Hey Lao girl , don't be worry !!! Vientiane will be develope in the future maybe in the next 2 years or 4. But Vientiane is already a beautiful place to live , a City is not always about big builduings its also about the History and the beautiful of the City. If you look to New York you will see that New York City is just a City like Hundreds other Cities with just Skyscraper. That makes Vientiane Unique it has wonderfull Pagoda's and Wat's and its have a History.
Vientiane need to start moving a bit faster on its development. Phnon Penh look's way better and modern, then a rustic old Vientiane. Phnon Penh did suffer more then Vientiane and Saigon during the Vietnam war. But Vientiane seem to lose so much population and modernization feeling.
Most Lao now move to Thailand who rather live in modern living like the rest of the world.
I kinna like Vientiane rustic feel. The Lao capital needs more green space and improve public transportation. Don't need those highrises that are so common in SE Asian cities. Modernity means beautiful and liveable and not just concrete structures and pavements all over the place.
I kinna like Vientiane rustic feel. The Lao capital needs more green space and improve public transportation. Don't need those highrises that are so common in SE Asian cities. Modernity means beautiful and liveable and not just concrete structures and pavements all over the place.
You have to understand that populations growth and business needs highrise for accomediation for more rooms. Also spreading out too much development might destroyed Eco-system and bio diversity of Green space in an over crowded space. Laos seem open and wide now. But you have to remember that spreading too much might destroyed mother nature Green surrounding the City.
Ten years ago, the infrastructure in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, was in poor condition. Power outages were frequent. Heavy rains and poor telecommunications slowed commerce and limited outside contacts.
But in the past decade, new roads and high-rise buildings have changed the landscape. And in July, the nation's first stock exchange and a multiplex cinema opened.
Phnom Penh has several active cinemas dating from the 1950s, but they mainly screen the small number of domestically produced films or translated Thai imports. Pirated DVDs have cut into their business, keeping people at home.
Until July, the only way to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster in a theater was to catch a plane to Thailand or Vietnam.
But now, for $6, one can go to the new air-conditioned, three-screen Legend cinema in central Phnom Penh, grab a box of popcorn and settle down to watch Kung-Fu Panda 2 in 3D (three dimensions).
Michael Chai, a director at WesTec Media, which built the cinema, is aiming at a young, internet savvy Cambodian market.
“If I look at Facebook for example, I've been looking at the numbers. In May 2010 there were only about 50,000 of them on Facebook. May 2011 we had almost 400,000. So that figure alone, that kind of growth, speaks a lot already. And most of them on Facebook are communicating to each other in English.”
While it would take most Cambodians several days to earn the price of the $6 ticket, the owners are betting that a growing middle-class will become regular customers.
Prum Seila, a 24-year-old office worker, is in Chai's target demographic. Just a few weeks after the theater opened, Seila has visited twice.
“I went there to see the Transformers 3. And I've never seen 3D in my life. I just saw the Transformers 3, and I know that in Transformers 3 there is a scene in Cambodia and [so] we should have seen it. And it is just kind of supporting stuff like that in Cambodia," Seila says.
The growth in Phnom Penh has been fueled in part by garment factories, an economic pillar in Cambodia, that are located around the capital, drawing young workers to the city.
The jobs and new technology are changing things quickly. A recent survey indicates more than 90 percent of young Cambodians have access to a mobile phone. Internet usage, though low, has doubled in a year to 6 percent.
Prum Seila, the eager movie-goer, grew up in the capital. He says he and his friends now spend their free time hanging out in food halls, scores of gleaming new coffee shops and entertainment venues named Diamond Island and Dreamland, where you can sing karaoke.
He says shopping is popular.
“The people like me they have jobs, they have money," he says. "They save money to buy expensive brands like Apple, iPhone. Some of the girls they try to buy the clothes from internet, from Facebook.”
In July, officials opened the country's first stock exchange. Although no companies have yet listed, the government says three state-owned firms will do so later this year. Others are expected to follow.
Stephen Higgins heads ANZ-Royal Bank, a joint venture between the Australian banking giant and a Cambodian firm.
“Long-term the stock exchange will be a positive for Cambodia," Higgens says. "It will help raise funds for development. It provides a means for private equity firms to exit their investments, which is very important for them when they first decide to invest. But these things are going to take time. Anyone who has a short-term horizon with the stock exchange, they're going to be disappointed.”
Ten years ago only a handful of banks had the ability to dispense cash over the counter. Now there are hundreds of cash machines from around 30 local banks, and some offer electronic payment of utility bills.
“Cambodia is coming from a long way back, in terms of its development generally but including financial services," says ANZ's Higgins. "It's catching up rapidly.”
Despite the changes in the capital, what happens here generally does not affect the 80 percent of Cambodians who live in rural areas. Income inequality has worsened in recent years as economic growth benefited the wealthy more than the poor.
The country's hospitals and health clinics still offer poor quality healthcare; corruption is rampant; and the judiciary is woefully inadequate. Poverty hovers around 30 percent.
But some changes do help: better roads and access to mobile phones, for instance, make a profound difference to the lives of the majority of the country who rely on agriculture for their livelihood. And the government hopes that the improvements that have come to the Phnom Penh will eventually ripple out across the rest of the country.
Concrete and night lights are not signs of wealth. The majority of Cambodians are still among the poorest in the world. However, they've done better since the days of the killing fields.
Concrete and night lights are not signs of wealth. The majority of Cambodians are still among the poorest in the world. However, they've done better since the days of the killing fields.
Yes we acknowledged that, and Cambodians people knew that and their government knew that too. we as a good neighboring country need to support our friends not to put them down and hurt their feeling.
After century of wars, Vietanam, Cambodia, Laos, Indeed we're developing our countries right now. So we as three brothers need to support each other and pick each other up when one down, and we don't need to say something that could hurt our fellow's feeling. So long lives Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam......
After century of wars, Vietanam, Cambodia, Laos, Indeed we're developing our countries right now. So we as three brothers need to support each other and pick each other up when one down, and we don't need to say something that could hurt our fellow's feeling. So long lives Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam......
Not only it look like Paris, Its looked like the European as a whole to me, As you can see the ways they layout the blue print, this exactly like Europe. if you people don't know what I'm saying that mean some of you here don't know Europ......