Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng ວັງວຽງ
City
Vang Vieng Location in Laos
Coordinates: 18°56′N 102°27′E / 18.933°N 102.450°E / 18.933; 102.450
Country	Laos
Admin. division	Vientiane Province
Population
• Total	25,000
• Religions	Buddhism

Vang Vieng (Lao: ວັງວຽງ) is a tourism-oriented town in Laos, located in Vientiane Province about four hours bus ride north of the capital. The town lies on the Nam Song river. The most notable feature of the area is the karst hill landscape surrounding the town.^[1]

History

Vang Vieng was first settled around 1353 as a staging post between Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Originally named Mouang Song after the body of the deceased King Phra Nha Phao of Phai Naam was seen floating down the river, the town was renamed Vang Vieng during French colonial rule in the 1890s.^[2][3] Significant expansion of the town and its infrastructure occurred during the 1964-73 Vietnam War when the US developed an Air Force base and runway that was used by Air America. The airstrip was then called 'Lima site 6'. In more recent times, the town has grown substantially due to the influx of backpackers attracted by the opportunities for adventure tourism in a limestone karst landscape.^[1]

Tourism

Landscape in Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng has become a backpacker-oriented town, with the main street featuring guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes, tour agencies and western tourists^[4] Attractions of the town include inner tubing and kayaking on the Nam Song River, which, until the third quarter of 2012, was lined with bars selling Beer Lao and Lao-Lao, and equipped with rope swings, zip lines, and large decks for socializing.^[5]

The Vang Vieng local community have organised themselves into a cooperative business association to sell tubing as an activity, in a system in which 1,555 participating households are divided into 10 village units, with each village unit taking its turn on a ten-day rotation to rent inner-tubes to the tourists.^[2] Thanongsi Sorangkoun, owner of the organic farm in Vang Vieng, says that tubing inadvertently began in 1999 when he bought a few rubber tubes for his farm volunteers to relax on along the river.^[6] During the wet season, the river can be a series of rapids.^[1] Other activities include trekking and rock climbing in the limestone mountains.^[4] There are also numerous caves, such as Tham Phu Kham cave half an hour north of Vang Vieng by tuk-tuk or the Tham Non and Tham Jang caves closer to Vang Vieng.^[7] A market located five kilometres north of the town sells Lao textiles, household items and foodstuffs. The town is situated on the main north-south highway, Route 13 from Luang Prabang to the capital, Vientiane. It is about eight hours by bus to Luang Prabang and four hours to Vientiane (152 km).^[5]

Just a short walk from town are many ethnic Lao, Kmou, and Hmong villages, while Vang Vieng Organic Farm is located around 4 km north of the town in the village of Phoudindaeng. There are also opportunities for community involvement such as teaching, while it's also possible to stay in a house made of mud bricks at the organic farm.^[8][9] Another new organisation since December 2012 providing communnity activities is FruitFriends. Wat Done Hor is the oldest temple among five temples located in Vang Vieng, built in 1903.^[3]

Effects of tourism

Due to the recent influx of backpackers, the natives of Vang Vieng have seen a drastic change in their community.^[10] In recent years, Vang Vieng has become a milestone stop along the South East Asia backpacker tour and the main street has many guest houses, bars, restaurants, internet cafes and tour agencies.^[10] There have been worries that the town is in danger of losing its charm as it becomes full of tourists, mushroom shakes and Friends - the US sitcom is shown in many bars.^[11]The New Zealand Herald wrote, "If teenagers ruled the world, it might resemble Vang Vieng".^[12] Safety measures for the tubing have been described as "non existent" and a mixture of this and heavy drinking has seen tourists drown.^[13][14] It was reported that 22 tourists died in the river in 2011.^[15]

The Laos government is planning to put more controls on the urban sprawl of Vang Vieng,^[16] while the Laos National Tourism Administration has "awareness programs" that ask tourists to "respect and strictly follow the rules, regulations, tradition and cultures of the Lao people," while also educating local people to maintain the Lao identity, way of life, tradition and culture and not imitate tourist behaviour.^[17] Vang Vieng is known to have a problem with drugs, which are easily accessible to both tourists and local children.^[18]

Locals have said that tubing and tourism are destroying the town's culture and encouraging crime among children, while loud music destroys the area's tranquility.^[19] A report into the future of tourism in Vang Vieng found that many budget tubers were "oblivious to, or uncaring about, the types of social, economic and environmental impact they are associated with."^[2] A master plan for Vang Vieng notes that local grievances include pollution, inappropriate behaviour of tourists and environmental damage.^[20]

Brett Dakin, the author of Another Quiet American, a chronicle of two years in Laos working for the tourist authority, said, "Each time a young Australian woman strolls down the street in a bikini, a bearded American smokes a joint on a guesthouse terrace, or a group of Koreans tumbles drunkenly out of a restaurant, it saps a little more of the essence of a town like Vang Vieng.".^[17]

Vang Vieng 2013

In the third quarter of 2012, the Laos Government carried out a crackdown in Vang Vieng, pulling down all the riverside bars. Tubing is still going on, but in a much more relaxed atmosphere ^[21]

One climbing instructor was reported to have said that although the footfalls might have dropped, visitors are now spending more time soaking up natural pursuits such as climbing, kayaking and mountain biking. “Vang Vieng has come back to us again… it’s like it used to be,” he was quoted as saying.^[22]

The Bangkok Post reported that although the number of Westerners has dropped, visitors from Japan, China and South Korea are on the rise, making up for the loss. The changing trend posed a new problem as tourists from Asia did not favour cheap accommodation and preferred more upmarket places, the report added.^[23]

See also

• Banana Pancake Trail

References

External links

• Lao National Tourism Administration
• Tourism in Vang Vieng: Strategy for Staying Longer – Spending More - Dr Paul Rogers, Lao National Tourism Administration-Asian Development Bank, GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project, August 2009
• Vang Vieng Town and Environs Master Plan, 2010 -2020 - Hansen Partnership, Lao National Tourism Administration-Asian Development Bank, GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project, December 2009
• Vang Vieng Travel Guide
• Ultimate Vang Vieng Travel Guide
• Tubing Vang Vieng Guide
• FruitFriends community-based development programs.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vang Vieng.

Coordinates: 18°56′N 102°27′E / 18.933°N 102.450°E / 18.933; 102.450