From the far » laos

One word summaries

willmorey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:30:06 +0000

Burma – raw
Thailand – hidden
Laos – lazy
Cambodia – pyjamas
Vietnam – energy
Bali – calm
Singapore – family

Phonsavan

willmorey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:12:33 +0000

Phonsavan is the main town near the Plain of Jars, an unexplained site of hundreds of jars believed to be over 2000 years old. The plain of jars is well worth the trip but it is even more worth seeing Phonsavan to learn more about the horrific unexploded ordnance that still plagues life in this rural region of Laos. I have to say I was largely ignorant of the indiscriminate bombing of Laos by the US during the Vietnam war. In this “secret war” America dropped more than 2 million tonnes of explosives giving Laos the awful title of being the most heavily bombed country in the world. Many of these bombs were cluster bombs, evil devices that murder and maim civilians during and many many years after their original use. Up to 30% of these bombs did not detonate and still maim and kill in the beautiful countryside around Phonsavan and across Laos. It is well worth watching the documentary Bombies to understand more about this as I cannot do this issue the justice it deserves here. I was just left annoyed and angry at another example of the terrible things that have happened to innocent people and the lack of funds and support being given to correct the horrendous wrongs of the past.

It made me think why people seem to spend so much time looking for little things to get angry at in the UK. People almost search for things to be offended by that are so meaningless. When people feel offended by a Russell Brand joke or some other Daily Mail hate campaign perhaps they could turn there attention to a part of the world where people still cannot farm their own land because it is so ridden with bombs that were dropped by the world’s richest country in an illegal war. America were not even at war with Laos. So rather than write an angry letter or huff and puff and talk about the decline of Britain or some such nonsense maybe we should put our hands in our pockets and help to solve a genuine problem that we should genuinely be offended by. You could donate directly to MAG, a group helping to clear the areas of UXO or donate to some other worthwhile charity that are attempting to solve real problems that should offend, outrage and upset every single one of us every single day.

My final comment on this rant is that the Convention on Cluster Munitions must be completed and ratified by all countries. So far 21 have ratified and 79 have signed. The UK have signed but not yet ratified and sadly the US, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Brazil and Israel have opposed the convention. In this day and age how can we accept these sorts of weapons being used???

The Most Bombed Country In The World

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:49:53 +0000

Laos has been a really interesting country. We spent yesterday wandering around the beautiful Plain of Jars, a mesmerising collection of giant stone jars of which their origin remains unconfirmed. The most likely theory is that the jars were used as funereal urns to decompose bodies. However, local Laos villagers shun this belief and instead think the jars were used to brew rice whiskey. The sites are amongst the most dangerous archaeological sites in the world, given that they are surrounded by unexploded US bombs from the Secret War here over 30 years ago.

The war is perhaps the most horrific event in modern history, not least because of its sheer audacity and defiance. A clandestine war conducted by the US in complete secrecy, it was carried out in violation of the Geneva Convention and without informing its own people. In fact it was not until many, many years later that it came to light within the US that the war was even happening. Between 1964 to 1973 the US dropped more bombs on Laos, a recognised neutral country it was not officially at war with than it did on both Germany and Japan during the whole of WWII. This makes Laos the most bombed country in the history of the world. It was bombed every 8 minutes for 7 years solid.

Laos is living with the scars of this war every single day, over 30 years later. And at the current rate of clearance, it will be decades, literally, until all UXOs are cleared.

CLUSTER MUNITIONS PROBLEM

In excess of 260 million

Estimated number of sub-munitions (bombies) from cluster bombs dropped over Lao PDR between 1964 and 1973.

30%

Estimated failure rate of sub-munitions under ideal conditions.

78 million

Estimated number of sub-munitions that failed to explode.

387,645 or 0.49%

Number or percentage of estimated unexploded sub-munitions destroyed by UXO LAO from 1996 to April 2008.

Every day here villagers are being maimed and killed by bombs as they go about their daily lives, ploughing fields, planting seeds or children playing games in the streets. It is a sad fact that the children here are most at risk, not least because the unexploded bombs look very much like small balls, or fruit. And curious children like playing with balls and eating fruit. Another sad fact which puts kids at risk is that many of them still risk their lives every single day purposefully collecting scrap metal and UXO material to sell to make money for their families. They are literally risking their lives to try and make a few cents each day.

Check out MAG website for more info on the facts and what you can do to help.

Laos

willmorey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:08:30 +0000

Laos is a beautiful country hemmed between Thailand, China, Cambodia and Vietnam. As with so many countries it is the people that make the difference and win over your heart. We travelled down the Mehkong river from Huay Xai which was a lovely way to see more of the country but also as Jo outlined in her post a bit club 18 – 30. I managed to consume far too much beer lao with some Irish guys who were excellent company as we drifted down the muddy river towards Louang Phabang.

Louang Phabang was rather refined in some ways. The old town was beautiful, scattered with amazing French colonial buildings and tempting restaurants. The highlight for me was a small cafe bookshop named after my favourite book, L’etranger. In addition to an excellent selection of secondhand books it also had a separate tea menu. All in all a rather nice way to spend the day.

We then caught a bus across to Phonsavan cutting through some lovely countryside. At one of our many stops we went for a walk around a local market which offered many culinary delights. Highlights included an Oscillot wild cat offered ready to be skinned and eaten, some kind of grub things, toasted rat on lolly sticks, a stork, cows head and the rather delicious looking well developed chick eggs. After Jo gorged herself on these treats and had wiped the cat fur from her mouth and plucked the chick feathers from between her teeth we headed off for Phonsavan.