PM stresses better tourism management in Vangvieng
Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong yesterday asked local authorities to take greater action to manage tourism-related businesses and activities in Vangvieng district, one of Laos's most well-known tourist destinations located in Vientiane province.
The premier made the suggestion following some recent tourism-related issues that resulted in the government's decision to form a task force committee to reinforce local authority and manage the problems more effectively.
The issues include drug abuse by visitors, setting up entertainment venues without business licenses, serving unhygienic drinks mixed with hallucinogenic mushrooms and operating unsafe flying fox swings.
In the speech yesterday, Premier Thongsing stated that local authorities have failed to fulfill their mandate to manage the tourism industry effectively, which has triggered the issues that have arisen.
The development of some tourism sites, resorts for instance, the Prime Minister said, have been set up without permission but local authorities did not step in to intervene. “Local authorities knew this, but did nothing. They didn't dare to bring up the issue and take measures to address it,” he told the meeting, which was attended by local authorities including the Vientiane provincial governor.
He continued by saying that hotels, guesthouses and even resorts have been built in an unorganised manner making management more difficult. The premier said local authorities have been unable to manage the problems and suggested they work to improve the matter.
“This demonstrates that the action of local authorities has not been effective and decisive,” he said. “These weak points have been the cause of many problems.”
The Party and government have been concerned about the issues, the premier said. As a result, a task force has been formed to help local authorities to address the issues in order to rebuild Vangvieng as a natural and beneficial tourist attraction.
Since its mission began early this month, the task force has instructed 24 entertainment venues operating against regulations to shut their businesses down, a senior official of the committee told the Vientiane Times last week. In collaboration with local authorities, the committee aims to repair the image of Vangvieng district by October.
In addition to this, the premier told the local authorities to be more creative and pay attention to producing souvenirs unique to the district, saying that such memorable must-buy gifts are still missing.
“What are the souvenirs that tourists want to buy and bring home?” he asked. Premier Thongsing stressed the potential of the souvenir market, saying that people can sell the gifts close to home, unlike other products where producers must find markets to sell them. He suggested the authorities study what tourists want to buy so that they will be able to identify and produce the items they want.
The authorities were also instructed to better promote the production of agricultural commodities for sale to tourists, such as the various tropical fruits, which grow locally.
The premier also praised the authorities for the progress they have made towards socio-economic development in the district, contributing to the improved living conditions of local people.
The premier and his delegation arrived in the district on Tuesday for a two-day tour of Vientiane province. Earlier, he also visited Xaysomboun district of the province.
Govt stresses on improvement of the road network for Asean integration
Improvements to the road network linking Laos with its neighbours will be a high priority of the government, according to Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong recently.
Without an improvement to the road network, Laos will lose income that should come from land transport services, being a country surrounded by five others, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.
“The standard of our roads currently lags behind those of our neighbours,” the PM told a meeting of public works and transport officials in Vientiane last week.
The PM said the government is very concerned about poor conditions in Laos as the ASEAN Economic Community is coming closer to establishment in 2015.
“We need to think together how we can work well with the rest of the region. I think that we need to upgrade our roads to the same level as our neighbours so that we won’t lose out on the benefits from regional integration.”
Laos is a land-locked country so the government has developed a policy to transform the country from ‘land-locked’ to a ‘land-linked’ nation intending to promote trade, investment and the tourism industry in the country as well as to facilitate the transport of Lao goods to international markets.
The road network is the main system for transport in Laos where traders carry their goods and agricultural produce around the country or to its neighbours.
But many roads in Laos are narrow and reportedly in poor condition which makes them difficult to negotiate for vehicular traffic.
Despite these challenges, the Prime Minister appreciated the progress of road development in Laos over the past 10 years. Prior to this, transport between Vientiane and the southern provinces could take several days.
But one thing he wanted the transport sector to take into account is to build stopping places between Vientiane and Champassak province where travelers can take comfort breaks or stop for a rest when tired.
These rest stops should also sell food, drink and have other facilities for people. The PM suggested that a stopping place should be built every 200km along the route.
Currently, local and foreign travelers stop on the side of the road and go into the forests or hide behind their car if they need to go to the toilet. Taking a lesson from other countries, we should build these facilities to help people driving long distances.
D uring the meeting last week, Mr Thongsing was also concerned about the rising number of road accidents in Laos and growing traffic congestion.
He urged public works and transport officials to pay extra attention to address all these issues in the near future
