Thank you for good points in your comment below...smart...
From: Antoine keodara To: "laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com" Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2011 8:40 AM Subject: Re:
Sabaidee Mr. Bounkhong,
First and foremost I just want to make some sense here so that all khon Lao don't need to criticize each other for whatever the reason may be. If anyone think that he or she can do a better job then please go ahead do it. Does it benefit for the khon Lao people or just individual? By pointing fingers, say this and say that does not really make any result here. It only bring each and everyone down and definitely is not a Lao way of thinking. Please keep in mind that RESPECT is and always will be a two ways street. Live and lead by example !!!! Please do not ignore many new ideas, possibilities, and opportunities to make thing better, smarter, and more suitable for everyone to deal with. I am not a politician nor a lawyer, but just have a common sense that would like to share with everyone so that we are not heading blindful in the wrong path in the last 36 years. What kind leadership do we have today taht will lead Laos back to her freedom and prosperity? How can we do it together? Here's my motto: If one door shut and definitely more doors will be open for a better tomorrow. Learn, live, laugh and do the best that you can. May I leave with you with this old saying "Walk the talk and don't just talk and do nothing about it! " Please ask what you can do for Lao people and don't ask what Lao people can do for you?
Actions will always speak louder than words can describe!!! Freedom is wonderful thing to have, but you must earn it!!! If you really want to learn something then you must put your heart, mind, and soul into it!!! Listening is a greatest tools and is very cheap that everyone can afford it!!! Just like the old saying.... Pou sorn larn leu va larn sone pou???
Khobjai lai lai, Antoine Keodara
Sabaidee members,
My duty is pick up some news to publish in the forum and thank you Mr Santy and Mr Souk to find the interest and necessary news to publish here as well.
I believe the info from Mr Antoine can be clarified about the VOA news. I have received many feedback from members whom were OK to publish Laos news here but some were against it.
Our team made the consideration to publish some and ignore some news such as the increment of the salary in Laos up to 16% to cover the inflation cost. We do our best and only Laosnetworkroom and Freelaosnetwork are the Lao nationalist forum as a central communication of Lao Nork non-pro Neo Lao.
We can send the Voice of Laotians Overseas to the worldwide if our team intends them to know it. If any countries have the Laos desk in their foreign department want to know about the reality of Laotians Overseas -non pro Neo Lao and the reality in Laos so they can find some information in the laovoice.net as our team already published long time ago therefore our laovoice.net is plain in English for the international matter. This is opposed with the Lao PDR net as laovoice.com.
We always accepted members talking Lao in the forum that is great for us to understand better. And we also appreciated members talking in French and English here because we can resume the discussion or the idea of our member to do the Voice of Laotians Overseas for showinf to the worldwide.
Best Regards, A. Bounkhong.
VOA news
As for the VOA news broadcasters, they are doing the best that they can to get the news out to all khon Lao inside and outside the country. Thank you for doing a great job and sharing the wonderful programs with many khon Lao around a globe. The last time I check that VOA employees are working directly for US government and definitely not Lao communist!!!! Please stop being negative and change your mind set otherwise we are going no where and definitely won't know where to begin!!!
I think ,it's no problem for a Thai person like Blacksaphire to write his Thai.. but shame Lao by blood from Laos do not know how to write mother language. ພາສາ ບອກຊາຕ ມາຣະຍາຕບອກ ຕະກູນ...ເຖິງວ່າ ພາສາລາວ ບໍ່ມີມາຕຖານ ເຂົ້າຢູ່ ວົງສາກົລກໍ່ຕາມ ແຕ່ ເຮົາຕ້ອງໄດ້ໄຊ້ ເພາະມັນ ເປັນ ຂວັນແລະກໍາລັງໃຈ ໃຫ້ແກ່ເຊື້ອຊາຕລາວ...
Sabaidee Mr Black Saphire and all,
We discuss about Thai Language here to clarify about the request of members in this forum that no meant discrimination to our members..
Usually, members in this forum intended to unify for discussion how to do something to help Lao people who have no voice in the Lao country. This forum has no neo Lao, neo Keow and no people -pro - government PDR regime. Therefore the Lao nationalists and Lao patriots are unhappy about the text.
Most of Lao patriots leaders are in the freelaosnetwork forum and Laosnetworkroom forum and Laodemocracy forum. They unified in the Lao harmony group but they split the working group in the different way to fight for democracy in Laos because the locations are not in the same city, state and same country. but they have the central communication as net. We cannot compare with the individual people who have not joined in any Lao organisations because they are free in the democracy country. And we cannot count neo-Lao, Pro -Lao PDR government in the harmony.
If any group gets the support from international community that group should lead all Laotians abroad.
Your text contents the strong messages that can be useful to publish in other forum and confirmation not in Laosnetworkroom forum. We can talk politely and it is useful for all that one it is a great job. The repeat the happening in the past does not help our members but it makes them up set to remind their bad history about Lao people. The idea of some aged person is similar a computer and if we use computer for many year then we turn computer on and waiting for after that we can use. So we have upgrade the computer and the idea too. From where the news happen on the daily basis or refresh memory.
2. Introduction In the last decade the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has transformed itself into a provider of natural resources (timber, agricultural products, minerals, and energy) for its wealthier and more populated neighbours China, Vietnam and Thailand.
Land (including forest land) has become an important resource for industrial use and commercial crop production, and demand for land has been dramatically growing. In the forestry sector, investment (including forest land use investment) in crop and tree plantations, especially large scale investment in the form of state land concessions is rapidly increasing and various conflicts related to land use and concessions have been reported (MAF, 2007). Control over land became a new magnet for private investors. Food and financial crises combined have turned agricultural land even more into a new strategic asset. Chinese officials visited Vientiane in November 2008 seeking to lease 1 million ha for rice, and Middle East states tried to secure 200,000 ha for their own food production. National governments and corporations seeking agricultural concessions in Lao PDR are not a new development, but the large increase in interest during the past few years has put these investments in the spotlight. Regulations Domestic and foreign investors can obtain land via long-term state land leases, concession contracts and 2+3
modes of contract farming. According to the Land Law different authorities are in charge depending on the land size: Land size Authority 3 – 100 ha Province authorities 100 – 10,000 ha Central Government/Prime Minister > 10,000 ha Approval by the National Assembly
4.5 National policy Through the National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) 2006-2010, the Lao Government wants to promote foreign direct investment in the agriculture, hydropower and mining sectors to foster growth, reduce poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Commercial crop/tree plantations are one of GoL’s priority areas for promotion of foreign investments. The current forest sector strategy by 2020 anticipates an area of 500,000 ha of industrial tree plantations in Lao PDR by the year 2020. Lao PDR is now experiencing the 3 rd tree plantation boom while the 1 st boom was in mid 90s with mainly teak planted by small farmers and 2 nd in early 2000s with mostly eucalyptus led by the ADB’s loan project. However, this 3 rd boom is much larger in scale and more diverse in species than the past two booms. Not only large investors both foreign and domestic but also farmers are converting their fallow land to rubber, agarwood and teak plantations. Transnational companies are establishing and/or looking for land for fast-growing pulp-wood plantations to feed their paper-mills abroad (MAF 2007)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Souk Thasy To: Laosnetwork Sent: Fri, June 17, 2011 1:44:10 AM Subject: Chinese officials visited Vientiane in November 2008 seeking to lease1 million ha for rice
Chinese officials visited Vientiane in November 2008 seeking to lease 1 million ha for rice, and Middle East states tried to secure 200,000 ha for their own food production.
Chose you best Choice.
Please tick one. ( a. b. c. d )
I believe Lao patriots can calculate how many people working in the rice field:
a) 1 people in 1 ha so Chinese can work in the rice field in Laos. Should be 1.5 million people.
b) 3 people in 1 ha so Chinese can work in the rice field in Laos. Should be 2 million people.
c) 5 people in 1 ha so Chinese can work in the rice field in Laos. Should be 5 million people.
d) 10 people in 1 ha so Chinese can work in the rice field in Laos. Should be 8 million people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:42:23 -0700 To: blacksaphire@hotmail.fr From: notification+zrdoircdpfvz@facebookmail.com Subject: Nouveaux messages de Norman Sylaphone
Norman Sylaphone
DEAR MR BLACK SAPHIRE: YOU ARE A SPECIAL MAN FOR ME AND FOR ALL LAO NOK PEOPLE IN OVERSEAS, WHO ARE LOOKING AND FIGHTING FOR CHANGE LAOS INTO FREEDOM AND FREE DEMOCRACY, LIKE IN THAILAND AND IN USA..THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND YOUR GENEROSITY IN PUSHING LAO PEOPLE IN GENERAL TO WAKING UP, SEE THE ENNEMIES INVASION LAOS AND OCCUPIED LATER...LAO LEADERS IN OLD REGIME ARE NOT ACTIVE IN POLITICS AND CANNOT IDENTIFY, FRIENDS OR ENNEMIES...THAT IS WHY, THEY LOST POWERS AND FLED TO DIE IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES...NOW, THE LAO NEW GENERATION ELSEWHERE,ARE WAKING UP AND LOOKING THE WAYS TO FIGHT FOR CHANGE, BUT NEEDS TIME TO ORGANIZE, PLANNINGN AND TAKE ACTION WHEN THE TIME IS COMING..WE HAVE EMPTY HANDS AND MANY LAO PEOPLE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE ARE BLIND AND SLEEPING, ALSO WATCHING THE VIETNAMESE EXPLOITING LOG WOODS AND TRANSPORTING MINERAL RESOURCES TO VIETNAM...LAO LEADERS ARE SELFISH, GREEDY, CORRUPTED, FASCIST, TOTALIST, REGIONIST, BETRAYED THEIR OWN HOMELAND, ARRESTED AND KILLING THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS AGAINST THEIR REGIME OF DICTATORSHIP...FROM 1975 UP TO THE PRESENT TIME......THEY ARE ANIMALS, UNHUMAN AND LICKING/KISSING VIETNAM ASS DAY BY DAY, RICHER AND WEALTHY FROM FATHERS TO SONS..LEAVE LAOS AND THE PEOPLE BEHIND IN POVERTY...WE DO LEARN THE LESSONS FROM THAI PEOPLE/RED SHIRTS MOSTLY, HOW TO ORGANIZE AND HOW TO FIGHT FOR CHANGE PEACEFULLY...IT WILL TAKE TIMES, MAY BE LONG YEARS TO WAIT FOR CHANGE. PLEASE HELP US TO PROMOTE AND TO ENCOURAGE LAO OVERSEAS TO WAKE UP, STAND UP IN WORLD STAGE AND FIGHT FOR CHANGE LAOS IN NEW DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS FOR THE PROSPERITY LAO PEOPLE AND THE LAOS NATION..ANY COMMENTS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW...SORRY TO WRITE IN ENGLISH...CANNOT TYPE IN LAO OR THAI...LAOVANGMAI
Historique des conversations Norman Sylaphone 14 juillet 19:31
DEAR MR. BLACK SAPPHIRE: PLEASE WRITING IN LAO BETTER THAN THAI IF YOU ARE LAO NATIONALIST..AGAIN, TALKING AND EXPRESSING IS EASY TO DO FOR MANY FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN OVERSEAS....TELL ME WHAT GROUP ARE YOU BELONG.. AND WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY IN ACTION IN THE PAST..? I TOLD MANY LAO NOK, ASSEMBLE IN SMALL GROUP OF TEN WITH TOP POLITICAL ACTIVISTS, OPEN DISCUSSION IN PRIVATE ROOM, MEETING WEEKLY, SET UP PLAN AND STRATEGY TO FIGHT AND TO PROMOTE THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS, ETC...REMEMBER, THIS GROUP OR THE OTHER GROUP OF TEN OR LESS OR MORE HAS TO JOIN AND HAVING THE SAME STRATEGY AND IMPORTANT IS TO SACRIFICE WITH MONEY AND ALSO LIFE WHEN TIME NEEDED...IF NOT, NOTHING HAPPENED AND CHANGE..NOW, WHAT I SEE, ALL FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE HIDING AT HOME AND NOT DISCLOSED THEMSELVES AND LACK OF TRUST EACH OTHER.....RIGHT....?......................ANY COMMENTS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.. LAOVANGMAI Black Saphire 14 juillet 22:56
Dear Mr Black Saphire: Thanks for your reply..You are good person to talk with...I know that you want to help lao people and Laos country away from the dictatorial regime and the neighbors expansionists needed to take over lao indirectly day by day...but lao leaders in Spp lao are now betrayed and lao people in general ( outsiders and minsiders ) are still sleeping and scared to fight for change...Cannot compare with thai people or vietnam people, they are active, brave , agressive and having ambition to change or fight for news ideas all the time..Look at the past history, Vietnam became colony before Cambodia and Laos, then fighting to be satellite of communism than Laos and cambodia. Now vietnam is running after USA but still keeping dictatorial regime..Cambodia has multi-parti system to run the country but controlling by hun sen, puppet of vietnam.Thai Siam in the past or Thailand now, they always said, they never became under any foreigh colony at all, but they worked for somebody/USA during vietnam war for money and smart to profit all benefits from the war...Lao people in general are not dump, but need peace and soft from traditions and culture aspirations...You talked asked them to change and fight for change indirectly, telling them the past history from Lao Lanexang era until Laos today...Laos territory became smaller and smaller because of neighbor expansionism and lao people in general are lasy to fight for change, Lao SPP lao leaders are greedy,corrupted, selfish and regionalism by heritage..However, It is hard to change the mentality of lao people who are easy people who are looking to survive day by day..Lucky for lao overseas who have better life, self sufficient, looking for fun and closed their eyes to look back home and support for change..May be you are the only one who can help and change Laos in many ways based to your philosophy and your doctrines..Hoe to hear from you and for Any comments, please let me know.. Laovangmai Norman Sylaphone 15 juillet 08:18
DEAR M. BLACK SAPHIRE: MAY BE WE CAN TALK TOGETHER ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID ALL THE TIMES ABOUT LAOS...I DO NOT KNOW IF YOU CAN DISCLOSE YOURSELF AND GIVE ME YOUR SKYPE NAME, AND A/C, ETC...AND THEN WE CAN CHALLENGE FOR MANYTHINGS FREELY, TALKING WITH SKYPE A/C IS FREE...HOPE YOU KNOW THAT, E-MAIL IS NOT SOMETIMES PRODUCTIVE IF YOU ARE REALLY WANTY TO SHARE THE ISSUES...ETC.. LAOVANGMAI Black Saphire 15 juillet 10:55
People in USA can Visit the Diplomacy Fellows page and if interesting please try apply for.
Best Regards,
A. Bounkhong
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: U.S. Department of State Date: Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 4:24 AM Subject: Accepting applications for the 2011 Diplomacy Fellows Program To: bounkhong.laosnetwork@gmail.com
Hello,
We are pleased to inform you that we are now accepting applications for the U.S. Department of State's 2011 Diplomacy Fellows Program. The deadline to submit completed applications is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on September 26, 2011. Any applications received after that date will be disqualified.
Visit the Diplomacy Fellows page (http://careers.state.gov/dfp) for more information, eligibility requirements, and to start the Gateway to State online application process via USAJobs. Please note that the Diplomacy Fellows Program is open only to those who have participated in one of the approved programs listed on the site.
We appreciate your interest in a career with the U.S. Department of State.
U.S. citizenship is required. An equal opportunity employer.
U.S. kills Taliban insurgents who downed SEALs' helicopter "John did not die for free. They have got the authors but the master mind who supplied the weapons still need to be identified." We are proud of him, a new generation of Warriors
By Laura King and Ken Dilanian, Los Angeles Times August 11, 2011 Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Washington— The retribution wasn't long in coming.
An American airstrike killed the Taliban insurgents whose attack caused a helicopter crash that killed 22 Navy SEALs and eight other U.S. service members, military officials in Kabul and Washington said Wednesday.
However, Marine Gen. John R. Allen, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told reporters at the Pentagon that the main Taliban leader in the area remained at large. He did not identify that insurgent commander, the hunt for whom set in motion the events that led to the crash of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter on Saturday.
Military officials had said previously that the helicopter went down as the SEALs were rushing to aid fellow elite troops. They were identified as U.S. Army Rangers who had come under insurgent fire while on a night raid in pursuit of a Taliban target, one of the hundreds of such special-operations raids now taking place each month across Afghanistan.
Special operations forces tracked down a group of "less than 10" insurgents and called in an airstrike from an F-16 fighter jet, Allen said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said the strike took place early Tuesday in the Chak district of Wardak province, close to the area where the Chinook helicopter was shot down.
Among those killed was a senior operative in the area and the man whose fire, apparently with a rocket-propelled grenade, brought down the chopper, the military said.
The downing Saturday of the CH-47, which killed seven Afghan commandos in addition to the 30 American troops and an interpreter, represented the worst loss of military lives in a single incident in the nearly 10-year-old war.
The senior Taliban operative killed in Tuesday's raid was identified as Mullah Mohibullah, described as a "key facilitator" of Taliban attacks in the Tangi Valley, about 60 miles southwest of Kabul. He had about a dozen fighters under his command, the military said, and had replaced a Taliban leader who had been killed in an earlier U.S. operation.
Mohibullah and his group of fighters were located after an "exhaustive manhunt" in Wardak, with tips from villagers, according to the military statement. It said the insurgents were trying to flee the country, presumably to Pakistan, when the U.S. raid occurred.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization force said the airstrike was called in after insurgents were tracked to a wooded area, and that no civilians were hurt in the bombardment. The Afghan police chief in Wardak, Gen. Abdul Qayum Baqizoi, said his forces had aided in intelligence-gathering that led to the U.S. strike.
Although the military said insurgent fire is presumed to have caused the downing of the helicopter, it also said the precise cause of the crash remains under investigation.
"While it has not been determined if enemy fire was the sole reason for the helicopter crash, it did take fire from several insurgent locations on its approach," the ISAF statement said.
Allen declined to answer questions about the decision to have so many elite troops aboard a single craft. Because of its size, the Chinook presents a vulnerable target, particularly when taking off and landing.
He also declined to discuss why elite SEALs were sent in to help the Ranger force, saying only that they were part of the mission and that using them was the right decision at the time.
According to officials the team included 17 SEALs, five Navy special operations troops who support the SEALs, three Air Force troops, a five-member Army air crew and a military dog.
laura.king@latimes.com
King reported from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Dilanian from Washington.
Just for your information!!! All you need to just highlighted the whole paragraph then use Bing translation to either French or English as you wish. As for Lao to English translation, it is work in progress as I am speaking and soon you will be able to use it just like any other language with Google translation.
Moreover, if khon Lao really want independent and do its own thing then they must get rid of Vietcong and Check Nao that staying in Laos. Such a shame to see the evil regime run the country down the drain and ofcourse they don't care about their country any more.
From: "laosavanh@gmail.com" To: Laosnetworkroom Cc: Black Saphire Sent: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:28 PM Subject: RE: [freelaos] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
From: Phoui Date: 8/9/2011 4:43:23 PM To: freelaos@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [freelaos] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
ເຫັນພ້ອມກັບລຸງຄຳພາ 100%
De : freelaos@yahoogroups.com [mailto: freelaos@yahoogroups.com ] De la part de koupranom abhay Envoyé : dimanche 7 août 2011 18:07 À : freelaos@yahoogroups.com Objet : [freelaos] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
De : black saphire À : freelaos@yahoogroups.com Envoyé le : Dim 7 août 2011, 17h 41min 21s Objet : RE: [freelaos] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
To: Groupe_Vethi_Paxathipatay_lao@yahoogroupes.fr ; laos-solidarite@yahoogroupes.fr CC: freelaos@yahoogroups.com From: phoui@free.fr Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2011 08:38:03 +0200 Subject: [freelaos] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
Cher Blue max, Je sais pertinemment que de quoi s’agit l’histoire de notre pays, je suis toujours réveillé et j’ai observé avec l’attention les événements qui traversent notre pays. La guerre américaine et les bombardements au Laos n’est pas qu’une épisode de l’histoire, c’est un crime contre l’humanité que malheureusement dans ce monde inégal n’arrive pas à punir ces seigneurs de guerre et ces gendarmes du monde. Le Laos est malheureusement toujours soumis aux étrangers, quelque soit les voisins proches ou lointains, Le roi Chao Anouvong a perdu la guerre contre les siamois n’est pas parce qu’il avait pas de moyen, mais il a été trahi par les siens, d’abord, Chao Ouparadtisa (ເຈົ້າ ອຸປະຣາດຕີສະ), n’était pas d’accord avec Chao Anou et dénonçait aux siamois la tentation d’attaquer Krungthep de Chao Anou, le Royaume de Champassak et le Royaume Luangprabang ne bougeaient pas pour l’aider. Avec la force supérieure des siamois, l’armée de Chao Anou a subi une grande perte, et il est obligé de se refuser au Vietnam sous le règne de Minh Mang. Cette petite parenthèse de l’histoire du Laos résume la mentalité de nos lao, il manque terriblement ce que j’appelle le patriotisme, (ຄວາມຊາຕນິຍົມ), les critiques sont champions, mais que peut on faire : RIEN Hélas !!! Il ne faut pas oublier que pendant la colonisation des français, la guerre du Vietnam avec les américains, quoi de bon avait obtenu le peuple lao ? S’il n’ y pas que de la souffrance, tendre les mains pour mendier de l’aide étrangère, aujourd’hui, le Laos soulève un peu de la tête économiquement grâce aux investissements étrangers, cela ne veut pas dire que tout est parfait dans le pays, le peuple lao a beaucoup donné pour arriver petit à petit, pourquoi a-t-on le droit de critiquer les migrants lao qui partent dans les pays voisins pour essayer de trouver du travail ? Pourquoi utilise-t-on les médias pour abaisser notre propre peuple quand il s’agit d’un petit group de personne qui a été trompé par les mafias thaïs pour les mettre dans le pétrin de la drogue et de la prostitution ? Si vous regardez un peu plus loin de la presse, bien entendu au-delà de la presse française, vous constaterez l’ambition guerrière du Vietnam, l’achat les 6 sous-marins russes avec un budget de 22 Mus$, équiper son armée de l’air avec les avions de chasse russes. Avec cette ambition guerrière, le Laos, c’est quoi pour eux ? Je me rappelle toujours une citation chinoise : « il faut mieux être compacte comme de l’argile que d’être un tas de sable ». Cordialement Phoui
De : Groupe_Vethi_Paxathipatay_lao@yahoogroupes.fr [mailto: Groupe_Vethi_Paxathipatay_lao@yahoogroupes.fr ] De la part de blue max Envoyé : dimanche 7 août 2011 04:01 À : groupe_vethi_paxathipatay_lao@yahoogroupes.fr Objet : [Groupe_Vethi_Paxathipatay_lao] Re: L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
Je suis ravi que vous vous réveilliez enfin. La guerre américaine n'était qu'une épisode de l'histoire qui datait plus loin que l'époque de Minh Mang qui refusait d'aider Prince Anou.
Mieux vaut tard que jamais. Le Laos est en danger de mort. Le Vietnam n'a jamais fait ami avec personne, ni la Chine , ni la Russie , ni la France. Il joue maintenant les US contre la Chine. Son but est d'annexer notre pays sans que personne puisse venir au secours. Seul le Japon est notre ami sans intérêt.
Le Laos est lié avec les US plus de 60 ans, avec la chine, avec la russie. Les guerres nous étaient imposées par les voisins.
Les dirigeant savent très bien l'intention du Vietnam mais ils sont noyés dans les dettes qui celui ci réclame sans cesse, chaque jour l'amitié est renouée ou réclamée. La population part volontairement vers la Thaïlande laissant le vide pour les immigrants clandestins.
From: Phoui To: laos-solidarite@yahoogroupes.fr ; Groupe_Vethi_Paxathipatay_lao@yahoogroupes.fr Sent: Saturday, August 6, 2011 4:25 PM Subject: [Laos-Sol] L'armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois
L’armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois http://www.lepetitjournal.com/bangkok/actu-en-bref-bangkok/83126-laos--larmee-vietnamienne-serait-impliquee-dans-la-contrebande-de-bois.html
ຂ່າວຮ້າຍ ສໍາຣັບຄອບຄົວ ດວງດາຣາ ທີ່ສູນເສັຍ ສມາຊິກຄອບຄົວ John Douangdara, ໃນເຄື່ອງບິນ ເຮຣີຄອບເຕີ້ ຕົກ, ນຶ່ງໃນຈໍານວນ ກອງໂຈນພິເສດElite NAVY SEAL's ສັງຫານ ບິນລາດິນ.
A Lao immigrant family in the United States says one of their members was among the 30 U.S. Troops who died last week in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/08/10/lao-immigrant-family-learns-son-died-in-afghan-helicopter-crash/
World Bank Freezes Loans to Cambodia Over Lakeside DevelopmentTuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 7:50 am UTCPosted 21 hours ago The World Bank said Tuesday it will not issue any new loans to Cambodia before the government resolves a dispute with citizens displaced by a lakeside development in Phnom Penh.
Country director Annette Dixon confirmed to reporters that the lending institution has not made any loans to the country since December and will not do so until an agreement is reached with the residents of Boeung Kak lake.
Thousands of families are being displaced by the 133-hectare development, which involves filling in the lake. The project is being handled by a private company headed by a ruling party politician and a Chinese firm.
Residents are asking to be allowed to settle on a portion of the site rather than be resettled outside Phnom Penh. They have staged several demonstrations in front of City Hall, often clashing with police.
Government spokesman Phay Simphan said officials are not concerned by the announcement. He said the bank is overstepping its authority and, in any case, its loans are “no longer appreciated” by the government.
The bank said the decision will not affect its current projects in Cambodia. According to its website, it has more than 20 active projects involving more than $400 million in funding.
The bank acknowledged in March that it had not properly protected the lake's residents when it participated in a nationwide land titling program a few years ago.
Ouest-France / Bretagne / Lannion / Louannec / Archives du samedi 06-08-2011 « Pour obtenir le visa de Peng, quelle galère ! » - Perros-Guirec samedi 06 août 2011 Antoine Menger expose ses clichés au palais des congrès. Les bénéfices sont destinés à financer une opération chirurgicale que doit subir une adolescente laotienne à Brest.
Antoine Menger expose, jusqu'au 15 août, des photographies, « Regards du Laos », au palais des congrès, au profit de l'association Bokéo-Trégor.
Depuis plusieurs années, le docteur Antoine Menger partage sa vie entre le Laos et Perros-Guirec, où il est médecin généraliste. Il a créé l'association Bokéo-Trégor pour « venir en aide aux populations de la province du Bokéo, en République démocratique populaire du Laos, en matière de santé et plus particulièrement auprès des enfants ». Dans le cadre de ses études, Antoine Menger a effectué un premier voyage au Laos, en 1973.
Il est tombé sous le charme de ce pays. En 1974, il y retourne pour des raisons humanitaires, notamment dans la province de Bokéo qu'il fait découvrir à travers des photos, fascinantes et criantes de réalisme.
Opération à Brest
À chaque voyage, il apporte avec lui sa trousse de médecin et des lots de médicaments. Durant ses séjours, il dispense des soins, bénévolement. De chaque séjour, il rapporte une série de photos qu'il expose et vend. Les bénéfices sont reversés à Bokéo-Trégor.
Regard du Laos revêt un caractère particulier. Ces regards permettront à une Laotienne de 16 ans, Peng, atteinte d'une tumeur de la langue, de venir de faire opérer en France. Antoine Menger l'a rencontrée dans le village de Ban Xang, « un village sans électricité, ni latrines », a rencontré Peng.
Devant ce cas, inopérable dans le village, le médecin perrosien a décidé de la faire transporter à Brest, dans un service spécialisé. « Quelle galère administrative ! Pour obtenir le visa, il a fallu que je fasse appel aux hautes autorités de l'État, Alain Juppé, ministre des Affaires étrangères, et Claude Guéant, ministre de l'Intérieur », raconte le médecin, qui finance, lui-même, l'opération chirurgicale (entre 12 000 à 15 000 €).
Après sa convalescence, l'adolescente retournera dans son pays « car, sa vie est là-bas », dit le docteur. Les bénéfices de l'exposition seront reversés à Bokéo-Trégor. La photo est vendue 40 € (reçu déduction d'impôt).
Jusqu'au lundi 15 août, une exposition de portraits et de villages, réalisée par Antoine Menger, Regards du Laos, se déroule au palais des congrès, au profit de l'association Bokéo-Trégor. De 15 h à 19 h.
There are 200,000 political prisoners in the 6 jails ( Re-education camp ) in North Korea.
North Korea is Number one of the world to put their own population in the jail up to 200,000 people.
Nub thu,
Bounthanh
From: "specom2009@comcast.net" <specom2009@comcast.net> To: Laosnetworkroom <laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, 9 August 2011 10:29 PM Subject: North Koreans fleeing severe food shortages and poverty,
THAILAND: North Koreans escape from hunger
CHIANG SAEN, 9 August 2011 (IRIN) - Thailand is fast becoming a transit country for North Koreans fleeing severe food shortages and poverty, authorities say.
There are 200,000 political prisoners in the 6 jails ( Re-education camp ) in North Korea.
North Korea is Number one of the world to put their own population in the jail up to 200,000 people.
Nub thu,
Bounthanh
From: "specom2009@comcast.net" <specom2009@comcast.net> To: Laosnetworkroom <laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, 9 August 2011 10:29 PM Subject: North Koreans fleeing severe food shortages and poverty,
Close to 1,000 North Koreans have crossed over this year
CHIANG SAEN, 9 August 2011 (IRIN) - Thailand is fast becoming a transit country for North Koreans fleeing severe food shortages and poverty, authorities say.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "specom2009@comcast.net" To: Laosnetworkroom Sent: Tuesday, August 9, 2011 7:48 AM Subject: VietNamNet Bridge
Top Lao leader warmly welcomed in Vietnam VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam ’s Sate, National Assembly and Government leaders met separately in Hanoi on August 8 with Lao Party General Secretary and State President Choummaly Sayasone. ທ່ານຈະເຫັນຂ່າວປະເພດນີ້ທຸກວັນໃນໜ້າ ໜັງສືພິມລາຍວັນຂອງລາວ ແລະແກວ, ຊຶ່ງເປັນການສແດງໃຫ້ເຫັນເຖິງຄວາມຜູກພັນແບບຟ້າວຮີບທີ່ສຸດຂອງແກວ ເພື່ອ ຈະໄດ້ເປັນເຈົ້າຂອງປະເທດລາວແບບເປັນທາງການແລະເປີດເພີຍໂດຍໄວທີ່ສຸດ. http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/politics/11681/top-lao-leader-warmly-welcomed-in-vietnam.html
President Truong Tan Sang and Lao Party General Secretary and State President Choummaly Sayasone. (Source:VNA)
THAI-LAO LIGNITE Laos ordered to pay Bt1.7 bn in damages By Nalin Viboonchart The Nation Published on August 9, 2011
The US Federal Court in New York recently confirmed a Malaysian arbitration award in a dispute between Thai-Lao Lignite and the Laotian government over the Hongsa power-plant project, requiring Laos to pay damages of US$56 million (Bt1.7 billion) plus interest.
"Although the New York court's ruling is not the end of the dispute and the government of Laos can appeal, we hope that the government will fulfil the obligation and pay for the claim," said James Berger, a lawyer from Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, representing the company.
The 1.9-gigawatt Hongsa power plant as well as Banpu and Ratchaburi Generating Holding (Ratch), which own 40 per cent each of the project, will not be affected by the court's ruling, an analyst said yesterday.
Thai-Lao Lignite's concession for the Hongsa project was cancelled by the Laotian government after construction could not meet the agreement. Banpu took over the concession.
Berger said the company had submitted a letter to the Laotian government asking whether it intended to pay the damages voluntarily, but there has been no response.
The US court judgement is promptly enforceable. If Laos does not follow the ruling, Thai-Lao Lignite will be forced to commence proceedings to execute the judgement.
The damage claim plus interest so far adds up to $65 million, Berger said.
An analyst said the court's ruling would not affect the Bt94-billion Hongsa power plant or Banpu's and Ratch's operations. Construction of the plant is on track and it is expected to commence generating electricity in 2013.
Thai-Lao Lignite also sued Banpu in 2007, claiming that Banpu and its subsidiaries gained access to information on the Hongsa coal-mine concession and won the project after the Laotian government terminated the concession with Thai-Lao Lignite, which then asked for damages of Bt63.5 billion.
However, Thai-Lao Lignite was blamed by another report for not being able to proceed with development, leading to the Lao government's decision to terminate the concession.
A Thai lawyer for the plaintiff said the lawsuit against Banpu would take more time to reach a resolution.
The hearings from the plaintiff side are expected to be wrapped up next month, then the court will start hearings with the defendant. Thai-Lao Lignite had asked Banpu to compromise but they could not reach an agreement.
Chanin Vongkusolkit, chief executive officer of Banpu, has said the Hongsa project will not be interrupted by the litigation, as it is being developed by Hongsa Power Co, not Banpu alone.
I do not think so. LaoNork are working closely Four or Five people a day but the other members are ready to speak up at all time. If there is any subject interesting come through.
Lao Nork Suh! Suh !
Best Regards, A. Bounkhong
2011/8/8 blue max
พี่ทำไมพูดอย่างนั้นล่ะ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "specom2009@comcast.net" To: Laosnetworkroom Sent: Sunday, August 7, 2011 1:13 PM Subject: ประเทศลาวของพวกท่านในปัจจุบันนี้ มันไม่ไช่ประเทศของคนลาวแล้ว
This is apart of the complaining of Lao Nork and International organisations. This is the best way to push Lao PDR to do something against Vietnam. 08-05-2011 ແຂວງຈໍາປາສັກຍຶດໄມ້ເຖື່ອນໄດ້ ເກືອບຮອດ 5 ແສນ ແມັດກ້ອນ ທາງການລາວຢຶດໄມ້ເຖື່ອນໄດ້ຫຼາຍກວ່າ 840,000 ເມັດກ້ອນ ແລະຈັບກຸມຜູ້ກະທໍາຜິດ ໄດ້ເຖິງ 106 ຄົນ ເຊິ່ງມີຄົນຫວຽດນາມແລະຄົນຈີນລວມຢູ່ນໍາ ໂດຍທັງໝົດກະທໍາຜິດ ຢູ່ໃນແຂວງຈໍາປາສັກ.
ทั้งๆ ที่ผู้เขียนมีหนังสือและผลงานตีพิมพ์เป็นภาษาไทยมากพอสมควร แต่หนังสือ “วิกฤตการเมือง ประชาธิปไตย เราจะโค่นอำมาตย์อย่างไร” เป็นเล่มแรกที่สามารถเขียนอย่างตรงไปตรงมาได้ โดยไม่ ต้องระวังกฎหมายหมิ่นกษัตริย์ เนื้อหาในเล่มนี้คล้ายๆ หนังสือภาษาอังกฤษของผู้เขียนสองเล่มคือ A Coup for the Rich (2007) และ Thailand’s Crisis and the Fight for Democracy (2010) แต่กลุ่มเป้าหมายที่ผู้เขียนเล็งไว้ในใจ ในการเขียนหนังสือภาษาไทยกับภาษาอังกฤษจะต่างกัน ดังนั้นเนื้อหาจะต่างกันบ้าง
-- Giles Ji Ungpakorn UK mobile:+44-(0)7817034432 UK landline +44(0) 1865-422117 http://siamrd.blog.co.uk/ http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/ http://redsiam.wordpress.com/ see YOUTUBE videos by Giles53
Please stay focus and pursue the main mission and objective in this forum. How can we work together and reunited as one Lao group of people from various background, political party, believes, and education? If we cannot do that yet, I don't think this will get us anywhere farther except back to a drawing board.
Let me see Laos history trend:
Laos was under SIAM (THAI) Colonization for more than 200 years. Laos was under French Colonization for almost 63 years. Laos will be under Vietnamese communist power for how long?
Laos will still be under someone else power and she will never get her very own independent. I think there's much more for all of us to learn from our past history so that we do not make the same or worse mistakes again. Freedom is not cheap and we must earn it. if we are not doing anything about it and I am sure this history trend will be repeating for sure...
How come we like to criticize our our people and put each other down? It's good if you can use a positive criticism by supporting and helping promote our very own people? It all start with you and it can grows outward. No one is perfect nor expect to be a perfect leader to lead our Lao people. Moreover, we can all make it happen and believe in our dreams and vision that Laos will be free at last. No body will help us not unless we are helping ourselves.
Where do we start? It all starts with you and me and everyone else in this forum or group. We must work together in harmony and peace. We must learn how to forgive and forget and moving on with the same common goals and practice. If we cannot return to our beloved country then start helping your community that you are living at today. I see so many wonderful talents people and some are very well educated people in this forum that can lead and have the full potential to make thing happen for Laos. Please don't be afraid to share your feeling, motion, and opinions with these people in this group.
We should be proud of our own personal achievement, family, rich culture, and wonderful heritage that we have.
-- Giles Ji Ungpakorn UK mobile:+44-(0)7817034432 UK landline +44(0) 1865-422117 http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/ http://redsiam.wordpress.com/ see YOUTUBE videos by Giles53
From: lxenexai@hotmail.com To: laosnetworkroom@googlegroups.com
I agree with and support Ms. Stieglitz's statement - categorizing, profiling...won' bring us to anywhere. I encourage all of us to be objective and rational; notwithstanding our difference [in many ways] we are Lao - now let's start with the common ground and common interests. We may not agree certain points, and yet we can work together for the good, the best of Laos and the Lao People. Beware that a categoric and systematic rejection won't bring any thing at all - only cooperation and collaboration will open doors and windows and pave the way to a better tomorrow for Laos and the Lao People.
We talk 'Democracy' - we want Laos to be free from Vietnam's domination - but we only deal with our own feelings without daring to work together; external ennemies can be repelled, but inner ennemies are deadly and suicidal.
We are good at categorizing, can we get all of us to see each individual as a human being with rights first? Also please see below. I appreciate very much those who have communicated in English.
The world wide recognises 3 main groups of Lao people: 1/ Lao PDR is people living in the country. There are 2 groups: a) Lao - communist b) Lao - non communist. 2/ Lao oversea. There are 2 groups: a) Lao refugees or Lao overseas. big font: this is two groups. I am Lao overseas b) Spy or Communist members on the refugee status. Sigh, I have a big sigh on this because seeing and interacting with Lao NY NJ PA CT, many of us were roped to communism out of ignorance, came over when we recognized the injustices and still have family and friends in Laos in govt positions. When can we let go of "communist?" as a word? One is a spy = ultimate goal is to do harm. Good spy = action for the highest good? Possible. 3/ Lao people workers in Thailand. There are 3 groups. a) Good job as migration workers. b) Bad job, hard work get less wages. c) No luck, human trafficking, sex slaves, working under drug gang.
How can we help Lao people in the 3 ( c ). ? Who will respond them ? If you can help, what way can you do ?
Le monde entier reconnaît 3 principaux groupes de personnes Lao: 1 / République démocratique populaire lao sont les gens vivant dans le pays. Il ya 2 groupes: a) Lao - communiste b) Lao - non communiste. 2 / d'outre-mer Lao. Il ya 2 groupes: de réfugiés) ou Lao Lao à l'étranger. b) Spy ou des membres communiste sur le statut de réfugié. 3 / peuple lao travailleurs en Thaïlande. Il ya 3 groupes. un emploi) Bon comme les travailleurs migrants. b) d'emploi Bad, le travail acharné obtenir moins de salaires. c) Pas de chance, traite des êtres humains, esclavage sexuel, de travail en vertu des gangs de drogue.
Comment pouvons-nous aider les gens à Lao dans le 3 (c). ? Qui va les répondre? Si vous pouvez aider, quoi pouvez-vous faire?
ສນັ້ນຂໍໃຫ້ທ່ານທັ້ງຫລາຍທີ່ອ່ານຄຳເຫັນນີ້ແລ້ວຈົ່ງໃຫ້ຄຳຕອບໄປຍັງສູນ Moderator ໂດຍດ່ວນ.ທີ່ ຜຂ ກ່າວມານີ້ມີສ່ວນຖືກບໍ່? ຂອບໃຈຫລາຍໆ
Best regards Specom
-
Sabaidee members,
from the moderator. I would like to seek the advise from members: If we cannot unify to speak up as a voice so moderator is happy to close all forums and stay in silence. We cannot work with out destination and no clue. It is very very hard to form a big group but moderator can delete this group in 5 seconds. If our group fail, Mr Phom Laosnet Group will fail too.
So I would like you to make the consideration to support this task and the fighting for democracy will have a leader to talk on behalf of us, a Lao Nork group and Lao people who have no voice in the country. Please choose 5 people to be our leaders.
A leader is chosen by many people and does not specific the knowledge, the title, the ethics but a group accepts him to represent them. A group is recognised by the international organisation and worldwide so that group is the real representative of Lao people who have no voice in the country.
That group is acted as an opponent of Lao PDR. This is an international stage.
Now there are China town in Vientiane next to the new sport stadium and the autonomy Boten and Ton Pheung - Houi Sai. ( Golden triangle - North ) . Hanoi town in Savannakhet, Nongtha Vientiane and the autonomy of Three southern province -Attopeu, Sekong and Saravanh. ( Triangle - South )
We use the Voice of Laotians Overseas to the international worldwide about the neo-colonizing Laos.
Phongsavanh n'est plus là mais je vois que nous continuons allègrement à mal connaitre notre histoire, Tiao Yo* était le fils de Tiao Anou, il était roi du royaume de Champassack depuis 1818 et son armée se battait vaillamment contre les siamois 1826-29 et lui même à la fin de la guerre perdit la vie comme son roi et ses sept femmes envoyées dans le harem de Rama III.
China has scolded the US over its "addiction to debt" after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the US' top-notch AAA rating to AA+.
State news agency Xinhua said unless the US cut its "gigantic military expenditure and bloated welfare costs," another downgrade would be inevitable.
But other countries, such as Australia, France and Japan, said they retained their faith in US bonds.
The downgrade ended a week of growing uncertainty for the world economy.
Fears that the US might be headed for a double-dip recession and the eurozone's debt problems were set to spread to Italy and Spain saw stock market sell-offs around the world.
The downgrade is a major embarrassment for the administration of President Barack Obama and could raise the cost of US government borrowing.
This in turn could trickle down to higher interest rates for local governments and individuals.
Continue reading the main story Analysis Robert Peston Business editor, BBC News The US losing its AAA rating matters. It is a very loud statement that there has been an appreciable increase in the risk - which might still be tiny, but it exists - that the US might one day struggle to pay back all it owes. Another important certainty in the world of finance has gone.
Of course many will argue - and already have - that the record of ratings agencies such as Standard & Poor's of getting these things right in recent years has been lamentably poor. Think of all the subprime CDO products rated AAA by S&P that turned out to be garbage.
But S&P, Moody's and Fitch (and particularly the first two) still have a privileged official position in the world of finance: they determine what collateral can be taken by central banks from commercial banks, when those central banks lend to commercial banks.
One initial estimate says that could add an extra $75bn (£46bn) to the US annual interest rate bill at a time when its debt levels are already high.
The other two major credit rating agencies, Moody's and Fitch, said they had no immediate plans to follow S&P in taking the US off their lists of risk-free borrowers.
'Held hostage'
Xinhua called for the printing of US dollars to be supervised internationally and repeated China's contention that a new global reserve currency might be needed.
Analysts say neither suggestion is likely to happen. But China - the world's largest holder of US debt - is clearly worried about its holding and also worried about criticism at home for having so much of the country's savings in US investments.
"The spluttering world economic recovery would be very likely to be undermined and fresh rounds of financial turmoil could come back to haunt us all," it said.
It said the US should stop "letting its domestic electoral politics take the global economy hostage".
Continue reading the main story S&P ratings (selected) AAA: UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia AA+: USA, Belgium, New Zealand AA-: Japan, China Source: S&P In the wake of the downgrade, a European diplomatic source told Reuters news agency that the G7 group of major Western powers would confer by telephone in the coming days.
Francois Baroin, Finance Minister of France - which currently heads the G7 - said he had consulted his counterparts on Saturday morning and would closely monitor market reaction when they opened on Monday.
EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, who cut short his summer holiday to return to Brussels, said the world's major economies should co-ordinate their policies to avoid a global crisis. S&P said in a report issued late on Friday that the US budget deficit reduction plan passed by Congress on Tuesday did not go far enough.
It also said "the political brinkmanship" over the debt reduction plan showed that "the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened".
S&P had threatened the downgrade if the US could not agree to cut its federal debt by at least $4tn over the next decade.
Instead, the bill passed by Congress on Tuesday plans $2.1tn in savings over 10 years.
S&P also said it might lower the US long-term rating another notch to AA within the next two years if its deficit reduction measures were deemed inadequate.
LAOS – L’armée vietnamienne serait impliquée dans la contrebande de bois 0 Commentaires Envoyer Imprimer
L’armée vietnamienne joue un rôle important dans la contrebande de bois en provenance des forêts du Laos, une activité qui rapporte plusieurs millions de dollars et menace des millions de vies, indiquait le rapport d'une ONG publié jeudi. Hanoi a nié les accusations de l’Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) basée à Londres qui a déclaré que ses opérations d’infiltration avaient révélé que l’un des plus gros exploitants forestiers au Laos est une société détenue par l’armée vietnamienne. Même si le Laos possède les dernières forêts tropicales intactes de la région du Mékong, l’interdiction d’exporter du bois brut “est souvent bafouée à grande échelle” pour alimenter les industries “voraces” du Vietnam, de Chine ou de Thaïlande, indique l’EIA. “Ce qui arrive ici est de la déforestation déplacée. Le Vietnam est presque en train d’annexer des pans entiers du Laos pour alimenter son industrie”, a déclaré Julian Newman, directeur de campagne de l’EIA, lors de la sortie du rapport à Bangkok. Les opérations d’infiltration du groupe se concentrent sur la société détenue par l’armée vietnamienne, Company of Economic Cooperation (COECCO), qui récupère la plupart du bois sur les sites de construction des barrages. La corruption "généralisée” dans le Département des forêts du gouvernement du Laos permet la contrebande de bois avec 500.000 mètres cubes valant au moins 150 millions de dollars qui traversent la frontière avec le Vietnam chaque année, indique l’EIA. Une porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères à Hanoi a nié les accusations lors d’une conférence de presse. "Il n’y a pas de contrebande de bois au Laos par l’armée vietnamienne”, a expliqué Nguyen Phuoang Nga. "Toute exploitation inégale ou contrebande de bois sera rigoureusement traitée selon les lois vietnamiennes”. Newman a déclaré qu’il trouvait ironique que le Vietnam "reconnaisse le besoin de protéger ses propres forêts alors qu’il les prend à côté de chez lui”.
(http://www.lepetitjournal.com/bangkok.html avec AFP) lundi 1er août 2011
The United States' credit rating was cut for the first time when Standard and Poor's lowered it from triple-A to AA+, citing the country's looming deficit burden and weak policy-making process.
Standard and Poor's on Friday revised the nation's rating downwards to a AA+ with a negative outlook, despite a push back from the White House, which said its analysis of the US economy was deeply flawed.
It was the first time the US was downgraded since it first received a triple-AAA rating from Moody's in 1917; it has held the S&P rating since 1941.
Moody's and a third ratings agency, Fitch, say they continue to study the defici plan to see if the US merits being kept in their ranks of AAA countries.
The blow came after the White House, Democratic and Republican legislator finally agreed on Tuesday to a deal to raise the nation's debt ceiling after months of wrangling that sent jitters rippling through the global economy still trying to recover from the 2008 recession.
A debt downgrade will be a symbolic embarrassment for President Barack Obama, his administration and the Americans, and could raise the cost of US government borrowing.
Since the dollar and US Treasury bonds are so central to world trade and finance, a downgrade theoretically could rock the global economy, which is already being battered by the eurozone crisis.
But some analysts have questioned whether a ratings cut would impact demand for US debt, have dismissed the raters as having low credibility, and questioned whether the markets would take much notice.
Ratings agencies Moody's and Fitch both reaffirmed their AAA rating of US debt shortly after Obama signed a bill raising the debt ceiling on Tuesday.
The downgrade technically signalled that it is more likely than before that the United States could renege on its debts.
There was no immediate comment from the White House or the Treasury on the reports.
But a source close to the discussions said: "There are deep and fundamental flaws with the S&P analysis."
S&P is considered the most influential of the three major rating agencies.
It has been the most aggressive in moving towards a US downgrade. On April 18, S&P lowered its outlook attached to the AAA rating from "stable" to "negative", citing the absence of a credible plan for reducing Washington's huge fiscal deficits.
In July, during the protracted standoff over raising the government's debt ceiling between Obama and Republicans, S&P placed the United States on credit watch and warned there was "at least" a one-in-two chance that it would cut the rating within 90 days.
S&P also suggested any deficit plan needed to trim about $US4 trillion ($A3.84 trillion) over 10 years; the plan that has passed only envisages cuts of up to $US2.4 trillion.
There are currently 17 nations boasting a AAA debt rating from S&P along with three other territories - Hong Kong, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
Moody's, the oldest credit agency, placed the US on a downgrade watch on July 13 and upheld its rating on Tuesday after congress passed the last-minute deal which avoided a debt default.
But Moody's also added a "negative" outlook to its rating, warning it could still downgrade the United States if the deficit-slashing plan goes astray, if fiscal discipline weakens, or if growth deteriorates significantly.
Fitch opened a review of the US rating on June 8 and said it would be completed by the end of August.
After the debt deal was clinched, Fitch said the United States would keep its AAA rating but warned it was under review.
ASIA HAND The limits of Chinese expansionism By Shawn W Crispin
BOTEN, Laos - On a November evening in this northern Lao border town, a crowd gathered around a traffic accident between two Chinese drivers. As tempers flared, Chinese casino guards moved tentatively to keep the peace. But the absence of any uniformed Lao police officers underscored the authority gap in a growing number of areas in the country where Vientiane has effectively ceded sovereignty to Beijing.
Chinese investors have built and run a sprawling casino complexat Boten, one of two special economic zones dedicated to gambling where China maintains administrative autonomy. At Boten, front desk hotel staff speak only Chinese, the yuan is the required currency of settlement and Chinese prostitutes peddle
their services on business cards printed in Mandarin rather than Lao. At the other, outside the town of Huay Xai, Chinese carstravel without license plates.
The special concessions are quid pro quo for the official aid, grants and non-interest loans Beijing has given in recent years to Laos to finance badly needed and trade facilitating infrastructure.
But Chinese foreign investments now come with big strings attached, including allowances to import unskilled Chinese labor for Chinese-funded projects in countries often desperate to create jobs for their own. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Southeast Asia's less developed states, where China's generous financial aid has influenced government policies in Beijing's favor. It is significant that China has made its deepest investment inroads in states governed by similarly authoritarian regimes, namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Strong and unaccountable governments have allowed for state-sponsored land grabs and forced village relocations to pave the way for many Chinese investments, especially in extractive industries and plantation agriculture. An entire village was forcibly moved to a barren relocation site to make way for the Chinese special economic zone outside of Huay Xai. That's leading some in the region to associate Chinese investment with corrupt government practices, rising perceptions that are motivating the first nationalist stirrings against Chinese expansionism.
New gateways
As Southeast Asia's smallest and least-populated state, Laos is most vulnerable to China's growing economic might and Beijing's presence and influence is expected to grow, according to Martin Stuart-Fox, a renowned Laos expert. Indeed, Laos is fast emerging as a greenfield model for the form Chinese capital expansionism may take across the region and beyond as Beijing revs up its investment drive.
In a 2008 academic paper, Stuart-Fox argued that China expects three things in return for its aid, loans and grants to Laos, namely: backing for Chinese policy from everything to Taiwan to Tibet; access for Chinese companies to exploit Lao resources; and lines of communication though Laos to Thailand - all of which Laos has loyally provided.
More recently, however, its become clear that China expects more for its generosity, including exclusive economic enclaves and long term leases for projects - including a to-be-built new Chinatown in downtown Vientiane - that some analysts believe will pave the way for bigger waves of Chinese migration into Laos. As of 2007, the Lao government estimated there were 30,000 Chinese residents living in Laos, a human statistic Stuart-Fox described as a "gross underestimate" in his research. Nonetheless it represented a tripling of the 1997 estimated figure.
In an apparent move to forestall similar criticism in Laos, China has worked hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Communication and Transport to establish a new Lao National Internet Center, which will come on-line in 2011. The center's Lao staff have undergone extensive training in China, including members of a newly created "security emergency response" team, according to a source familiar with the situation. Beijing has also supplied the technological equipment that will be used to monitor and block web sites, the source said. Currently, Laos does not censor the Internet.
Because of the lack of free media in the Southeast Asian countries where China is most heavily invested, it's difficult to ascertain whether the still faint voices of dissent are marginal or representative of a genuine nationalist groundswell of anti-China sentiment. But if China is indeed involved in the suppression of these voices, as many suspect, then Beijing too must realize the risks and flaws in its fast-growing capital expansionism.
Shawn W Crispin is Asia Times Online's Southeast Asia Editor.
(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights
1. Dams, Casinos and Concessions: Chinese Megaprojects in Laos and Cambodia Chris Lyttleton and Nyíri Pál Development is the only hard truth. - Deng Xiaoping
1.1 Dams In August 2008, we visited Cambodia’s most talked-about megaproject. The Kamchay hydropower station, scheduled for completion in 2010 with a capacity of 180 megawatt, is being built by Sinohydro, China’s largest, state-owned hydropower engineering company, under a BOT (build – operate – transfer) agreement as part of a $600 million aid package announced by China in 2006, the same amount as pledged by OECD donor countries in the same year.
1.2 Casinos
Unlike Kamchay, the Dork Niw Kham (Golden Niw Flower) tourist development project in the Lao part of the Golden Triangle has attracted no attention, either from Laos´ state controlled media or international organisations. The project, began by Myanmar Macao Lundun Co. on 867 hectares (2,170 acres) of leased land in 2007, will entail an investment of close to US $90 million. In January 2009, it is a hive of construction hastening to meet the scheduled opening of the casino/hotel complex in April. Land has been carefully graded down to the heaving banks of the Mekong, and one easily imagines the sloping lawns and gentle promenades designed to compete with the hotel strip on the Thai side of the river and a nearby Burmese casino, carving a slice from the huge tourist market of the Golden Triangle resort area. The zone will have its own border point and rules of entry so tourists might come with no visa or legal status to enter Laos itself. An international airport, golf and entertainment facilities are planned, and agro-industrial investment, linked to training facilities for Lao workers, has been promised.
To accommodate all that, negotiations are underway for additional 200 riverside hectares to be included in the 50-year renewable lease. If consummated, this project will subsume five villages and an atoll in the Mekong currently popular with tourists on the Thai side who want to set foot in Laos. In the future, visitors can indeed set foot in Laos: except as 5the locals succinctly note, this is no longer Laos, it is China. In a soon-to-be relocated Tai-Lue village, locals make no bones of their dissatisfaction with the Lao decision to utilize Chinese money as the path to local area development: they shout abuse at Chinese laborers (who cannot understand what they say, but cannot mistake the tone) who come to buy everyday supplies (even as vendors seem happy to sell to them). Other villages will not be moved. They will be the ethnic drawcards: already pilot beauty contests of local ethnic women are being organized as the first concrete acknowledgement that this development is the undeniable and non-negotiable future they face
While discussions over further land annexation take place at the central government level, local provincial and district level authorities have little say or jurisdiction over what goes on within this sequestered zone. Although the original agreement, like at Kamchay, was to employ 90% Lao labor, the reality is quite different. The local authorities have little idea how many foreign workers there are, or where they come from (estimates range from 200 to 500 on-site at any given time). They have been denied access to this information by Chinese site managers; none of the workers are registered with the Lao labor office. As for Lao workers, those that were hired soon found they could not sustain the 12-hour shifts the Chinese overseers insisted upon. Storekeepers in neighbouring villages who furnish the migrants with food and supplies know precisely where the current laborers come from: Burma and China. Although local authorities might not control what goes on within the site, they do enforce what happens on its periphery. Residents of the village to be relocated have had no success protesting to the central government in Vientiane
“The most internationally modernized city” It is not hard to see how the locals (if not the central government) might view the rapid rise of the 1600-hectare (4000-acre) Golden Boten City “special zone” (Chinese tequ), opened in 2007 by the Chinese investment company Fu-Khing, as a salutary lesson in engagement with Chinese leaseholds. The developer’s brochure for investors asserts that Golden Boten City [as] a golden place hiding in the luxuriant jungles, just like Peter Pan’s city of never falling down, just like mysterious treasure island…, tempts the deepest desire in each tourist’s mind. As a golden port, her convenience, tolerance, prosperity and elegance will conquer every person who arrives at here. Traffic convenience will endow her with advantaged tourism, and Laos’s attractive natural landscape together with advantage of Boten will draw in numbers of international tourists. At the same time, the foreign living habits and their anxiety for Lao culture will bring infinite business chance
The casino is not mentioned. The Lao tourism office still plays to this dream: An advertisement on the back cover of the inaugural (1/2008) issue of the Luang Namtha Provincial Tourism Magazine describes Golden Boten City Co.’s, as the “most internationally modernized city in [L]ao.” Next to the new China-Thailand highway and on the site of the former village of Boten, whose inhabitants had been resettled farther away, its central feature is a hotel-casino complex, with a cluster of shops, small eating houses, staff dormitories, and apartments surrounding it. A conference center, a golf course, and villas are planned, and the developer’s brochure implores potential investors to believe that thousands of people will gather here in a beautiful morning or an autumn evening.
While it is true that there is little in Laos that runs 24 hours a day as does the casino, the current state of Golden Boten belies the vision of a cosmopolitan tropical paradise expressed in this passage and the accompanying images. The prominent presence of sex shops and prostitutes, combined with the warren of dirty alleys lined with ramshackle shops selling underwear and tobacco, and the dominance among tourists of middle-age 7men in cheap suits reminds one of a tourist destination in late-1990s in southern Chin
As two men from the northern Chinese city of Tangshan who run a stall selling oilcakes tell us, the proprietor of Golden Boten moved here from Burma, a few hundred miles west, where he ran a gambling hall in one of the Chinese-owned casinos along the border, after business declined following the Chinese government’s restrictions on its citizens travelling to these casinos. Like there, the clientele here is far from being international. Apart from an increasing (but still small) number of Thai and even fewer Lao tourists stopping by on their way to China, virtually everything and everyone in the place is Chinese, from some 3,000 employees and small business owners to the currency (only yuan are accepted), from electric sockets (electricity is also supplied from China) to beer. That this is a duty free zone does not explain why nearly all shops are Chinese. Surprisingly, considering the popularity of ethnic exoticism and eroticism in Chinese tourism (see e.g. Nyíri 2006a), no ethnic souvenirs or foods are available and no ethnic dance performances are held, although Luang Namtha Province is known for its diversity.
It appears that the environment simply feels too foreign for small Lao entrepreneurs, unfamiliar with Chinese business practices, to move in, and that both proprietors and visitors see the place as a kind of liminal Chinese space where forbidden pleasures are openly available (neither gambling nor prostitution are legal in mainland China, though both are widely practiced) rather than a foreign destination. When we ask a local Lao driver whether Golden Boten was China or Laos, he says in fluent Chinese: “Sure it’s China! China rented it.” The fact that the zone has been leased by its Chinese proprietors for thirty years, with the option of renewing the lease twice, is reinforced by the guards who march around in military formations in uniforms resembling those of Chinese police, emblazoned with “Special Zone Security.” Lao casino staff tell us that in the past, bodies of Chinese murder victims as well as Chinese citizens accused of the crime have been whisked quietly back over the border. In concession to Lao demands, Lao police also maintain an inconspicuous presence, but they seem to have little authority in cases involving Chinese staff or tourists. Figure 3 about here Local employees are a diminishing presence. Golden Boten opened amidst claims of preferential hiring of local Lao to make up the 900 required staff. Dealers’ wages are high by Lao and even Chinese standards, 1,200 yuan (roughly US$200) by the end of 2008 for a six-day work week, plus room, board and an additional 310 yuan if one chooses to work seven days. Yet the number of Lao employees has dropped from nearly 300 to a little over 100. New Lao dealers are hired only if they can speak Chinese. Lao workers occupy only one floor of one dormitory: the bottom one, and they have indicated a range of difficulties: an unfamiliar work environment, abuse from Chinese overseers, perceived discrimination in the food hall where they feel they receive smaller proportions of food than the Chinese and so forth. 8 By early 2009, the hotel still operates at nearly full capacity (and further hotels are under construction), but several of the casino’s gambling rooms have been closed. Golden Boten has not reached anything like the halcyon days of the owner’s previous casino on the China-Burma border where, until it closed in 2004, hundreds of tour buses would arrive each day to unload many thousand avid gamblers and sex tourists. 1.3 Concession
The current leaseholds are not of the same order of imposition as the treaty ports in China, “where the overlap between the law of power (gunboats) and the power of law (extraterritoriality) was palpable” (Scully 1995). But there are notable similarities. Trade 10 rights are clearly privileged, legal jurisdiction vague and de facto security is maintained by Chinese forces, while the external perimeter is sometimes protected by the local army (whose senior officers, in both Laos and Cambodia, are accused of having business interests in various Chinese concessions)
It is tempting to consider the current condition of Golden Boten City as replicating this description, albeit played out with different stakeholders. Despite the detailed publicity promotion of free-trade enclaves that aim to benefit the region, the very prominent presence of gambling and commodified sex implies a different evolution of market expansion, with markedly different outcomes for locals caught in the backwash of this form of “development” than at Kamchay
A master plan for the economic development of Northern Laos, prepared by Chinese specialists on behalf of the Yunnan Province Reform and Development Commission and presented to the Lao government at the end of 2008, envisages setting up new free trade zones along the country’s borders and developing 12 tourism concessions, operated and controlled by contractors (Northern Laos 2008). The two casinos described above provide foundational examples for this strategy.
that can help expand locals’ “capacity to aspire” (Appadurai 2004) in unexpected ways. The opening of the bilingual, private Lao-Chinese Friendship Primary School in Luang Namtha, catering principally to Lao children, is no doubt linked to the rise of Chinese investment in the area, but its teachers, from China, see themselves as providing a public service to local families by offering an education that is, here as in Cambodia, widely seen as a way out of poverty (even if it is as a dealer at Boten). 8 Some children, the teachers say, are too poor to pay the 200-300 yuan (US$ 35-50) yearly fee and study free of charge
1.3 Concessions The dam and the casinos are very different kinds of places. The former is classified as a development project, benefits from state-to-state aid, is being built by a large state corporation and has unclear prospects of profitability. The latter are private entertainment complexes clearly driven by profit. The former draws Khmer day laborers, the latter Chinese day trippers. But, apart, of course, from the fact that funds for all have come from China, they share two commonalities. First, the architects of all three projects justify them using the same narrative of helping a friendly neighboring country modernize. Second, both projects involve the removal of large chunks of land from the national 9territory and, to a degree, from under the sovereignty of the nation-state. Within the confines of both the Kamchay dam site and the casino leaseholds, the laws, the coercive apparatus and the basic symbols of Laos and Cambodia (flags, uniforms, language, currency) have only limited reach. To some degree, the operators and dwellers of these concessions enjoy extraterritoriality: a concept that seemed to have gone out of use in the postcolonial era, but deserves to be granted a new lease on life as a particular form, both physical and social, of “engineering the earth.” Extraterritoriality was central to China's experience of Western colonialism. Based on treaty stipulations, China was forced to surrender degrees of sovereign power: control of customs and security in treaty ports, legal jurisdiction over non-nationals, foreign concessions, privileged treatment of foreign business and missionary activity.
Président de la République, M. Choummaly SAYASONE Vice-président de la République, M. Bounnhang VORACHITH Premier ministre, M. Thongsing THAMMAVONG Vice-Premier ministre, M. Asang LAOLY Vice-Premier ministre, Ministre des Affaires étrangères, M. Thongloun SISOULITH Vice-Premier ministre, Ministre de la Défense Lt-Général Douangchay PHICHITH Vice-Premier ministre permanant, M. Somsavat LENSAVAD
Trois conseils équivalents
1 Le cabinet gouvernemental 2 La Banque de la Républque démocratique Populaire du Laos 3 Le Comité d'Inspection de l’Etat et chef de l'Agence anti-corruption
Les 18 ministères
1 Ministre de l’Education et des Sports 2 Ministre de la Sécurité publique, 3 Ministre du Travail et des Affaires sociales, 4 Ministre de la Justice, 5 Ministre de l’Energie et des Mines, 6 Ministre de l’Agriculture et des Forêts, 7 Ministre du Plan et de l’Investissement, 8 Ministre des Finances, 9 Ministre de l’Information, de la Culture et du Tourisme 10 Ministre de la Santé, 11 Ministre des Affaires Intérieures 12 Ministre de l’Industrie et du Commerce, 13 Ministre des Travaux publiques et des Transports, 14 Ministre des Sciences et de la Technologie, 15 Ministre des Ressources naturelles et de l’Environnement, 16 Ministre des Postes, des Télécommunications et de la Communication, 17 Ministre de la Défense Lt-Général 18 Ministre des Affaires étrangères,
Le gouvernement
Président du Comité d'Inspection de l’Etat et chef de l'Agence anti-corruption, M. Bounthong CHITMANY
Ministres
1 Ministre de l’Education et des Sports Dr Phankham VIPHAVANH 2 Ministre de la Sécurité publique, M. Thongbanh SENG-APHONE 3 Ministre du Travail et des Affaires sociales, Mme Onechanh THAMMAVONG 4 Ministre de la Justice, M. Chaleun YIAPAOHEU 5 Ministre de l’Energie et des Mines, M. Soulivong DARAVONG 6 Ministre de l’Agriculture et des Forêts, M. Vilayvanh PHOMKHE 7 Ministre du Plan et de l’Investissement, M. Somdy DUANGDY, 8 Ministre des Finances, M. Phouphet KHAMPHOUVONG 9 Ministre de l’Information, de la Culture et du Tourisme M. Bosèngkham VONGDARA, 10Ministre de la Santé, Dr Eksavang VONGVICHITH 11 Ministre des Affaires Intérieures M. Khampanh PHILAVONG, 12 Ministre de l’Industrie et du Commerce, Dr. Nam VIGNAKET 13Ministre des Travaux publiques et des Transports, M. Sommad PHOLSENA 14 Ministre des Sciences et de la Technologie, M. Boviengkham VONGDARA, 15 Ministre des Ressources naturelles et de l’Environnement, M. Noulinh SINBANDITH 16 Ministre des Postes, des Télécommunications et de la Communication, M. Hième PHOMMACHANH 17 Ministre de la Défense Lt-Général Douangchay PHICHITH 18Ministre des Affaires étrangères, M. Thongloun SISOULITH
Ministres auprès du cabinet gouvernemental
1 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental le Dr Bountième PHITSAMAY, 2 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental, Mme Bounphéng OUNPHOSAY 3 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental, M. Bounheuang DUANGPHACHANH, 4 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental, M. Sinlavong KHOUTPHAYTHOUN E . 5 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental, le Dr Duangsavat SOUPHANOUVONG, 6 Ministre auprès du cabinet gouvernemental, Mme Khemphèng PHOLSENA -Gouverneur de la Banque de la RDP du Laos, M. Somphao PHAYSITH - Président de la Cour Populaire Suprême M. Khamphanh SITHIDAMPHA, - Procureur Général, M. Khamsan Souvong.