Mainland Southeast Asia: Turmoil and Peace - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 442

and squash. They also raise pigs and chickens in large
numbers. Opium poppies, a cold-season crop, are
planted after the corn harvest.
Opium, the sap drawn from the poppies, is a low-
bulk, high-value item that is easy to transport. The Laot-
ian government has outlawed opium production and
instigated a program of alternative crops. Nevertheless,
the practice continues in the remoter regions.
Hmong gender roles are strongly differentiated. Task
divisions are similar to those of the Lao Theung.
Most Lao Sung are animists, but some have con-
verted to Christianity after contact with missionaries.
Most believe that illness is caused by spirits, and
shamans play a powerful role in the communities.
Shamans are “chosen” by the spirits and may be either
male or female.
Lao Sung swidden cultivation is endangered. In the
late 1980s, the Thai government imposed a ban on log-
ging, so Thailand began looking to surrounding coun-
tries for timber. Logging in Laos is causing deforestation
and soil erosion. However, the practice is to blame this
on the swidden farmers. The government wants to see
the disappearance of swidden farming early in the
twenty-first century and the resettlement of Lao Sung in
the lowlands.

Nongovernmental organizations are ubiquitous. Thai tel-
evision, with its materialist message, is beamed across
the Mekong. Likewise, more consumer goods, such as
children' s toys and motor scooters, are appearing in the
markets of at least the largest cities. Foreign investment,
mainly Japanese, is evident in the capital. Many Thai
businessmen have appeared on the scene as well and new
businesses are opening every day .
The average annual inflation rate was about 11.5 per-
cenfrom 1985 to 1989 after which a massive increase in
money supply and devaluation of the kip compounded
by a reduction in foreign exchange forced the rate up to
52 percent. The government tightened monetary policy
in 1990 and restricted credit to unprofitable state enter-
prises. Lower food prices as a result of good food har-
vests also helped to slow inflation to about 20 percent.
Inflation has declined slowly and now stands at 6.8 per-
cent (Figure 15-19).
Infrastructure is still very poor. Only a few of the
larger towns have municipal water systems. However,
electrification has now reached cities and towns and
many rural areas. Still, most roads are not paved, and
many are impassable in the wet season. The Friendship
Bridge (built by the Australians in 1994) links Laos and
Thailand by road across the Mekong. With upgrading of
roads in Laos, soon it will be possible to drive all the way
from Singapore to Beijing!
Many Lao see their country' s future as a transport
hub linking northeast Thailand with the port of Da Nang
in Vietnam, as well as southern China with Thailand,
and, from north to south, Malaysia and Singapore. Many
fear the effect of rapid development and influences of the
surrounding states.
Although economic growth has reduced official
poverty rates from 46 percent in 1992 to 26 percent in
2009, Laos remains one of the poorest countries in Asia.
More than 75 percent of the population lives on less than
two dollars a day . Subsistence agriculture, mostly rice
cultivation, accounts for about 40 percent of GDP and
70 percent of employment. Even worse, inequality be-
tween various parts of the country is increasing. Devel-
opment has been concentrated in Viangchan and other
towns on the Mekong River plain, adjacent to Thailand,
while remote provinces in the mountainous north have
seen minimal change.
Even though Laos remains on the United Nations'
list of “Least Developed Countries,” the economy has
benefitted from high foreign investment in hydropower,
mining, and construction. Laos gained normal trade

URBAN SOCIETY
With a population of 680,000 in 2009, Viangchan is the
only city of any significant size. Other cities, such as
Louang Phrabang, have a mere 20,000 people, and Pakse
has only 70,000. Laos is 27 percent urbanized, including
district centers of 2,000 to 3,000 people. The fundamen-
tal village nature of Laotian society is evident in the
cities, where many residents journey out to their fields to
farm on a daily basis. Very little rural-to-urban migration
occurs as there is not much to migrate to.

NEW THINKING
In recent years, the government has shied away from the
centrally planned economy and embarked upon a policy
of Chin Thanakan Mai , or New Thinking. The hammer
and sickle were removed from the state crest in 1991 and
a series of economic reforms was instigated. With the de-
mise of handouts from Moscow , Viangchan has turned to
the West for investment. At first the pace of change was
koi koi bai —“slowly , slowly .” But in 1991, everything be-
came privatized. Limited tourism is being promoted.