“Out from Under an Opium Cloud”
One doesn’t have to guess why the west more often than not has no clue about what is going on in the world. The article of Jeff Koyen of New York, recently published in the New York times and a few other publications makes this glaringly clear.
Just a few days ago, local journalists in Vientiane, Laos, asked the minister in charge of the eradication plan cooperation with the US about the situation in Laos and “rumors” that many people had died as a result of the eradication policy.
So the dirty little secret of the US Govt. and the UNODC is slowly leaking out like the reaking blood of a body in a coffin.
And bodies there are, thousands of them. From the dead and dying in north Laos.
A genocide no less, all by the policy of the US Drug War, and the UNODC, forced on the government of Laos, against their will, to meet demands of organizations like the IMF.
Denials are not sufficient, the death has happened, continues to happen and America caused it, executed it, paid for it. Not republican or democrat, but the public, the politicians, everyone. Just like the 2,000,000 TONS of bombs dropped on Laos, some 7,000,000 explosive pieces still very much alive, buried in the rice paddys of Laos.
But you would never guess that to read the “FEAR FACTOR” kind of stupidity written by Jeff Koyen and published so Americans can sit back and relax another week while their “WILL” is forced on all the world. Wringing of hands, plaintive talking, wishing it wasn’t so, wondering where their capital is so they can “march on it, god damn it”, and wondering how the REPUBLICANS got them in to all this?
The Republicans didn’t, AMERICANS got them into all of this and should start standing up and taking collective responsibility for the death and destruction their country is sowing all over the earth. Sowing for AMERICANS collective economic benefit, one way or the other. Because the Akha of north Laos will never see a life so good as what the average or even poor American has, be they republican or democrat. Americans benefit by US foreign policy despite all the bickering.
The article mentions how the dirty backpackers are no longer in Laos to smoke opium, and how Laos now appeals to the upscale customers, ah, how rosy.
Still all from the WHITE person perspective. No mention of tourism that shoves experience greedy and intrusive westerners into Akha villages where people don’t even have mosquito nets. “Oh, a child died in the village the night before”. No shit lady.
No mention of the malaria, the starvation, the forced relocations, the death of infants, children, the elderly, men, women. And Malaria is often the cerebral PF variety which brings an agonizing death as the brain swells and forces the brain stem out of the skull. Yeah, sorry to mess up your friggin segment of “Friends”, or rumple your lonely planet, moron’s guide to the earth. “charming” “luxury” “affordable” “shakes” “splurge” ohh yeah, gonna have to go to Laos to do all of that! Dead children, get out of here!
No mention of the road paved to hell with NGO’s, bloated budgets, UN Agency This Agency That Land Cruisers that stuff the streets of Vientiane.
I wrote Jeff Koyen, he told me that he didn’t have time. He had time to use the word Opium in the article, like it was about the Opium situation in Laos, but he didn’t have time to tell what is really going on here, like all the dead and dying, no smaller than Kosovo and war crimes, or burning ovens, stinking of human flesh, on the eco-tour of Auschwitz. He did however have time to get paid for the plastic journalism I am assuming.
America, when you burn, no one from these countries will weep for you.
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/travel/05surfacing.html
Laos: Out From Under an Opium Cloud
(also printed in other publications)
By JEFF KOYEN
Published: March 5, 2006
THURSDAY night in Vang Vieng in northern Laos, and the guesthouses along the Nam Song have gone dark. The thin clouds no longer glow with that fluorescent warmth of a small town below.
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Basil Childers for The New York Times
Two Swedish visitors watch a parade of small craft on the Nam Song at Vang Vieng.
Forum: Travel in the News
Yet blocks away, two restaurants continue to show episodes of “Friends.” With their own electric generators humming along, these wise entrepreneurs draw capacity crowds of homesick 20-somethings to their flickering TV’s — blackout be damned.
Just four years ago, a stop in this tranquil town was de rigueur for drug-touring trekkers. Local weed and Burmese speed were sold openly on the street, and by some accounts the opium dens outnumbered the guesthouses. The backpackers flocked, and haughty fans of the writer Paul Theroux, whose travels are held up by purists as the “right” way to do it, announced that Vang Vieng was over.
Then something interesting happened. Guesthouses began posting signs saying “No Drugs” and “Please Keep Yourself Clean.” Enough of the town’s 45,000 residents, it seemed, refused to choke under the hazy smoke exhaled by scruffy budget travelers. The modest economy has since gone straight, attracting well-heeled tourists to counteract the dreadlock dudes.
With development moving ahead — six new guesthouses are opening this year, bringing the total to nearly 70 — hotel operators and tour guides see a brighter future in inner-tube rentals than in opium dens.
According to tourism officials, 47,250 people visited Vang Vieng last year. That’s a tenfold increase since 1997, the first year statistics were compiled. Meanwhile, pot-smoking backpackers seem to be on the decline. Nine years ago, foreigners made up nearly three-quarters of visitors; today, about half are Laotian, including many families with small children.
But Vang Vieng is still affordable, and still quite charming. Chickens run loose on dirt roads, lizards cover walls and puppies are forever underfoot. Afternoons, middle schoolers head home three on a bicycle.
Route 13 is the only major road through Vang Vieng and the only street with a name, though the town is small enough that visitors are easily oriented using the bus station (to the east) and the river (to the west).
While a few hotels might be considered upscale, the majority are no-frills guesthouses with shared bathrooms and few, if any, amenities. Most visitors are happy with places like the Dokkhoun 1 guesthouse, (856-23) 511-032, where $4 gets you a double room, clean sheets and hot water. Splurge for a $10 riverside spot, get a balcony; kick in another $5 and there’s air-conditioning.
Places that pass for luxury include the Thavonsouk, (856-23) 511-096; www.thavonsouk.com. It’s a 37-room hotel with traditional bungalows at about $18 in the high season — October to April.
The best restaurant in town is the Organic Cafe, (856-23) 511-174, www.laofarm.org, affiliated with the Vang Viang Organic Farm a few miles north. The menu, which features crisp salads (about $1), fresh spring rolls (about $1) and mulberry shakes (about 60 cents), changes often.
Guided cave trips and mountain hikes can be arranged at any guesthouse; likewise, most guesthouses rent motorbikes and bicycles. There are several Internet joints and at least three curry houses along the main road. The restaurants in this three-block strip are busy until midnight. Afterward, partygoers cross a rickety footbridge to a small island where several bars stay open until the early hours.
The government may have declared Laos “opium free” earlier this year, but visitors here can still order Lao Bia, the local palm sugar beer, for about 60 cents.