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[EFL Educator]

Laos used to be pristine...nature everywhere..trees, mountains with breathtaking scenery and rivers/waterfalls etc. The reality is it is now in a flux of constant environmental change...trees are being cut down at a phenomenal pace to make way for CHINESE and THAI investors who want to build more and more hotels, resorts and industrial plants/factories which will no doubt destroy its natural habitat. HUMAN GREED aka money is the root of all evil when it comes to investment you INVESTORS are simply destroying the natural habitat of a beautiful country and making its people homeless pave the way for your own greedy developmental plans. The Lao damn being constructed on the Mekong River is a case in point.. A truly sad state of affairs awaits Laos and the Lao people...the same thing is now happening to its neighbour Myanmar....the clock is ticking away for Laos....and it is soon to become the next Asian tiger aka MEGALOPOLIS...and will compete with the likes of its neighbours to the south, east, west and of course its powerful capitalistic neighbour to the north... Goodbye beautiful Laos!!!!

[cb400]

I am on the ground in Vientiane right now. I was in Vietnam for 7 years and like many members here I have visited Laos many times in the past. I decided to come over after my last position in HCMC went belly up.

Here are my personal observations on what the ESL scene is like here.

There is quite a bit of work for teachers mostly through language centers. You are only going to find work being on the ground and knocking on doors old school. I've been here 3 weeks and offered 3 positions though I have turned down 2 for personal reasons. The bulk of the classes are the evening/weekend work though the daytime stuff is out there but a little harder to find. The schools seemed better managed than the stuff I saw in Vietnam, but that isn't saying much. Really only the better off can afford the language centers so you will be teaching students who are really better off, though they are still extremely polite and hardworking. The students are very shy and getting them to open up and speak in class is a challenge, but it will happen over time.

Pay seems to fluctuate between 10-15$ USD an hour depending on exp. and qualifications. Some schools will offer less than that explaining that Laos is a poor country, but it is hard to believe when you are parked next to the owners BMW and the receptionist is driving a brand new Landcruiser.

As for the city of Vientiane I am a little disappointed. The relaxed lovely little 'town' is now chocked with cars and traffic is quite often at a standstill as the roads are tiny. It feels like the amount of cars ash increased by 50% in only a few years, there is obviously an explosion of money here and it seems to be going into cars more than anything else. 3 days ago I saw a Ferrari (the new one) and 2 Rolls as I was stuck in traffic. Even my 17 year old students are driving brand new Toyota Landcruisers and don't have a license. Of course there is nothing wrong with development and 'progress' but now the Lao are learning the bad habits of their more advance neighbors... driving in the wrong side of the road, running redlights and parking absolutely anywhere they feel. Yesterday a huge pickup truck blocked in all the motorbikes at a coffee shop (double parked the wrong way) and everyone had to move there bikes just to get one out from the middle as the truck had block us all in. Personally I use to love the easy of getting around VTE but now it has a significant amount of traffic and pollution that goes with it.

I also find the cost of day to day life is more than Vietnam and Thailand, food, transport and accommodation are all about 25% more than the equivalent in TH and VN.

Overall Laos is still amazing and under-developed compared to its neighbors but erosion of manners and the crazy driving habits that have seemed to come out of nowhere might surprise people who have spent time here in the past.

Just my 2 cents.

[EFL Educator]

Hello there,

Yes Laos is becoming more like its neighbours to the south and north...this is what happens when consumerism reigns free...and people lose their traditional way of culture and life in the name of money...this is happening everywhere in Southeast Asia...pretty soon development will destroy the pristine nature of the country. A very sad state of affairs indeed!

[cb400]

agreed.

[likwid_777]

I saw a brand new Lambo roaring up the main drag next to the Mekong. Something tells me that if the cops dared to pull him up, they'd be hauled over the coals. On the other hand, if he had to pay a bribe, he could surely afford it. He was going about 100km/ph up that stretch... What an idiot. Affording a new Lambo in Laos, whoa, that must by pretty much Bill Gates rich in a relative sense.

[ESL104]

I'll give my experience of Laos, which is admittedly restricted to a couple of visa runs there.

It's a complete dump and I have no idea why anyone would wish to spend a second longer in that place than they have to. Think 'Thailand', but with absolutely anything that makes Thailand good taken away, so you're just left with the crap parts. You know what I think the easiest job in the whole of Asia is? The guy in charge of handling overstays on Lao visas. Must be nice to sit in an office getting paid for doing absolutely nothing and processing no one.

Some highlights:

- Vientiane is a dirty, horrible city. Dust everywhere. Rubbish everywhere.

- The pay is crap.

- Nightlife is awful, especially compared to Thailand.

- On a related note, having a sexual relationship with a Lao citizen if you're not Lao yourself, is illegal. And it's not illegal in the sense that everyone does it and no one cares, it is actually enforced.

- Food is terrible.

- The people are so stupid they make Thais look like Harvard MBA grads.

- Hardly any westerners, western food etc. You're definitely in the middle of nowhere here.

So yeah, come on over if you fancy living in a crapshack on $1000 a month while being celibate and bored out of your skull.

[EFL Educator]

Sabai Dee Lao!!!!!!!

[plumpy nut]

[cb400]

wow esl014, that was a fairly brutal review but quite honest. I think many of the teachers who have ended up there (not all) may have over-romanticized the place from vacations there. Though I do not think Vientiane is a shit-hole, the fairly new pollution and massive traffic (45% increase in cars in 2 years, yet there is only 3-4 major roads in the whole city) have eroded the charm most of us loved. I stayed for the famous That Luong festival and was amazed of the amount of garbage lying around and rotting in the 35C heat.. I was almost sick to my stomach and left.. granted this was the last day, but the garbage was ankle high over the whole area, something your would expect in India or Bangladesh but Laos? ( I've got photos to prove it).

As a teaching location? 1000-1400 a month is a struggle to get, requiring lots of hours and running around the said traffic and heat. I also notice that the dollar amount doesn't go so far here as everything is imported from Thailand with a 40% tax doesn't help. Several of the teachers I have met live month to month and saving potential doesn't seem anything like China or Vietnam for ESL teachers. Also the whole NGO economy is driving prices up with 3000$ villas and 100000$ used cars everywhere, not something the average ESL teacher can afford ( I know I can't).

There is some night life, but it is very limited. Lao night clubs seem to be the same as the Vietnamese versions, shitty techno music and people standing around piling in beer lao, the idea of sitting around with a few friends and drinking some beers would drive most Lao crazy and they would be bored shitless as they love loud music and powering the beer in, instead of just sipping and chatting.

I am leaving Laos shortly.. it has been a difficult time as I actually tried for years to get a job here and took a step backwards to do it. Once reality caught up with me I cannot justify staying when I was making double/triple in VN, with a lower cost or living and more food/bars/places to go options available as a lower cost.

Laos will go through a lot of changes in the nest few years and it could be good or bad. A good local friend I have (the only one I would really call a friend) said she loved the fact that Laos was modernizing yet she feels that it is being sold to the hiest bidder. She said she fears that Laos just might become a province of Thailand or China in the next few years and we both agree that would be a shame.

[EFL Educator]

YES Laos will be eaten up by its ultra capitalistic neighboors to the north and south...GREED and MONEY are the motto these days ....now that they have fully embraced the free market economy..foreign investors will soon create another concrete mega-jungle in SE Asia!!!!!

[kurtz]

One must truely love a country to earn a paltry $1000-$1500, or even less than $2000 IMHO. It is a little sad seeing the rather nauseating NGO set driving around in expensive white 4WDs and earning Western type wages while chanting " I am helping this country" like a mantra. This is while corrupt officials get rich, and the poor stay poor. With this influx of NGOs the local economy gets inflated and locals get greedy; I see it every day where I am.

With this fast money the newly rich appear with their overfed, brattish and demanding children, and their parents with third rate manners who rate a teacher by their clothes This was happening in Vietnam when I left, and I expect Laos and the neighboring countries will follow.

[plumpy nut]

[EFL Educator]

English teachers aka Edutainers are like android smartphones here....just push the delete button....and another one will pop up.Unfortunately they are a dime a dozen. Ultra capitalism aka Human Greed (Manure) & MONEY rules here...as in most of SE ASIA countries (including former Indochina)....EFL teachers are simply looked at as a disposable commodity!!!!

[Shimokitazawa]

[EFL Educator]

Getting set-up now...I would go for Malaysia...everywhere else in SE Asia is already saturated with Edutainers...including the Land of Farang!