ASEM Approaching

Museum Kaysone Pomvihane, right next door to the new Convention Center, Vientiane, Laos (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Laos is excited for the upcoming ASEP and ASEM meetings that will be hosted here in Vientiane. They have spent millions of dollars in building new villas, a new conference center, and in acquiring vehicles to ferry the representatives from one to the other. They are busy cleaning the streets and making sure everything is pristine, shiny, and safe for the arrival of the delegate.

We just found out that they have special plans for the population during ASEM in November, and possibly ASEP in October as well. To ensure the safety of all the delegates and to protect them from dangerous people, the Government is going to impose a curfew during the meeting.

At 10:30 every night all night clubs, bars, and any other form of noise is to be shut down. The city is to be quiet by 10:30 because it is Laos custom not to do anything, anywhere at night. Anyone who is out past the curfew, and possibly before the curfew (the translation wasn’t a very good one) without an ID card or passport will be detained for the remainder of the meeting. These measures are for the safety of the delegates.

While this raises serious questions about rights, both civil and human, the first thought that came to my mind when I heard this was that the delegates wouldn’t be able to go out on the town and experience Vientiane. What with them holed up in their meetings all day. If one of them wanted to go out for a drink, or maybe sing some karaoke, they’d be out of luck. No fun for you Mr. Delegate.

And though I could take this post in the direction of discussing certain rights issues—most of which I believe are evident—I happen to live in Laos and would like to continue living in Laos, thus I’m going to talk about another issue that this move on the part of the Laos authorities .

The dearth of high-end entertainment venues in Vientiane.

When a western high ranking official, a CEO, or other VIP comes to Vientiane there is virtually no place to take them after the meetings are over, at least not in public.

There are a couple of high end restaurants, sushi places that charge through the roof for their fish, and attract a haysoke (upper class) crowd. Fujiwara and Kiku, but that’s about it. Khong View—a restaurant a couple kilometers west of the city center and situated on the bank of the Mekong—is an upper-middle class kind of place. It’s where ministry employees, lawyers, and bankers go to show off their money. Otherwise, the high end restaurant scene is dominated by French places.

Once dinner is over there’s Spirit House, Wine 95, Jazzy Brick and a couple of small wine bars that cater to upper class westerners. The rest seem to attract a backpacker/sexpat kind of crowd. Forget clubbing. Like the rest of Indochina, Vientiane believes that a club is someplace where people go to stand around a table and drink expensive bottles of Johnnie Walker black label. A DJ plays some music, often talking over the set, and everyone stands around looking pretty. None of these clubs are designed for westerners, except perhaps Future Club which is packed with prostitutes, though still of the table service variety.

Perhaps that’s why most government officials host events at their own homes where they have petanque courts and luxurious couches and maids and servants. It’s much easier to fill an evening of conversation and drinking at home than trying to find a venue that will please an expat businessperson, at least a western one.

Now for the Asian businessperson there are more options. High end Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants offering delicious food and plenty of beverages all served by attractive young women in traditional—Chinese or Vietnamese—dress. Karaoke bars where a line of young women walk in and you can select which one you want to sit by your side as you drink whiskey and sing songs. But that’s another story for another day.

For now, suffice it to say that although Laos’ polices during the ASEM Summit are onerous and seemingly unfair, they won’t really cut off too much opportunity for the delegates as there’s not much for them to do anyway.