10 little known facts about Laos
Today Hillary Clinton is in Laos for a one day visit. This event will mark the first time in 58 years for a high ranking US official to do so. What do we actually know about Laos? Reports often start to state that Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia or in the [...]
Old maps of Siam and surrounding countries
I love maps, specially old maps since they often tell a lot about history. As I found out, it’s quite hard to get any decent old maps of Siam and neighbouring countries. Usually they are for sale only. I guess family of mr. van der Aa who made both maps in the early 18th century, [...]
Lam wong dance and hired partners: Little known S-E Asian folklore
Lam wong is originally a Khmer and Laotion tradition where male and female or female couples dance around in circles.In Thailand during luk thung style festivals, lam wong was once was a popular pastime.People didn’t have a suitable dance partner hired one.Nowadays in Thailand this tradition is hard to find and has almost been forgotton.In [...]
Expat in Nakhon Rachasima produces snus
Necessity is the mother of all invention.Or so Monk an expat Swede, must have thought when he started Svenskt Snus Co., Ltd in 2008.Snus Co., Ltd is located in Pak Chong, Nakhon Rachasima, 175km North East from Bangkok Snus is a moist powder tobacco product which is consumed by placing it under the upper lip for [...]
The only 5 star hotel in Laos
Savannakhet can boast having a luxury casino and the only 5 star hotel in Laos called Savan Vegas with room charges between 4800 and 50,000 Baht (117-1,217 Euro or 148-1,546 USD).The average salary of Latioans is about 47 Euro or 60 USD/month, so besides the staff, don’t expect to see many locals around here.
Copy Shop
Walking around in Savannakhet, Loas, the first thing I was being offered was Viagra, Cialis which were probably Chinese copies and an alternative called Maxman which promised to be even stronger than the other recreational drugs. Also the shop offered cheap copies of the latest cell phones and imitation handbags of many famous brands.
Visa Run
The border between Laos and Thailand at the friendship bridge II over the Mekong river between Mukdahan and Savannakhet As the previous two articles might suggest, I was in Laos the other day to perform my periodical visa-run. A visa-run is slang for extending your visa by crossing the border, often without even visiting the [...]
Giant Water bug and Crickets Sauce
Seen on a menu in a restaurant in Laos; I didn’t actually try these particular sauces, but with prices ranging from roughly 1 Euro till 3 Euro or 1.25 USD till 3.80 USD it would be just fun to see how big the giant waterbugs actually were…
Attention Saffty
Seen on a market in Savanakhet, Laos; You can never be to careful, because it’s a very saffty environment here
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