Thread: Rice Shortages Hamper Recovery Efforts in Laos

Rice shortages are the latest setback in Laos’ relief efforts for victims of the country’s worst flood disaster in decades.


The rupture of a dam in July inundated 12 villages and killed at least 43 people in Champassak and Attapeu provinces, leaving hundreds more missing. Now up to 3,000 victims are facing hardship as relief rice is running out.


“We don’t have enough rice to distribute to the victims,” a labor and social welfare official in Attapeu’s Sanamxay district told RFA’s Lao Service on Friday.


“Our rice stocks are running low, so we haven’t been able to distribute December rations to a lot of the victims,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.


The official said that the district has reported the shortage to the central government, but there has not been any response yet.


On Dec. 20, a victim living in one of Sanamxay’s temporary shelters posted on social media that many families in the area were running out of rice because village leaders were keeping the rice in their own homes without distributing it to villagers.


Asked about the shortfalls, District Governmor Bounhome Phoummasane told RFA on Friday: “We’ve distributed all the rice for the month of December as planned.”


“Whether we have enough rice for next month, I don’t know yet. We’ve submitted the request to the province, and I think they’ve forwarded that request to the [central] government,” the district governor said.


Phoummasane said that the victims aren’t suffering major hardships while in their temporary living situations.


“They, the villagers, have everything [they need] except independence,” he said.


The food shortage comes on top of other problems with relief efforts. Many of the victims were promised living stipends of about $12 a month, but some have not received the stipend in months.


Other victims have reported there is little access to clean drinking water and shortages of water needed for irrigation during the dry season.


Meanwhile, infrastructure damaged by the floodwaters remains in disrepair, making some villages inaccessible.


https://www.rfa.org/english/news/lao...018140625.html

Live on the Lao land border, can walk over to Lao, most of the locals are Lao and work is a four letter word.
Outside of Africa, they are the laziest human beings I have ever met.

Years ago they would plant and hand harvest rice, now they throw and machine harvest, 2 month of work, now 3 weeks and the hammock.

Lao could be the garden of Eden, small population, plenty of land, but they just won't work to get ahead.

^Maybe they are ahead.

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied that it took only a little while.

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.
The American then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time?
The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, senior."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senior, how long will this all take?"
To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years."
"But what then, senior?"

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."
"Millions, senior? Then what?"
The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your grandkids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

"The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch the Vietnamese planting rice, the Lao listen to the rice grow"

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

"The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch the Vietnamese planting rice, the Lao listen to the rice grow"

.....and Thais manage.