Laos on the Move

It's a bit of a strange title for a headline, but the following article has some good info about the current development in Laos.

Not so Pathetic Laos

Adapting Vietnamese Culture to Foreign Audiences

Thanh Nien News, Viet Nam


Cultural exchange and understanding is an important part of globalisation, a process that is continually happening whether we like it or not as a result of improvements in technology and transportation. There are two main approaches to handling cultural hybridity, the mingling of cultures. Purists would have us preserve culture, somewhat in the manner of embalming a corpse. Of course, what you end up with is a fossil in a museum that is rarely visited by anyone other than crusty old scholars. Innovators are more interested in keeping culture alive, which usually means adapting and changing the details and the meaning of culture. Neither approach is completely satisfactory, especially when it comes to the relationship between culture and tourism.

This story from Hanoi provides an example of successfully coping with the difficulties in keeping tradition alive and at the same time maintaining its integrity.

Hanoi troupe brings local culture to foreign audiences by staging Vietnamese plays in English

Air Asia opens Saigon, Viet Nam to Phuket, Thailand route & US-ASEAN Relations

Phuket [pronounced "poo-ket"] is Thailand's largest island and one of its premier tourist destinations. Air Asia, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is Southeast Asia's biggest budget airline. They're expanding rapidly and have opened a new route between the resort island of Phuket and Ho Chi Minh City [Sai Gon], Viet Nam's largest urban area.

Air Asia opens HCMC - Phuket Route
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I'm not sure how accurate the following report is. But if it's true, it reflects the growing importance of the unified Southeast Asia region.

President Barack Obama plans to invite all 10 Asean leaders to the United States next year in a move to further strengthen Asean-US relations