Travelling from Laos to Thailand I have witnessed the vast contrast between the two countries which are in many ways culturally and historically similar. It's the classic Southeast Asian example of "same same... but different".
While Thailand has been welcoming mass tourism since as early as the 1960's, Laos only opened its borders at the start of the 90's and still lacks the infrastructure and tourist centered hospitality of its neighbour.
Thailand, on the whole, is a relatively rich country. It rates 25th in the world - above Singapore and Hong Kong - in terms of GDP purchasing power parity, (that is, the value of its good and services produced), and this is almost entirely due to its tourism industry, which accounts for almost 20% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). It is a developed country where tourists are as much a part of day to day life as temples and ladyboys.
Laos, on the other hand, is still a very poor country. The large amount of unexploded ordnance in the country has made the development of land and infrastructure almost impossible. Most Laotians are subsistence farmers who live off their land, making little to no profit from the crops they grow. The few places in Laos that have welcomed tourists seem to have done so at the cost of the local culture. In Vang Vieng, for example, tourists walk around the small town in bikinis and swim shorts, showing more flesh than any Laotian would ever dream of. I believe nobody is ever naked in Laos; they even wear sarongs to shower. Vang Vieng is a ghetto of guest houses, restaurants serving pizzas and burgers, and drug filled bars. There is no Laos charm left, it could be any backpacker town in the world.
There is no such thing as ethical or eco-tourism in this part of the world. The governments look at the tourist dollars with blinkered vision and reap the benefits no matter effect on the environment or the local communities. Vang Vieng, Pattaya, and Koh Phangan being the perfect examples of this.
Conversely, tourists bring money, money brings development, development brings a better standard of living for the local people. For example, Muong Ngoi and Don Det which we visited in Laos only recently got 24-hour electricity as a result of increasing tourism. Similarly, where the tourists go there is a demand for clean, plumbed water for showering. When clean water is supplied to a community it means the residents no longer have to wash in the polluted rivers, saving them from exposure to waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera.
I've been asking myself; at the end of the day, is tourism, good or bad? Am I damaging these beautiful countries by arriving here with my backpack and my western ways? I think for me, it's a simple equation of whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Is culture a fair price to pay for clean water and electricity?
When I see a frail old lady slip and slide down a mud bank in her sarong to wash herself clean in a river that has been collecting industrial and human waste for over 3,000km, I think yes, it is a fair price. Improving that lady's health and quality of life is more important that preserving traditions that have little place in the modern world.
Of course the ideal solution would be for governments in the developing world to adopt responsible policies to tourism; but until then I will just keep hoping that one day Laos will find the perfect equilibrium between culture and tradition, and modernisation and tourism.
