The content was based on the Vietnam agreement; however parity between the two sides was more clearly defined. This gave Lao communist a clear advantage, compared to the communists in South Vietnam. According to the agreement, both sides would cease fire immediately starting the next day, February 22, 1973; afterwards they would immediately form a joint committee to implement the agreement. Within 30 days, an interim coalition government and a political committee would be formed to govern the country, organize a National Assembly election, and form an official coalition government. Within 60 days after the formation of the interim government, all foreign forces would withdraw from Laos and all prisoners of war would be released. To deal with the third faction, similar to the Vietnam agreement, the Laos agreement left this decision to the two sides, meaning that each side would add its own people. To be blunt, there was really no third faction in the coalition, because the general masses never separated themselves into a first or second faction, let alone a third or fourth. The reality was that the third faction was merely a label used by the politicians without affiliation with the left or right. Once they had obtained a worthy position, these politicians would immediately assimilate with the faction that gave them the position. These disagreeable scenes could be witnessed everywhere, and there was no need for further discussion. From the people’s point of view, the people’s position is unchanged, that of the oppressed in their own country. That position is to inherently against the invaders. Today the invaders are the communists and capitalists; in the past, they were the colonialists and fascists; tomorrow they could be X or Y. And generally speaking, they are of the same type, belonging to the same side, the side opposed to the people in a country targeted by foreign manipulation. So, this agreement or that accord is merely the affair of global antagonists, victims have no voice and they do not even deserve mentioning. Regarding the Laos situation, the optimistic right will conclude that after a quarter of a century of struggle, the communists had failed to turn Laos red. This is true. But to the communists, success is not necessarily limited to the struggle of a generation. The communist strategists would give this more realistic assessment: “Within the Vientiane coalition government, the left gained two seats in the first coalition in 1957, four seats in the second coalition in 1962, and six seats in the third coalition in 1973.” And with this gradual forward movement, in a fourth coalition (if ever exist) the left would gain all 12 seats within the cabinet that has a total of 12 seats in Vientiane!
Asia 21 April 1999 : The pakse Bridge : Building such a huge project in a country like Laos has it own special problems.Patrick Arnold , a Swiss engineer explains how the majority of the 250 workers who are local, had little or no experience of construction prior to starting in september 1997."It is hard to believe , but for some of them , it was the first time they had seen a hammer" 37 ປີ ພ...ວກ ຂ້າສາຣະວັນອັຕປື ເມືອງໂຂງ ນຳພາ ປທ ຊາຕຂອງພວກເຮົາໄປສູ່ຄວາມຫລົ້ມເຫລວ ຈີບຫາຍວາຍວອດຂາຍຫ້ນາຂາຍຕາ ເຫັນໄດ້ ເຂົາບໍ່ໄດ້ພັທນາການສືກສາ (ທຸກໆຂແຫນງເລີຍນະ)ໃຫ້ເປັນມາຕຖານໂລກໄດ້ ເພື່ອ ຕ້ອນຣັບການປ່ຽນແປງຢ່າງວ່ອງໄວຂອງການພັທນາ ປທ ເຫັນໄດ້ ໃນປີ1997 ເມື່ອ ມີການສ້າງຂັວ ທີ່ ປາກເຊ ກັມມະກອນລາວ 250 ຄົນ ແມ່ນພຽງຄົນງານທັມມະດາທີ່ອາດຈະຜ່ານການສຶກສາຈາກໂຮງຮຽນການຊ່າງຊັ້ນຕ່ຳເທົ້ານັ້ນ(ສ່ວນໄຫ່ຍໃນຊີຊີດ ບໍ່ເຄີຍເຫັນຮອດໄມ້ຄ້ອນ)ໄດ້ຖືກບັນຈຸເຂົ້າເຮັດວຽກໃນ ບໍລີສັດການກໍ່ສ້າງຂອງຍີ່ປູ່ນນີ້ ສ່ວນຂັ້ນສູງ ເຊັ່ນ ນັກ ວີສາວະກອນເອກ ທີ່ ມີຄູນນະພາບໂລກ ແມ່ນຄົນຕ່າງດ້າວທັງນັ້ນ ເພາະ ພວກໂຈນມັນບໍ່ສາມາດສູມຫົວກັນປັບປູງມະຫາລັຍການຊ່າງຊັ້ນສູງໄດ້ ເພື່ອ ປ້ອນຕລາດ ບໍລີສັດຕ່າງດ້າວ ທີ່ ກຳລັງຫລັ່ງໄຫລເຂົ້າມາສັມປະທານການສ້າງສາ Mega project ຂອງ ປທເວລານີ້. ຫນັງສືພີມ ຈາກ ຍີ່ປູ່ນ ທີ່ ຜູ້ຂ້າ ກ່າຍອອກມາໃຫ້ອ່ານຢ່າງຫ້ນາວີຕົກຕໍ່ອານາຄົດຂອງຊາຕເຮົານີ້ ເຂົາຍົກເອົາຄວາມຍູ້ງຍາກໃນການຮັບເອົາແຮງງານລາວຊັ້ນຕ່ຳກັມມະກອນ)ເທົ້ານັ້ນກະຍັງຊີ້ໃຫ້ເຫັນແລ້ວວ່າ ເຂົາມີບັນຫາ ຜູ້ຂ້າເຄີຍໄປ ສີງກະໂປ ເຫັນ ຄົນຂອງເຂົາໃຊ້ ພາສາອັງກີດ ເປັນພາສາ ຣາຊການ ຊູມຊົນ ເຂົາ ຈະເປັນທີ່ໃດກະຊ່າງແມ່ນ ຈະໄດ້ຍີນເຂົາເວົ້າໂລກກັນແຕ່ພາສາ ອັງກີດ ສ່ວນຫນັງສືພີມນັ້ນ ບໍ່ໃຫ້ເວົ້າເຖີງ ສ່ວນໄຫ່ຍແລ້ວ ແມ່ນພາສາໂລກນີ້ລະກວມກີນຫົມດ ເຫດນີ້ລະ ສີງກະໂປ ຈື່ງເປັນ ປທ ມະຫາອຳນາດ ທາງດ້ານການເງີນ ໃນໂລກ(ມີເງີນໃນກອງທືນ ປທ ເກືອນ ຈະຮອດ ລ້ານລ້ານ ດລ ສ່ວນ ສປປລ ມີຫນີ້ 3ພັນກ່ວາລ້ານ ດລ) ທັງໆ ທີ່ ເປັນ ປທ ນ້ອຍ (ອາດຈະໄຫ່ຍກ່ວາເມືອງ ວຈ ເຮົານີ້ລະ) ມີ ປະຊາກອນ ແຕ່ 4 ລ້ານ ດີນແດນ ຈຳກັດ ນ້ຳຕ້ອງສັ່ງຊື້ຈາກ ປທ ມາເລຊີ ແລະ ຢ່າລືມນະ ເຂົາໄດ້ເອກກະຣາຊ ກ່ອນ ລາວເຮົາ 10 (1965) ປີ ແຕ່ ອ້າງຕາມຄຳສຳພາດ ຂອງ ນຍ ບັວສອນ ທີ່ ປທ ສີງກະໂປ ເມື່ອ ສອງປີ ກ່ອນ ບອກວ່າ ອານາຈັກໂຈນ ເຂົາ ລ້າຫລັງ ກ່ວາ ອມຣກ 300 ປີ ເປັນຫ່ວງບໍ ພີ່ນ້ອງເສຣີຊົນ ລາວທັ່ວໂລກ ຄວນ ທື້ນ ພວກ ເຖື່ອນ ນີ້ອອກຈາກ ອຳນາດມືດຂອງມັນໄດ້ແລ້ວ
ต้องยอมรับว่า เสียงเพลง Let it be ที่ พ.ต.ท.ทักษิณ ชินวัตร อดีตนายกรัฐมนตรี เปล่งร้องจากผืนแผ่นดินแห่งกรุงเสียมราฐ กัมพูชา นั้น พุ่งตรงเข้าก้องโสตของฝ่ายอำมาตย์ และผองศัตรูกันถ้วนหน้า
Je suis tout-à-fait sceptique sur la cérémonie religieuse de repentante concernant Phrakéo Morakot commises, selon lui même, par M. Thaksin dans sa vie précédente. A mon avis, ce n'est qu'un prétexte pour cacher les enjeux économiques probables de sa visite au Laos les 11 - 12 - 13 avril qui est le projet de TGV sino-lao que l'on n'a plus entendu parler depuis un certain temps.
Premièrement, les négociations lao-sino trainent en longueur parce que les Chinois demandent de plus la concession de 2 k.m. de terrain de chaque côté de la voie longue plus de 400 k.m. que les Laotiens, jusque là, n'ont pas voulu accepter.
C'est la raison pour laquelle on n'a plus entendu parler de l'avancement de la construction de la voie debuté depuis le début de l'année. Je crois qu'elle a été suspendue jusqu'à l'aboutissement des négociations
en cours.
Deuxièmement, le nouveau gouvernement thailandais dirigé de façade par Melle Yingluck Shinawatra,
soeur de Thaksin, a accordé les priorités aux projets de TGV Bangkok - Chiengmai et Bangkok - Khorat.
Personnellement, je me pose la question pourquoi la ligne du Nord-Est s'arrête tout simplement à Khorat et n'est pas prolongée jusqu'à Nongkhai. Alors qu'elle a été la même ligne depuis plusieurs décennies.
Donc le projet de TGV thailandais ne correspond pas à celui des Chinois voulant se servir de la ligne
sino-laotienne liée à la ligne thailandais à Nongkhai pour acheminer leurs marchandises jusqu' à la
Mailaisie et Singapour.
Je pense que c'est là le principal enjeu de la venue de M. Thaksin à VTE dont les Laotiens espèrent qu'il convaincra sa soeur de modifier le projet de TGV en faveur du Laos.
Si les deux côtés parviennent à des objectifs voulus par les Laotiens, l'un des obstacles de la ligne
sino-lao sera levé. Il ne restera plus que l'autre que les Laotiens doivent négocier directement avec les Chinois. On verra bien ce que résultera de ces négociations.
Voila, M. Xaysana, les enjeux principaux de la venue de M. Thaksin à VTE...Par contre, la cérémonie religieuse de repentante de sa part à propos de Phrakéo Morakot ne sera que la façade à tromper les esprits faibles.
Je crois fort bien que même si M. Thaksin pouvait rentrer en Thailande et diriger le pays de l'intérieur, le sacré Phrakéo ne sera pas rendu au Laos. Thaksin oubliera vite la cérémonie de sa repentante à VTE.
Pour votre information, je tiens à vous rappeler de façon brève l'histoire lao-siamoise. Le roi siamois règnant à l'époque où Phrakéo avait été emmené à Bangkok s'appelait "Phrachao Taksin Maharaj" ou (Taksin Le Grand) qui venait de libérer son pays, dont la capitale était Ayudhya, de l'occupation birmane....
Fort de sa victoire contre les Birmans, alors il en profitait pour lancer avec succès ses forces victorieuses à la conquête du Cambodge, du Lanexang divisé et affabli en trois royaumes hostiles les uns contre les autres:
Luang Phrabang, Vientiane et Champassack.
Rien ne pouvait arrêter la montée en force de ses armées. Après le Camboge et le Lanexang, ses forces
continuaient à aller encore plus loin au Nord pour conquérir le Lanna dont la capitale était Chiengmai.
Je crois que la ressemblance des noms "Taksin" et "Thaksin" a donnée une idée trompeuse à l'ancien PM thailandais selon laquelle il est la réincarnation de "Phrachao Taksin Maharaj".....Il va faire semblant de reconnaître ses erreurs dans le passé concernant Phrakéo Morakot lors de sa venue à VTE cette fois. Seuls le esprits faibles peuvent y croire facilement.
Voila, M. Xaysana, mon analyse sur la venue de M. Thaksin à VTE mercredi prochain. Je sais bien que cela
ne pourra jamais vous convaincre, car votre esprit est fort bien concentré sur le rêve de la réunion du Laos actuel et le Phak Issan, ce qui n'est pas du tout dans mon esprit.
Toutes les priorités des priorités pour moi c'est de développer le Laos actuel pour hisser son niveau de développement proche de celui des voisins de l'ASEAN.
Si l'on perd le temps à songer à la reconquête de Phak Issan, du Yunnan dans le Sud de la Chine, de Muong Thèng (Dien Bien Phu), de l'Etat Shan en Birmanie ou de l'Assam en Inde on ne finira que par se faire écraser en miettes car une petite fourmi ne s'engage jamais dans une grande guerre contre des grands éléphants.
Vous m'avez parlé du boukin "Si Souphanouvong réincarnait" dans lequel la reconquête de Phak Issan est abordé. A mon avis, il s'agit de l'ancien projet de l'époque de la guerre froide du prince rouge. Même si Souphanouvong vivait encore aujourd'hui il ne parlerait plus jamais de cet ancien projet bien révolu à nos jours.
Nine men arrested with 371 kilos of explosives at Lao border Last Updated: Thursday, April 20, 2012 02:20:00
Nine men are escorted by central Vietnam police with illegal explosives they had smuggled from Laos
Nine men were arrested by police in the central province of Quang Binh on Tuesday as they were smuggling explosives into Vietnam through the Laos border. Nine sacks of explosives weighing 371 kilograms were seized near the border in Bo Trach District. The men, all locals between 26 and 45 years of age, said they had crossed the border into Laos early this month to bring the explosives to Vietnam. The case is being investigated further.
20 morts dans 160 accidents routiers pendant la fête du Nouvel An laotien
La police a enregistré 20 morts et 60 blessés dans les accidents routiers qui se sont produits dans l’ensemble du pays pendant trois jours de la célébration du Nouvel An laotien (13, 14 et 15 avril 2012). Le nombre de morts a diminué par rapport de la même période de l’année dernière, a déclaré, un policier de circulation routière du ministère de la Sécurité publique. La cause principale reste la conduite dans un état d’ivresse et l’excès de vitesse. Parmi ces accidents, 100 étaient survenus dans la capitale, 22 cas dans la province de Savannakhet, 7 dans Attapeu, 7 dans Oudomxay, 4 dans Bokèo, 18 dans Bolikhamxay, 7 dans Saravane, 17 dans Khammouane et 16 dans Champassak. Les provinces épargnées d’accidents sont celles de Xayboury, de Luang Prabang, de Houaphanh, de Sékong et de Vientiane. On a compté 30 morts dans 160 accidents routiers l’année dernière.
Champassack calls for almost 100 billion kip for road repair
By Vinnaly
(KPL 20.04.2012) The authorities of Champassack province has called for 98 billion kip for the renovation of bridge and road hit by severe flooding and landslide removal.
More than 300 million kip fund is now an urgent request for repairing the damaged roads.
A senior staff of Champassack Public Works and Transport Service, Mr. Phitsahong Phoummavongsa said Champassack province was hit by tropical storm Nork Tene between July and August, triggering flash flood.
Over 80 roads in 10 districts have been reportedly broken caused by severe flooding.
The worst-hit districts are Paksong with more than 100 km long, following by Soukhouma with the stretch of 70 km, five bridges.
The budget for road and Mekong embankment renovation cost 98 billion kip, Mr Phitsahong said.
He added that many roads in Parkse municipality have been broken.
Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh memorial complex built in Laos
(KP L/VNA) - Construction of a memorial complex to President Ho Chi Minh began in Xiangvang village, Nongbouk district, in Khammouane province of Laos on April 18.
The event was jointly held by Ho Chi Minh Museum of Vietnam and Kaysone Phomvihan Museum of Laos.
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Director of Ho Chi Minh Museum Chu Duc Tinh said the complex will be built on an area of 1.5 hectares at a cost of 35 billion VND as non-refundable aid from the Vietnamese Government.
It includes a memorial house and a house introducing the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh as well as his impact on the Vietnam-Laos special relations.
The complex is expected to be completed within a year to mark the 122nd anniversary of the birthday of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) and Vietnam -Laos Friendship Year in 2012, Tinh said.
Souvandi Sisavath, who is in charge of the Kaysone Phomvihan Museum , said the complex will hold historical and political significance, and highlight the special cultural identities of the two countries.
The beloved President, who founded the Indochinese Communist Party, the precursor of the Lao People�s Revolutionary Party, established and fostered the special relations and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and people, he said.
The complex is built on land where President Ho used to live and work, Souvandi Sisavath said, noting that it manifests boundless gratefulness to the President, who dedicated his life to the revolutionary cause of the two countries.
กติกา ของเขาบอกว่าให้รถทางด้านขวามือของคนขับไปก่อน ตัวอย่างในภาพ รถคัน B สีเหลืองต้องให้สิทธิรถ A คันสีแดงไปก่อน เพราะรถสีแดงอยู่ทางด้านขวามือของคนขับสีเหลือง
De : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com [mailto:laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com] De la part de Jonh Anouvong Envoyé : mercredi 18 avril 2012 05:16 À : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Objet : Re: Thaksin chantait comme un chat
De : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com [mailto:laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com] De la part de Bounliane Rajphoumy Envoyé : mardi 17 avril 2012 21:28 À : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Objet : Re: Thaksin chantait comme un chat
From: loukmahaxay001 To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 1:01 PM Subject: RE: Thaksin chantait comme un chat
ທ່ານບຸນລຽນທີ່ນັບຖື..
ຖ້າທ່ານມີນ້ອງສາວເປັນນາຍຍົກແລ້ວ ດັ້ງຍິງຣັກ
ທ່ານຈະເປັນຂູ້ແຂ່ງ ຫລືຈະສະນັບສະນູນຕໍ່ ?
ຜູ້ຂ້າຂໍເປັນ ຄົມໃນຝັກຈະດີກ່ວາ..
De : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com [mailto: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com ] De la part de Bounliane Rajphoumy Envoyé : mardi 17 avril 2012 15:04 À : laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com Cc : santy khammoung Objet : Re: Thaksin chantait comme un chat
UN CHIEF CONGRATULATES NEW WORLD BANK PRESIDENT New York, Apr 17 2012 2:10PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated Dr. Jim Yong Kim on his appointment as the 12th President of the World Bank, noting that he brings to the Bank the mix of professional development expertise and personal commitment required to advance the global development agenda at this difficult time.
“A pioneer in the struggle to address HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and with an extensive track record as an institutional reformer, Dr. Kim has long emphasized empowerment, grass-roots action and holistic approaches that put people first,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.
It added that the Secretary-General assures him of the UN system’s full support, and looks forward to working closely with Mr. Kim on efforts to promote sustainable development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals – the globally agreed blueprint for halving extreme poverty, halting the spread of diseases, promoting access to education and improving health care – ahead of the 2015 deadline.
Mr. Ban’s spokesperson also conveyed the Secretary-General’s gratitude to Mr. Kim’s predecessor at the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, for his service over the past five years, noting that, at a time of crisis for the world economy, he forged strong partnerships with developing countries and other multilateral institutions in addressing common challenges.
“He brought greater transparency to the Bank and the development process,” the spokesperson said. “And under his guidance, the Bank has made significant contributions to the development debate, including through its flagship World Development Reports addressing key issues such as food security, climate change, gender equity and the links among conflict, security and development.” Apr 17 2012 2:10PM ________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
Israeli Air Force Set To Attack Iran – Israeli TV Written by: RT
April 17, 2012 Israel has once again demonstrated its readiness to launch a massive assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The Israeli Air Force is geared up and ready to strike as soon as the order is given, a major Israeli TV station reported.
A reporter from Israel’s Channel 10 TV station has spent several weeks interviewing pilots and other military personnel at an Israeli air base. Dozens of pilots are inspired with the prospect of Israel’s first full-scale air campaign in 30 years. Most of the interviewees spoke openly about the “year’s preparations” that are now almost over, as the country heads towards a hot and tense summer.
“Dozens if not more planes” are being prepared to carry out an attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, the reporter Alon Ben-David said. This includes F-15 fighter jets, escort planes and air tankers to refuel the squadron en route to its target.
Unmanned drones are also expected to play a role in the operation. The all-weather fully-automatic UAV Eitan was designed for strategic reconnaissance but reportedly has assault capabilities as well. “This plane can do all that is required of it when the order is given,” one of the pilots said as cited in the report.
When the order is given, the assault will be “short and professional,” pilots say.
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan warned earlier that, although IAF has the capability to deliver a crushing blow to Iran’s nuclear facilities and wipe out years of research, such an attack would have serious repercussions. He said that such an operation would trigger a war in Gaza – and that in retaliation, Iran would launch hundreds of missiles at Israel.
One of major problem the IAF will be facing is the Russian-made advanced anti-aircraft systems deployed in many countries across the region, including Iran and Syria. Israel’s military personnel are aware that by no means will all of them get home safe from the mission.
Moreover, the pilots had already been told where their families would be moved when the assault begins – proof that attack day is drawing close, as the report mentions.
Israel believes that a nuclear-equipped Iran would pose an existential threat to it. As a result, Israel has repeatedly reiterated its threats to deal with the issue militarily. Defense Minister Ehud Barak even spoke of a three-month deadline for Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions, which ends in mid-summer.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is fully civilian, and any enriched uranium it produces is for medical and research purposes. The Islamic Republic has even said it is ready to make concessions on its nuclear program if the West takes “confidence-building measures” and lifts the crippling sanctions. “We are ready to resolve all issues very quickly and simply,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in an interview with the Iranian news agency ISNA.
“It can speed up the process of negotiations, reaching results,” Salehi said, “if there is goodwill.” Iran is currently under four sets of UN sanctions over its nuclear program. The US and EU have also slapped Tehran with their own sets of sanctions, targeting the country’s financial markets and oil industry.
The nuclear talks between Iran and six major world powers resumed on April 14. The latest meeting in Turkey was described as generally successful by the majority of participants, and the next round is scheduled for May 23 in Baghdad. Many consider these talks to be the last chance for a peaceful solution.
Above all, in view of the recent tragic history of Cambodia, the States participating in the Conference commit themselves to promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia, as embodied in the relevant international instruments to which they are party.
13. The States participating in the Conference request the International Committee of the Red Cross to facilitate, in accordance with its principles, the release of prisoners of war and civilian internees. They express their readiness to assist the ICRC in this task.
14. The States participating in the Conference invite other States to accede to the Agreement on a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict and to the Agreement concerning the Sovereignty, Independence, Territorial Integrity and Inviolability, Neutrality and National Unity of Cambodia.
15. Further recognizing the need for a concerted international effort to assist Cambodia in the tasks of rehabilitation and reconstruction, the States participating in the Conference urge the international community to provide generous economic and financial support for the measures set forth in the Declaration on the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Cambodia.
In witness whereof the representatives have signed this Final Act.
Done at Paris this twenty-third day of October one thousand nine hundred and ninety-one, in two copies in the Chinese, English, French, Khmer and Russian languages, each text being equally authentic. The originals of this Final Act shall be deposited with the Governments of the French Republic and of the Republic of Indonesia. Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook at 4:50 AM Labels: Benge Mike, Don Dien, expansionism, KY, VN invasion
Paper presented by Michael Benge at the National Conference 2007 to commemorate and assess “The Paris Peace Agreement” of October 23rd, 1991 (with attached “Final Act of the Paris Conference on Cambodia”). October 20 & 21, 2007.
Mr. Benge is a retired Foreign Service Officer who spent over 16 years in South East Asia, 11 years in Viet Nam, and five years as a Prisoner of the North Vietnamese -- ‘68-73 – in South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and North Vietnam. Mr. Benge is a student of South East Asian politics, is very active in advocating for human rights and religious freedom for the people there, and has written extensively on these subjects. He resides in Falls Church, VA, and can be contacted through email at: Bengemike@aol.com
Literature cited
1Hoang Van Hoan as cited by Moyar, Mark. “Triumph Forsaken.” Cambridge University Press. 2006.
2RSAMH, Fund 89, list 54, document 10. About VWP policy in determination of Indochinese problems and our goals implying from the decisions of the ??IV Congress of the C.P.S.U. (political letter). May 21, 1971, p. 14. as cited in “The Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese Communists.” http://www.wccpd.org/news/news69.html
3Cambodia’s Border Committee. “Cambodia is becoming more and more Vietnamized.”¶
October 23, 2007. Paris.
4Vietnam News Agency (organ of the communist party). 2004.
1. Concerned by the tragic conflict and continuing bloodshed in Cambodia, the Paris Conference on Cambodia was convened, at the invitation of the Government of the French Republic, in order to achieve an internationally guaranteed comprehensive settlement which would restore peace to that country. The Conference was held in two sessions, the first from 30 July to 30 August 1989, and the second from 21 to 23 October 1991.
2. The co-Presidents of the Conference were H. E. Mr. Roland Dumas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the French Republic, and H. E. Mr. Ali Alatas, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
3. The following States participated in the Conference: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, the People's Republic of China, the French Republic, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, Japan, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
In addition, the Non-Aligned Movement was represented at the Conference by its current Chairman at each session, namely Zimbabwe at the first session and Yugoslavia at the second session.
4. At the first session of the Conference, Cambodia was represented by the four Cambodian Parties. The Supreme National Council of Cambodia, under the leadership of its President, H.R.H. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, represented Cambodia at the second session of the Conference.
5. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, and his Special Representative, Mr. Rafeeuddin Ahmed, also participated in the Conference.
6. The Conference organized itself into three working committees of the whole, which met throughout the first session of the Conference. The First Committee dealt with military matters, the Second Committee dealt with the question of international guarantees, and the Third Committee with the repatriation of refugees and displaced persons and the eventual reconstruction of Cambodia.
The officers of each committee were as follows:
First Committee Co-Chairmen: Mr. C.R. Gharekhan (India) Mr. Allan Sullivan (Canada)
Rapporteur: Ms. Victoria Sisante-Bataclan (Philippines)
Second Committee Co-Chairmen: Mr. Soulivong Phrasithideth (Laos) Dato' Zainal Abidin Ibrahim (Malaysia)
Rapporteur: Mr. Herve Dejean de la Batie (France)
Third Committee Co-Chairmen: Mr. Yukio Imagawa (Japan) Mr. Robert Merrillees (Australia)
The Conference also established an Ad Hoc Committee, composed of the representatives of the four Cambodian Parties and chaired by the representatives of the two co-Presidents of the Conference, whose mandate involved matters related to national reconciliation among the Cambodian Parties. The Ad Hoc Committee held several meetings during the first session of the Conference.
The Coordination Committee of the Conference, chaired by the representatives of the two co-Presidents, was established and given responsibility for general coordination of the work of the other four committees. The Coordination Committee met at both the first and second sessions of the Conference. An informal meeting of the Coordination Committee was also held in New York on 21 September 1991.
7. At the conclusion of the first session, the Conference had achieved progress in elaborating a wide variety of elements necessary for the achievement of a comprehensive settlement of the conflict in Cambodia. The Conference noted, however, that it was not yet possible to achieve a comprehensive settlement. It was therefore decided to suspend the Conference on 30 August 1989. However, in doing so, the Conference urged all parties concerned to intensify their efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement, and asked the co-Presidents to lend their good offices to facilitate these efforts.
8. Following the suspension of the first session of the Conference, the co-Presidents and the Secretary-General of the United Nations undertook extensive consultations, in particular with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, with the Supreme National Council of Cambodia, and with other participants in the Paris Conference. The object of these consultations was to forge agreement on all aspects of a settlement, to ensure that all initiatives to this end were compatible and to enhance the prospects of ending the bloodshed in Cambodia at the earliest possible date. The efforts of the co-Presidents and the Secretary-General paved the way for the reconvening of the Paris Conference on Cambodia.
9. At the inaugural portion of the final meeting of the Paris Conference, on 23 October 1991, the Conference was addressed by H.E. Mr. Francois Mitterrand, President of the French Republic, H.R.H. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, President of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia, and H.E. Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
10. At the second session, the Conference adopted the following instruments:
1. Agreement on a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodia conflict, with annexes on the mandate for UNTAC, military matters, elections, repatriation of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons, and the principles for a new Cambodian constitution;
2. Agreement concerning the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality and national unity of Cambodia; and
3. Declaration on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Cambodia
These instruments represent an elaboration of the "Framework for a Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict" adopted by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council on 28 August 1990, and of elements of the work accomplished at the first session of the Conference. They entail a continuing process of national reconciliation and an enhanced role for the United Nations, thus enabling the Cambodian people to determine their own political future through free and fair elections organized and conducted by the United Nations in a neutral political environment with full respect for the national sovereignty of Cambodia.
11. These instruments, which together form the comprehensive settlement the achievement of which was the objective of the Paris Conference, are being presented for signature to the States participating in the Paris Conference. On behalf of Cambodia, the instruments will be signed by the twelve members of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia, which is the unique legitimate body and source of authority enshrining the sovereignty, independence and unity of Cambodia.
12. The States participating in the Conference call upon the co-Presidents of the Conference to transmit an authentic copy of the comprehensive political settlement instruments to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The States participating in the Conference request the Secretary General to take the appropriate steps in order to enable consideration of the comprehensive settlement by the United Nations Security Council at the earliest opportunity. They pledge their full cooperation in the fulfilment of this comprehensive settlement and their assistance in its implementation.
Already in Laos, the Vietnamese army’s Military Corps No. 15 has completed an irrigation complex in Sekong for plantation crops, established a coffee plantation in Saravan, and developed plans for setting up coffee, rubber and cashew plantations, and building a 10,000 tonne-per-year rubber processing plant in Attopeu. Atopeu’s new rubber plantation covers an area of over 7,000 hectares.7 The Laos Government is about to issue the VN Quang Minh company a license to establish a rubber plantation in the Attopeu Province. It is the first rubber plantation project in this location, with a surface of 3,000ha over a period of 50 years; the investment needed is of USD 14 million. The GoL has likewise given authorization to another VN company, Dakruco, to cultivate rubber on 10,000ha in the Attopeu, Champassak and Saravan Provinces, with a project budget of USD 22 million. Today, around 50 VN enterprises wish to invest in the development of rubber in Laos, mainly in the southern provinces. Vientiane, 30 janvier 2007 (AVI)
The ‘Triangle’ area is only one of many places that the Vietnamese expansionists have moved into in order to exploit the natural resources of Laos; e.g., there are six hydroelectric dams that were constructed and are owned and operated by the Vietnamese to power Vietnam’s booming economy.
In Cambodia, China is competing with Vietnam and constructing roads in Stung Treng, exploiting forests in Mondulkiri, and developing mining exploration units in Ratanakkiri. Vietnam views the Triangle area for its potential for growing cash crops and establishing vast plantations fast-growing trees, coffee, tea and rubber to earn export dollars. Both the Vietnamese and Laotian regimes have voiced policies of using ethnic minorities in these regions for cheap labor for plantations established on their ancestral lands.
Vietnam’s parastatal company EVN (Electricity of Viet Nam) is planning to build five hydroelectric dams on the Sesan River in Stung Treng Province. The dams will have a total production capacity of 818 megawatts. The estimated production capacities and costs of the five dams are: 1) 420 MW, costing $611 million; 2) 180 MW, costing $387 million; 3) 90 MW at $164 million; and 4&5) 64 MW each, costing $114 million each.
Construction on these dams is expected to begin in 2012 upon the completion of the Japanese-funded highway connecting the port of Da Nang in Vietnam with the northeastern provinces of Cambodia, and the southeastern provinces of Laos.8
Corruption and a lack of progress in combating it remain a major blight on Asia's restructuring efforts following the 1997 crisis. Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam also lost ground in 2007, according to Transparency International. The strong correlation between corruption and poverty means that the benefits of growth are concentrated among the politically connected and bypass many who most need it.9
Given the level of corruption among officials in Vietnam and Cambodia, it is expected that several Cambodian and Vietnamese officials will become very, very wealthy from these projects. The dams would be constructed, owned and operated by Vietnamese, and the electricity generated from these hydroelectric plants will be forwarded and sold to Vietnamese power plants. Purportedly, electricity would be resold to Cambodia at a “cheap price.” One has to be very naive to believe that Vietnam will sell any electricity to Cambodia at a cheaper price than in Vietnam, given that county’s level of corruption, rate of economic growth and the need for cheap energy to fuel its economy; its needs are increasing by 10-15% annually.
Another reason for its expansion into Laos and Cambodia is Vietnam’s conflict between food production, industrialization and building dams to power its economic growth. In the last five years, Vietnam has lost 300,000 hectares of irrigated rice due to industrial development, including a vast amount lost through the construction of dams. This is creating a looming shortage of rice needed to feed it burgeoning population.
The construction of dams results in the displacement of large numbers of indigenous populations that farm the fertile soils in the river basins. These people are then either relocated to marginally productive lands, or receive no land at all; thus they fall victim to abject poverty. Vietnam has a history of doing this as well as corrupt officials absconding with relocation funds, leaving the victims with little or nothing; e.g., the Muong Lay Dam in North Vietnam.10 Those who choose to remain behind to farm the basins below the dams find that two or three times a year,uncontrolled spillage from the dams will flood their fields, destroy their crops and drown their livestock.
The Se San River originates in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and flows into Cambodia where it meets the Mekong River. In 1993, the Vietnamese government started construction on the first dam on the river -- Yali Falls Dam -- which was completed in 2000.
While the dam was under construction from 1996-2000, erratic releases of water resulted in flash flooding downstream, causing deaths to people and livestock and destruction of rice fields and vegetable gardens. Since 2000, operation of the dam has resulted in rapid and daily fluctuations in the river’s flow downstream in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri and Stung Treng provinces. It is estimated that at least 36 people have drowned due to erratic releases of water from the dam, and at least 55,000 people have been adversely affected -- suffering millions of dollars in damages due to lost rice production, drowned livestock, lost fishing income, and damages to rice reserves, boats, fishing gear and houses. Over 3,500 people have relocated to other areas without compensation.11
In addition, more than 6,700 people were resettled to make way for Yali Falls Dam (in Vietnam, ed.). According to a 2001 study by Vietnam’s Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, people displaced by the dam have suffered from severe shortages of food and other hardships since the dam flooded their homes and land in 1999.
Affected communities (in Vietnam, ed.) have not received compensation for their losses, and there are no plans to provide them with compensation for past or future impacts. In Cambodia, communities have formed the Se San Protection Network to press for compensation and changes to the dam’s operating regime to minimize downstream damages. Despite the unresolved issues, the government of Vietnam has embarked on an ambitious plan to build up to five more dams on the Sesan River. The International Rivers Network is working to support the Se San Protection Network in their request for reparations and a halt to future dam construction on the Se San River.12
Although he’s dead, Hanoi is well on its way in the implementation of Ho Chi Minh’s 1930 aspirations of creating a Soviet-style Indochina.
Cambodia is presently ruled by Hanoi’s marionette Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Vietnamese communist-backed corrupt cabal. In terms of “real politick”, Hun Sen’s Premiership -- albeit obtained illegally, first by a coup d'état in 1997 and then appointed by bought-and-paid-for National Assemblies in 1998 and 2003 --de facto international recognition as the “legitimate” representative government of Cambodia. Therefore, the Paris Peace Agreement of October 23rd, 1991, or any other accord/agreement, is at present moot. Thus, nothing can be done at this time about violations of Cambodia’s territorial integrity until a democratic or another form of government representing the true aspirations of the Cambodian people is elected. At that time, the new Cambodian government can take these matters to the international court for abrogation of these unfair and illegal treaties and agreements made by the illegitimate, corrupt and immoral regime of Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP). continues to receive
Vietnam’s Tay Tién expansion into Laos and Cambodia "I got this paper from Benge Mike by email. He said he presented this paper at the National Conference 2007 to commemorate and assess “The Paris Peace Agreement” of October 23rd, 1991. This short paper gives us wider understanding of Vietnamese Tay Tien and Don Dien policy, Ho Chi Minh is more successful than Joshep Stalin of Soviet Union, and particularly the NEOCOLONIZATION OF VIETNAM IN CAMBODIA. Please, enjoy reading and don't forget to drop some lines as feedback"
It is common belief that the Vietnam War was a civil war when in fact it wasn’t; it was a war of conquest of Southeast Asia, for Ho Chi Minh was not a Vietnamese nationalist rather he was an international communist. Ho Chi Minh, cofounder of the French communist party, held a position of leadership in the international communist movement – the Comintern. Ho was sent by the Comintern to Siam (Thailand), Malaya and Singapore to preside over the creation of communist parties in these countries. Moscow also put him in charge of creating communist parties in Cambodia and Laos. All were encouraged to contribute to the international proletarian revolution, and all of them reported to the Comintern’s Far Eastern Bureau headed by Ho.1
As part of the “Communist Internationale funded by the Soviet Union, Ho Chi Minh founded the "Indochinese Communist Party in 1930. Aping his mentor — the butcher Joseph Stalin – Ho’s ultimate plan was to establish a greater Vietnam by gobbling up his neighbors, Laos, Vietnam, and later other S.E. Asian countries as Stalin and Russia did to its neighbors in establishing the Soviet Union.
After the Geneva Agreements in 1954, Ho Chi Minh saw to it that several hundred young Cambodians were taken north, indoctrinated in communism and given military training. They were later armed and sent back, where they became the basis of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia’s Eastern Zone. Knowing of Ho’s close ties to Moscow and his intent to emulate his hero, the butcher Joseph Stalin, by creating a Soviet-style Union of South East Asia, China began training and arming the Pol Pot faction of the Khmer Rouge as a counterbalance to Soviet influence. China believed that revolution should come from within. North Vietnam enabled the Khmer Rouge to take over Phnom Penh in 1975 by providing logistics, ammunition, artillery and backup by Vietnamese troops making them complicit in the genocide of at least one and one half million Cambodians.
Viewing the U.S. as a paper tiger after its abandonment of South Vietnam, the Vietnamese communist party sent its mighty military force into Cambodia, not to liberate it from Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, but to colonize that country to fulfill Ho Chi Minh’s dream of hegemony over Indochina. They never dreamed that the U.S. would ally with communist China to drive them out. Unfortunately, the Hanoi’s Khmer Rouge remained intact and now controls Cambodia.
From the onset of the Indochina communist party, Ho Chi Minh began neo-colonizing Laos. He, as the majority of the Vietnamese, considered the Laotians, and even more so the Hmong, who had not been cultured by ChinaNha que qua [very backward], therefore they were not to be trusted. That attitude persists among the Vietnamese communists leaders today. Since the Vietnamese had better access to French education, the French colonial government used Vietnamese as lower-echelon civil servants throughout the region, thus playing right into the hands of Ho Chi Minh. Ho began implementing his plan to dominate Indochina by infiltrating educated communist Vietnamese agents into Lao villages with money to set themselves up as scribes, and moneylenders. Acting as liaisons with the French colonial government through the lower-echelon Vietnamese civil servants, they gained considerable influence throughout the countryside. To cement their stature and gain total trust of the villagers, the Vietnamese communist agents took Lao wives and raised families. Now the sons and a few daughters of these Vietnamese make up a fair portion of the Lao communist party leadership.
In Laos, the U.S. waged a "secret war" against Hanoi to interdict communist North Vietnamese troops infiltrating into South Vietnam. The backbone of this secret war was the Hmong ethnic minorities who lost over 40,000 killed while fighting for the United States. It has been over 30 years since the Vietnam War ended; yet a second ”secret war” continues in Laos. However, this secret war is being waged jointly by Vietnamese and Laotian communist forces, this time without American involvement. The war is against the Laotian people, especially the Hmong and other ethnic minorities, such as the Khmu, Mien and Chao Fa.
Hanoi maintains large numbers of troops in Laos to assist the communist Pathet Lao in hunting down and exterminating their joint enemy -- the Hmong. In 1988, the Lao Communist Party proclaimed it would hunt down the “American collaborators” and their families, “to the last root.” They will be “butchered like wild animals.” Those they are hunting are mostly the children, grand children and great-grandchildren of the fighters who sided with the U.S.
Although Ho Chi Minh is dead, the repressive and genocidal regime in Hanoi continues to implement Ho’s 1930 Indochinese Communist Party’s strategy by neo-colonizing Laos and Cambodia; a strategy reaffirmed in successive Vietnamese communist party congresses.2 Today, the Vietnamese communists have extended their hegemony over Laos and Cambodia and have de facto annexed Laos, which in many ways is now a province of North Vietnam. The Lao party leaders are anointed by Hanoi and receive their marching orders in a Sub Rosa fashion through a Vietnamese shadow government.
In Cambodia, Hanoi maintains a contingent of 3,000 troops, a mixture of special-forces and intelligence agents, with tanks and helicopters, in a huge compound 2½ kilometers outside Phnom Penh right next to Hun Sen's Tuol Krassaing fortress near Takhmau. They are there to ensure that Hanoi's puppet, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, doesn't stray far from Hanoi's policy of neo-colonization of Cambodia. The Vietnamese compound bristles with electronic surveillance equipment that would make any group’s electronic ease-dropping outstation proud. When Vietnamese troops were forced to withdraw from Cambodia, as a compromise, Vietnam installed its Hanoi trained Khmer Rouge marionette Hun Sen as Prime Minister.
Amoeba-like, communist Vietnam began neo-colonizing Laos and Cambodia by the traditional Vietnamese expansionism termed "Don Dien", first by occupying territory with troops, then having their families come in to settle the new territory, then putting the troops into civilian clothes to become "ready reservists" and replacing them with new troops for further expansion. After their defeat in Cambodia, in order to quell a budding revolt within the Vietnamese army, Hanoi compelled their willing partner, Hun Sen, to grant land in Eastern Cambodia and citizenship to over 500,000 Vietnamese army personnel. Thus, the “Vietnamization” of Cambodia began, forcing the puppet regime in Phnom Penh to issue in 1982 Circular No. 240 SR/MC/HH and successive decree-laws appealing to all Cambodians to consider the expansion of solidarity with the fraternal Vietnamese people their duty by helping Vietnamese nationals to settle in Cambodia. By 1989, the number of Vietnamese “settlers” in Cambodia had reached 1,250,000. Simultaneously, Vietnam developed new maps depicting their new borders expanding up to 40 kilometers inside Laos and Cambodia. Hun Sen formally conceded these borders to Hanoi in violation of international law through a series of treaties, the latest in October 10, 2005. Reportedly, Vietnamese people form the majority in Cambodia eastern provinces, such as Svay Rieng and Prey Veng.3
Today, the communist party of Vietnam is faced with a burgeoning population, a lack of natural resources to fuel its economy and enough fertile land on which to grow food to adequately feed its people. In a desperate move to keep its grasp on power and in an attempt to pacify a restless young population, Hanoi is exporting “guest workers” and by further excursion into neighboring countries in order to expand its control over those territories. In 2005, the communist regime exported 500,000 Vietnamese workers overseas to countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and now they are being exported to Cambodia and Laos.
Vietnamese communists continue their policy of neocolonization, nibbling away at Cambodia by annexing sizable portions of its borders, coastlines and islands (e.g., Koh Tral and Krachak Ses) through illegitimate treaties with their puppet regime in Phnom Penh in violation of the1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia. Their latest scheme is involves flooding three northeastern provinces of Cambodia and the three southeastern provinces of Laos with Vietnamese settlers and exploiting the natural resources there.
Chapters of the Cambodian-Vietnam friendship organizations (United Front for National Construction and defense of Cambodia –UFCDK), a “front” for the Vietnam Fatherland Front, have now been established in all of Cambodia’s cities and provinces4 The UFCDK is comparable to Hanoi’s creation of the National Liberation Front (NLF) during the Vietnam War. The NLF was touted as being the political arm of South Vietnam’s Viet Cong, when in fact it was no more than a façade created for propaganda purposes and owned and operated by Hanoi. “The Vietnam fatherland front and its member organizations constitute the political base of people's power. The front promotes the tradition of national solidarity, strengthens the people's unity of mind in political and spiritual matters….”5
In November 2004, Vietnam cajoled the puppet communist regimes of Laos and Cambodia into signing the “Development Triangle agreement.”6 This agreement allows the Vietnamese to now formalize their expansion through what is historically termed Tay Tién (Westward movement) into the three North Eastern provinces of Stung Trèng, Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri in Cambodia, and into the three South Eastern provinces of Attapeu, Sékong and Saravan in Laos.
The “Development Triangle” is a vast area of high plateaus and virgin forests covering approximately 120,400 square kilometers. With the exception of the provinces in Vietnam where the communist regime has already confiscated the ancestral lands of the Montagnards in the Central Highlands, deforested the area, and relocated several million people there; those provinces in Laos and Cambodia are sparsely populated, mainly with ethnic minorities, but were occupied by the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War.
This “so called development” of these provinces starts with building a “security” road network with the intent to deprive Montagnards fleeing repression in the Central Highlands of Vietnam of sanctuary among their distant relatives in Laos and Cambodia and in the UNHCR camps in Phnom Penh. Although claiming that the roads would increase tourism and commerce in these areas, the real reason is to create easy access for the growing Vietnamese population to migrate to and neo-colonize these provinces in Laos and Cambodia. Already, Vietnamese settlers are flooding Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri provinces in Cambodia occupying lands belonging to the local populations.
The Triangle occupies “an eminently strategic position on the political, economical, social, environmental and ecological levels” for the control of Laos and Cambodia by Hanoi. Japan and China are leading supporters of Vietnam’s expansionism.
The official decision on sanctions against Myanmar (formerly Burma), which the EU and the United States had introduced over human rights violations, is expected at a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on April 23.
Speaking at a European Parliament session in Strasbourg, Ashton said she would visit the country later this month and invited Myanmar’s foreign minister to Brussels.
Myanmar was ruled by military dictators in 1962-2011, which brought about Western economic sanctions in the 1990s. However, the opposition party National League for Democracy led by Nobel prize winner Aung Sun Suu Kyi was openly elected to parliament and hailed in the EU.
Although parliament remains controlled by the military, a civil government was
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L'UE supprimera de 20 ans des sanctions contre le Myanmar et inclure le pays dans son système généralisé de préférences, la politique étrangère européenne, Catherine Ashton, a déclaré mercredi.
La décision officielle sur les sanctions contre le Myanmar (anciennement Birmanie),dont l'UE et les Etats-Unis avaient introduit des violations des droits de l'homme, on s'attend à une réunion du Conseil de l'UE des Affaires étrangères, sur Avril 23.
S'exprimant lors d'une session du Parlement européen à Strasbourg, Mme Ashton a déclaré qu'elle se rendrait le pays plus tard ce mois-ci et a invité ministre des Affaires étrangères du Myanmar à Bruxelles. Myanmar a été gouvernés par des dictateurs militaires en 1962-2011 qui ont abouti àdes sanctions économiques occidentales dans les années 1990. Toutefois, le parti d'opposition de la Ligue nationale pour la démocratie dirigée par le prix Nobel Aung Sun Suu Kyi a été ouvertement élu au parlement et a salué dans l'UE. Bien que le Parlement reste contrôlé par les militaires, un gouvernement civil a été créé en Mars 2011 et les militaires délégué leurs pouvoirs à ses membres.