The Tourist’s Footprint: Laos
By Simon Phillips
Contributing Writer
LAOS _ An old lady hobbles down the main street to buy fresh fish from the market on the banks of the Mekong River, a walk she has made for eighty years, however, it is not the faces of old friends that greet her now but the owners of foreign feet.
Laos is fast becoming a popular tourist destination. Two hundred thousand people visited the serene town of Luang Probang in 2006 to experience the appealing simplicity of life here.
Designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995 has afforded this timeless place her title as the best-preserved town in South East Asia.
Of the former French colonial capital one resident wrote, ``It is right to give Luang Probang its place as a World Heritage site. Its beautiful idleness, the very gentle nature of the people and their playful ways deserves preservation. Indeed work should be put on the backburner, in place, customs, relaxation and play should prevail.’’
Now, with the fast growing pace of tourism and its major source as an income generator there is a threat to the charm of this traditional way of life.
Laos has one of the most pristine ecologies in South East Asia. Coupled with one of the lowest per capita energy consumption rates in the world, the quality of life here is good.
There is a lack of population or ranch/farm pressure. People enjoy an abundance of food provided by the rich fertile land, plentiful rivers irrigate the fields and forests provide shelter and basic materials for life’s necessities.
From 1993 to 1995, the government set up 20 national biodiversity conservation areas, which comprise 14 percent of Laos’ land mass.
Until today, tourism has not had any large impact on the environment. Plans for a huge hotel-casino complex, a Thai-Lao joint venture, were axed after a World Bank report stated that the environmental impact of the project outweighed potential benefits brought to the locals through jobs.
Nevertheless, small-scale tourism is the force of change and responsibility lies in the hands of the individual traveller.
Activities like kayaking and mountain biking are gaining popularity in this beautiful environment. This means choosing a quality tour provider who has the environment and the best interests of the local people on their agenda, as there are operators who have jumped on the bandwagon with only dollar signs in mind.
The original eco-tour operator in Luang Probang is TigerTrail. By booking a trip with them you are helping to save the Asian Elephant.
Several of the elephants been given a home, after a life in the logging industry, at a community based program which also provides jobs and benefits to the local villages.
With TigerTrail visitors can enjoy an elephant ride through the jungle and an exciting river trip to the ancient Buddhist ceremonial caves of Pak Ou, returning by kayak down the blissful Mekong River, where villagers pan for gold.
A conscientious traveller would bear in mind how one may be impacting on these people’s lives, treat them with respect and carry oneself accordingly.
Sadly impact has already begun. A traditional practice in Laos is to make an offering to the young novice monks on their way to temple at 6 a.m. in the morning.
Now it is common to see a gaggle of Lao women bearing offerings for sale to tourists who can then give them to the monk. This kind of opportunism only comes about once a monetary value is placed on something which was previously sacred.
Champa of the Tourism Department at Souphanouvong University, Luang Probang expresses his concern for Lao heritage: ``Inspired by tourists, the young have begun to wear jeans and t-shirts rather than their traditional clothes. Now they make clothes only to sell to tourists rather than wear themselves.’’
The government has set a rule that traders selling an array of beautiful crafts in the night market must wear traditional skirts.
There is a Local Tourism Authority which offers training to local business people and tour guides on how to generate tourism in the most positive way for the Lao people.
Champa sees interactive tourism as one way to do this. For example, visitors can spend a day at a Lao mountain village learning to weave baskets and cook local foods.
In this way, visitors are actively involved with local people and there is less risk of Laos turning into a Disneyland-type attraction.
Of course, tourists don’t want to see Laos become a Disneyland. The very reason that people come here is to experience a way of life that has changed little over the centuries, a place where people live in harmony with nature and retain certain human qualities that are now so hard to find in industrialised nations.
The irony is that all visitors come here for the same reason and so converge on the same places. Guidebooks like Lonely Planet promote this trend by channelling all their readers to key destinations like Luang Probang.
The central street of this beautiful and quaint city is in danger of becoming a smaller version of Kohn Sahn Road, the backpacker hub of Bangkok, as local people are squeezed out by tour operators, hoteliers and fancy restaurateurs.
Is this a case of Paradise Unlost? Maybe, but there is a flipside: It is very well to perceive Laos as a place which should stay stuck in time, from a foreign perspective, but bear in mind the realities of life here, like teeth all gone by the age of 35.
Local people working in the tourist industry can afford to send their children to school, buy essential medicine and comforts that a farmer or fisherman could not have.
Then again, look to the banks of the Mekong from a pleasure boat: A fisherman moves stealthily through the reeds, he does not bat an eyelid as you pass, he just smiles, content in living a life that has existed for generations. For more information on eco-tourism in Laos visit: www.tigertrail-laos.com