...Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Capital: Vientiane Currency: Lao kip Population: 6.77 million (2013) Government: Communist state, Socialist state Official language: Lao ------------------------------------------------- Etymology ------------------------------------------------- In the Lao language, the country's name is "Muang Lao" or "Pathet Lao" both literally mean "Lao Country".[17]The French, who united the three Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893, named the country as the plural of the dominant and most common ethnic group (in French, the final "s" at the end of a word is usually silent, thus it would be pronounced "Lao"). ------------------------------------------------- Early history ------------------------------------------------- In 2009 an ancient human skull was recovered from the Tam Pa Ling cave in the Annamite Mountains in northern Laos; the skull is at least 46,000 years old, making it the oldest modern human fossil found to date in Southeast Asia.[19] Archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 BC, and iron tools were known from 700 BC. The proto-historic period is...
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...ASEAN COMMUNITY IN FIGURES Vision One Vision One Identity One Community ASEAN COMMUNITY IN FIGURES The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on 8 August 1967. The Member States of the Association are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. The ASEAN Secretariat is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. For inquiries, contact: The ASEAN Secretariat Public Outreach and Civil Society Division 70A Jalan Sisingamangaraja Jakarta 12110 Indonesia Phone : (62 21) 724-3372, 726-2991 Fax : (62 21) 739-8234, 724-3504 E-mail : public.div@asean.org General information on ASEAN appears online at the ASEAN Website: www.asean.org Catalogue-in-Publication Data ASEAN Community in Figures 2011 (ACIF 2011) Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat, April 2012 315.95 1. Statistics – ASEAN 2. Economics - Social - Environment ISBN 978-602-8411-81-3 The text of this publication may be freely quoted or reprinted with proper acknowledgement. Copyright Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2011 All rights reserved FOREWORD ASEAN Community in Figures (ACIF) 2011 is the fourth in a series of annual publications by the ASEAN Secretariat focusing on key economic and social developments in individual ASEAN Member States and in the ASEAN Community as a whole. The pocket-sized ACIF is intended as a handy reference on selected and most recent economic and social indicators. It contains more than 50 tables and...
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...A discussion of the positive and negative effects on the lignite power plant Hongsa distinct, Sayaboury province, Lao PDR. By: Tossapon Booranapornchai (Jai) Registration Number: 13038682 Class: IPE 2 Tutor’s Name: Mr. Hugh Whitby Submitted on: ‘A discussion of the positive and negative effects on the lignite power plant (Hongsa, Sayaboury Province, Lao PDR) Over the last decade, Thailand has been a continual increasing, about four percent per year, of electricity usage (Oxford Business Group, 2014). In contrast, the country’s supply would not meet with consumer’s demand purely due to lack of internal sources and therefore has had to seek other supplies from neighboring country such as Laos. The Hongsa district, Laos, has sufficient reserves of lignite to generate enough electricity for both countries and thus, since 2010, has attracted investor from both Thai private sector and the Laotian government. Hence, this is the beginning of Hongsa power plant project. Although the plant would generate many economic advantages to the people of Laos, this does not occur without criticism. Some pointed out that the large amount of coal’s burning will cause a serious detrimental effect on the local and global environment as well as creating long-term health problems for local. Therefore, there have been some suggestions, from environmental groups who concerned with the launch of this project in 2015 that should consider consequences of the action...
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...[pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |MALASIYA |SINGAPORE |THAILAND | |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |INDONESIA |LAOS |PHILIPINES | |[pic] |[pic] |[pic] | |BURMA |VIETNAM |BRUNEI | | [pic] | |CAMBODIA | MALAYSIA Facts and Statistics Ethnic Make-up: Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% ...
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...reign Laos with the aim to take it as their colony. They praised a throne and the King of Laos to live up with the French yoke and used it as a mask hiding their invasion. The French colonialist printed out Indochinese paper money and metal currency such as: Kiphuanam (spiny head) Kip coints and Bee coints to release and circulate in Laos. Since 1893 Indochinese Kip currency had been uesd in 3 countries namely: Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia so as to facilitate the furnishing of their army and administration. The economy developed slightly during this period of time, there was an exchange between producers and consumers, and the budget revenue derived mainly from duty and tax collection with some figures as follows: - 1896 : 142,770 kip - 1897 : 182,348 kip - 1898 : 189,522 kip - 1899 : 201,409 kip - 1900 : 256,457 kip Of which, the opium sale shared about 30 - 40 % of the total revenue. In brief, till this period of time our country did not have bank, there was only a tresury. III. The period that our country and people uprose against the invasion of the old and neo - colonialist, the American imperialist and its elements (1945 - 1947), the establishment of National Bank of the Kingdom of Laos took shape: 1. The period (1945 - 1947): After the declaration of independence from France on 12 October 1945, the Ministry of Economics and Finance printed out Lao Kip...
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...Laos Laos is a landlocked nation in Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam, that covers 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula, is surrounded by Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its location has often made it a buffer between more powerful neighboring states, as well as a crossroads for trade and communication. Migration and international conflict have contributed to the present ethnic composition of the country and to the geographic distribution of its ethnic groups Like its neighbours in Indochina, Laos is a country with a strong Buddhist tradition which has shaped its customs and etiquette. Besides their religion, the family is central to the Lao people's lives. Every Lao man is expected to become a monk for at least a short period and by doing so he brings merit to his whole family. Buddhists also gain merit by offering alms to feed the monks. In Luang Prabang, very early in the morning, lines of monks walk silently collecting offerings from the local people. When visiting temples, it is important to dress conservatively (no shorts or short sleeved t-shirts). Shoes are removed before entering temples. Women must never touch monks and should not even hand anything to a monk, but instead place their offering where the monk can reach for himself. Monks are forbidden to touch women or even speak to them outside the safety of the temple or 'wat'. On buses, women will often...
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...Hmong culture is a combination of Chinese, Vietnamese, Laos, and Thai, making them very unique in the basics of culture, where they live, and their global landscape. Hmong people are very unique in a few ways and are not well-known as an Asian culture if you were to ask someone. Although they are not a country, Hmong people have lots of pride in their culture and ancestors. From the fancy traditional clothes to living in the mountains between countries and being separated from China and Vietnam, Hmong people are very independent and are influenced by many countries. Hmong is a very independent Asian culture and community and has very unique and colorful traditional clothes. Traditional women clothes contain long black pants or skirts, hand...
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...The Running Man Research task: 1. Use the library non- fiction collection or the internet to find examples of early Colonial art. Are the depictions of people, animals and the landscape accurate? If not, why do you think this is so? In many of the examples of early Colonial art the depictions of the people, animals and landscape were not truly accurate. An example of this is the landscape is often depicted looking green and lush with rolling hills and valleys similar to an English landscape. As most of these examples of art were intended for the English or European market and were often used in published accounts of voyages of discovery it was depicted to not look harsh and unforgiving but filled with exotic looking natives and beautiful wild flowers. 2. Raising silkworms: Silkworms go through four stages of development, as do most insects: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The adult (imago) stage is the silkworm moth. The larva is the silkworm caterpillar. Since the silkworm grows so much, it must shed its skin four times while it is growing. Silkworm Life Cycle How is silk made? : When the silkworm forms a covering around itself by producing a protein through its head, this is called the cocoon stage. This is the most desirable stage for the silk producers. It is at this time that the cocoons are delivered to the factory by the farmer. These factories are called filature operations. Once the cocoons reach the filature operations they are sorted by colour, size, shape...
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...In a short biography about the Hmong culture, they originally dominated the country of China; however, they were overtaken by other Asian groups (Split Horn). Some Hmong people were enslaved, while majority of the Hmong individuals scattered throughout the world. Hmong families and relatives strayed away from populated areas, and decided to escape to Thailand. With the separation of the Hmong population, Hmong relatives mainly mobilized to Laos or deep into the mountains in Thailand. The estimated Hmong population during that time was 300,000 to 400,000 people (Split Horn). When the Vietnam War began, several Hmong people decided to find different locations to live in, while other Hmong individuals contributed to fight along with the United...
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...Located in Southeast Asia, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is bordered to the north by the People’s Republic of China, to the west by Laos and Cambodia, and to the east and south by the South China Sea. The country is a mere 127,000 square miles but has a population of almost 86.2 million. The language is Vietnamese, and the principal religion Buddhism, although there are a number of small minorities, including Confucian, Christian (mainly Catholic), Caodist, Daoist, and Hoa Hao. In recent years, the country’s economy has been up and down, but average annual per capita income still is in the hundreds of dollars as the peasants remain very poor. One of the reasons that Vietnam has lagged behind its fast-developing neighbors in Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Malaysia, is its isolation from the industrial West, and the United States in particular, because of the Vietnam War. From the mid-1970s, the country had close relations with the U.S.S.R., but the collapse of communism there forced the still-communist Vietnamese government to work on establishing stronger economic ties with other countries. The nation recently has worked out many of its problems with China, and today, the Chinese have become a useful economic ally. And Vietnam is well on its way in establishing a vigorous trading relationship with the United States. Efforts toward this end began over a decade ago, but because of lack of information concerning the many U.S. soldiers still unaccounted...
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...Ryan Canady 3/7/11 EWRT 1B A Soldier’s Burden Tim O’Brien is regarded as the preeminent American novelist of the Vietnam experience and his novels have gained widespread critical and significant popular success. His popularity can be attributed to his ability to translate the experience of wartime into perspectives on the larger questions of life and death. The three stories by O’Brien listed in the title are based on his own personal experiences and memories of his time in and after the Vietnam War. Although these stories are based upon real experiences, he embellishes some facts or puts instances from separate events into one timeline making his work is fiction. I believe that O’Brien wrote these stories not only as a therapeutic release for himself, but he is able to retell these stories and give an incredible insight to such a dark and controversial piece of American history. But his career has spanned a wider range of topics than his experiences from Vietnam. One consistent theme in his works is morality and the timeless struggle that humans have had with it. Along with morality, the amount burden that people carry, both physical and emotional, is a major theme in the stories I will be discussing. Another great attribute to O’Brien’s writing is his uncanny ability to blur the lines between fiction and reality. This style of writing is commonly referred to as metafiction; which is fiction that discusses the function and effect of storytelling. He believes that...
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...In this essay I’m going to look at some of the important elements in the short-story Wood Grouse on a High Promontory Overlooking Canada. The ones I am going to look at are: The setting of the short-story, a characterization of the two characters in the story, the theme(s), and the ending of the story. The story takes place on a high promontory, the two brothers Gary and Bud are fishing in the lake, but the fish don’t seem to bite. The promontory overlooks Canada on one side and the United States of America on the other. The scenery is peaceful and almost perfect, though in a realistic way. Bud is the younger of the two, being only 15 years old and seemingly an average active teenager. He seems carefree and happy. We are told that he likes baseball and that he likes throwing stones and that while doing so he imagines himself a hunter. Gary on the other hand is quite a bit older, I’d guess about 20-25, as he’s just returned from the war in Vietnam. Gary appreciates the peace around him and notices the beauty in the small things, unlike Bud who is more interested in throwing stones for fun. It’s not because Bud is evil, but simply because Gary has been changed by what he’s experienced in Vietnam. He carries a heavy burden around because of the war, but he doesn’t want to talk about it and when Bud asks him. He simply says to him that he wouldn’t want to know. It also seems like it’s hard for him to admit that he killed people in Vietnam when Bud asks, though I think...
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...Savannah Chacon Thomas Laird English 101 4 November 2014 Tim O’Brien Tim O'Brien was in college when the Vietnam War was happening which influenced his work. His most popular work is called “The Things They Carried” which is a book compiled of short stories about his experience in the Vietnam War. There are 6 of his short stories: The Things They Carried, Love, Spin, On The Rainy River, Enemies and Friends, How To Tell a True War Story which was published in 1990. His next popular work was “Going After Cacciato” which was written in 1978. The similarities in themes is that they are both surrounded by the idea of war. In “The Things They Carried,” there are psychological burdens from the war that follow these soldiers for the rest of their lives. O’Brien uses the title, “things they carried” to imply that the “things” the characters carry in these stories are both literal and figurative. While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, full of grief, fear, and love. In the novel “Going After Cacciato,” the theme is seen as having courage and taking control. Both of these themes from these two different books relate because the theme of control is a theme that subsumes and defines courage itself; therefore, courage in war requires self-control of body, senses, and emotions. Soldiers must have a lot of self-control in order to be in war because they must follow orders without questioning. In “The Things They Carried,” The main character...
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...What is the main future growth engine of Asia? Developments in Asean, China and India Vientiane, Lao PDR Sunday, 3 April 2016 Inaugural BOL-OMFIF Conference MEETING BACKGROUND Following the success of the inaugural KL Debate, held under the auspices of Bank Negara Malaysia during the annual Asean finance ministers meetings in 2015, Bank of the Lao PDR and OMFIF are pleased to jointly host the Inaugural BOL-OMFIF Conference in Vientiane in April 2016. With India set to overtake China as the world’s fastest growing large economy in 2015, according to IMF estimates, the interplay between the two countries and Asean has never been so important. If Asean were a country, it would rank 7th in the world in GDP terms, ahead of Brazil, Russia and India. India and Asean share the commonalities of a young population and progress on structural reforms. China is the third largest trading partner of Asean and the rise of the renminbi plays an important role in inter-regional dialogue. As Asia continues to grapple with the challenges of a global economic recovery, the quest for sustainable economic growth and greater regional integration in Asean, and connectivity with the rest of the world, remains a source of concern for investors and policy makers alike. Challenges surrounding development and in particular infrastructure investment abound. With this in mind, Bank of the Lao PDR and OMFIF have assembled a panel of extremely well-qualified industry practitioners for this year’s Asean...
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...We chose this topic because we've always been interested in the Secret Army, General Vang Pao, Hmong culture, and its history. When we talk about the Vietnam war in school they do not mention anything about General Vang Pao or the Secret Army. This inspired us to pick this topic and teach everybody about Hmong history. In school, it is very mysterious that very few people know about the Secret Army and General Vang Pao helping the Hmong people cross into Thailand. Also, Vang Pao helped the Americans fight against the Vietnamese by teaching them Morse code to communicate and taught them guerrilla warfare. Vang Pao is a person who every Hmong person looks up too; every Hmong person thinks of him as their role model. This is why we chose this topic, because he took a stand by helping Hmong people cross the Mekong river into Thailand. General Vang Pao and the Secret Army is not well known in the American Society and in our time. Researching this topic was rather difficult and challenging. It was very hard to find primary sources since he didn’t write any books and he wasn't well known. Most of our information came from family members and websites. A group member in our group interviewed a person about their journey, about the war, and the crossing of the Mekong river. He interviewed his grandpa; he said they had to work together and rely on each other because it was so dark going through the jungle to find the river. There was not a single light was out there to give them guidance...
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