Opening of Nam Heuang Friendship Bridge and International Border Building

(KPL)The handing-over ceremony of the Nam Heuang Friendship Bridge and the International Border Building in Kaenthao district, Sayaboury province was held on 2 December and Mr Phouvong Korasack, Director General of the Laosamai Construction Company and Service Limited handed this infrastructure to the Lao government.
The Vice-President, Bounnhang Vorachit, the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Sommad Pholsena, the Governor of Sayaboury Province, Lien Thikeo and guests were at this ceremony.
The Vice-President carried out the ribbon cutting ceremony and declared the opening of this bridge, the third one to span the Mekong River along the Lao-Thai border and so provide linkages between Laos and Thailand.
Mr Bounnhang presented the Pathana medal to the Laosamai Construction Company for his contribution to the development of Laos and the Governor of Xayaboury presented congratulation certificates to the outstanding officers and departments of the construction company for their contributions to the construction of this bridge.
The Nam Heuang Friendship bridge and International Border Building Construction Project costs 14,584 million kip (US$1,700,000) and the Lao government funded its construction. The construction began in December 2004 and it was completed in November 2008.
This bridge facilitates the transportation of goods between Laos and Thailand.

Elephant festival draws jumbo crowd

Several thousand local and overseas visitors travelled on long and winding roads from various parts of Laos to Paklai district in Xayaboury province over the weekend, to view the impressive sight of dozens of assembled pachyderms.

Xayaboury provincial authorities organised the festival in conjunction with the Lao National Tourism

Administration (LNTA) and French organisation ElefantAsia in the home of most of the country's domestic elephants, with a programme of activities taking place from February 15 to 17.

This was the second such festival, and built on the success of the first, staged last year in Hongsa district in the same province.

On Friday morning, the main streets of the small mountainous district were jammed and police had to stop vehicles entering the town, where the official ceremonies were taking place. About 10,000 people turned up to take part in the festival.

The opening ceremony was held in the district's Sports Stadium, where several processions gathered, including schoolchildren waving national flags and flags symbolising the LNTA and the festival.

There was also a procession of 59 elephants, a parade of young women dressed in ethnic costume, rocket-launching, and boat racing. Several people appeared in the guise of Pheekhol , a familiar ghost.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, Governor of Xayaboury province Dr Lien Thikeo, LNTA President Somphong Mongkhonvilay and a number of ministers and high ranking officials attended the event.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Lien said the festival was part of efforts to incorporate elephants into the tourist industry, generating income for elephant owners and helping them to continue raising the giant animals.

He also said the festival served to create awareness among the younger generation about the virtues of these enormous beasts.

Dr Lien said Laos had a long connection with elephants and that Laos had once been named “The Land of a Million Elephants”, reflecting the fact that Laos had been home to large numbers of the animal; now, however, the population was in decline.

He said Xayaboury province had only 488 domestic elephants and few of them regularly produced young as they spent all their time working and had little opportunity for reproduction. The authorities were trying to reduce the workload of these elephants in hopes that their numbers would increase.

Mr Somphong said the LNTA would continue to cooperate with ElefantAsia and the Xayaboury authorities to organise another festival next year as part of efforts to promote tourism in the northern provinces of Laos .

He said these provinces had considerable tourism potential due to the area's untamed nature, cultural diversity and long history. He pointed out that Paklai district was a transit point on the road to the World Heritage town of Luang Prabang for tourists coming from Vientiane and Thailand .

After listening to the opening address, visitors stood and admired the slow procession of elephants, some of which were painted and decorated with the Lao flag.

The elephants performed for the visitors, charming onlookers with their size and grace, perhaps already in the initial stages of training for a greater role in tourism.

Dr Lien led leaders and visiting guests in a tour of the 87 exhibition booths, displaying both local and overseas products and services.

Tourists were offered the chance to ride the elephants and were also able to see them hauling logs and bathing in the river. At night, fireworks exploded skywards in celebration of the festival.

Visitors also enjoyed performances of traditional music and dance and circus acts from Vientiane .

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy
(Latest Update February 18, 2008

Jumbo festival hopes to save elephants

Elephant owners in Xayaboury province have been relying on the timber industry for many decades; they earn a living by taking their elephants to carry timber out of forests in areas that trucks cannot access.

The festival's elephant parade.

But since the government announced a ban on logging activities throughout the country, hundreds of elephants and their owners have had to give up their jobs. Many have had to accept that they will have to sell their giant animals to neighbouring countries and change occupations.

The government has recognised this problem and is looking for ways to help; the annual Elephant Festival is one such way.

This year, the Elephant Festival will be held in Paklai district, a mountainous town located along the Mekong . The district is home to many elephants due to the booming logging business that made use of the animals for several decades.

The first Elephant Festival was initiated and organised by the French-run ElefantAsia in 2007, and took place in Hongsa district in Xayaboury province.

Speaking at a press conference last week, governor of Xayaboury province Dr Lien Thikeo said the elephant festival had become an annual tradition, and that this year's event would be bigger and better.

It will take place from February 15 to 17; according to the official schedule from the Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA), there will be several activities including competitions between people and elephants, an elephant “beauty contest”, boat racing and a rocket-making competition.

In 2002, the National Tourism Administration in cooperation with ElefantAsia organised a long elephant caravan from southern province of Champassak to Luang Prabang province. The 1,300 km caravan began in February to coincide with the Vat Phou Festival and ended at Lao New Year. Several hundred elephants took part in the event.

The main objective was to encourage Lao people to protect the endangered giant animals as well as to promote Lao tourism.

Dr Lien said elephants were animals with an important connection to the livelihoods of local people. During the war for national liberation, elephants were used to transport weapons and military supplies for the revolutionary armed forces. They also helped local people to carry timber from forests to villages to build houses.

“Elephants are animals with great virtue, but unfortunately we have had to witness a decrease in their numbers,” he said.

According to the LNTA, there are only 560 domestic elephants left in Laos , mostly in Xayaboury province. It is possible that this decline could lead to the eventual disappearance of these giant animals in this country, once known as the “land of a million elephants”.

According to ElefantAsia, there are more than 2,000 wild and domestic elephants in Laos , only 200 remaining in Vietnam and 150 in Cambodia . In Asia , there are thought to be about 15,000 domestic and 35,000 wild elephants.

The decline in the elephant population is due to several factors, the main one being that their natural habit has been destroyed by logging activities and, as haulers of logs, domestic elephants have to work hard, which gives them little chance to breed, according to the LNTA.

The LNTA also points out that the disappearance of the elephants would lead to the disappearance of some traditional customs and lifestyles; for example, Xayaboury people like to hold baci ceremonies for their elephants each year in recognition of their virtues.

This ceremony is unique to certain parts of Laos , and the fact that locals keep elephants is good for the tourist industry, as visitors are fascinated by traditional practices that no longer exist in developed countries.

Dr Lien maintained that the elephant festival would not only boost tourism, but would also serve to integrate elephants into the industry itself, possibly the only way to sustain a population now that they are “out of work”.

He added that by protecting the elephants, long-standing traditional values would also be preserved and could be incorporated into to urist activities.

Dr Lien called on local and international tourists to attend the elephant festival, saying he was certain it would not disappoint.

How to get Paklai

There are basically four ways.

The second way is to travel to Hinheub district in Vientiane province, turn left to Feuang district and continue on a long dirt road to Sanakham and cross the Mekong on a ferry to Paklai.

The first is to travel by boat from Kaoliew in Vientiane , taking either a slow boat or a speedboat.

The third way is to travel to Luang P rabang province, then to Xayaboury district, the provincial town of Xayaboury , and then on to Paklai district.

The fourth way is to cross the Vientiane-Nong Khai Friendship Bridge to Thailand , and then go to Thalee district in Loei province and cross into Khaenthao district, Xayaboury province, before arriving in Paklai.

Where to stay

There are 14 guesthouses in Paklai, with accommodation for only 300 visitors. Howev er, district authorities have arranged home-stay services – ask about these at the Information Centre. Camping places are also available.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy

(Latest Update Febuary 11, 2008)

Paklai readies for elephant festival

Xayaboury province is getting ready to welcome local and international tourists to the second Elephant Festival, which is scheduled to begin next week in Paklai district.
“I would like to take this opportunity to invite business people, traders, locals and international tourists to join us for the festival,” Governor Lien Thikeo said yesterday at a press conference held at the Lao National Tourism Administration in Vientiane .
“You will see exhibitions of local products and many activities involving elephants, which will not disappoint.”
The festival will take place from February 15 to 17, according to the official schedule from the Lao National Tourism Administration.
Dr Lien said the provincial authorities and the French-run ElefantAsia had been preparing the event for months, and confirmed the festival would be bigger than last year's, with more elephants and parades.
Competitions between people and elephants, an elephant beauty contest, boat racing and rocket firing would all be part of the festival, organised to create an atmosphere of fun, he added.
About 70 elephants and hundreds of artists and performers will take part in the festival, according to tourism officials.
The Director of the Xayaboury Tourism Administration, Mr Sangviane Sengkannaly, said that the administration had prepared a number of places for accommodation.
The district has 14 guesthouses that can sleep only 300 people so the authorities are arranging for local families to provide a home-stay service for visitors.
He said about 400 families in the town of Paklai had agreed to open their homes to visitors, providing sleeping arrangements for more than 3,000 people.
He expected that more people would offer their homes in the days to come.
Mr Sangviane said that the price of a room in a guesthouse would be from 50,000 to 100,000 kip per night and for a home-stay it would be 25,000 kip to 30,000 kip per person per night.
“We have agreed on a suitable price for accommodation and all householders have promised not to charge more tha n this sum,” he said.
He added that guesthouse owners, host families and service providers had been trained in the provision of good service to visitors, and believed they would be impressed with the local hospitality as the people of Paklai were traditionally kind and welcoming. He also stated that people would have enough to eat, because there were plenty of restaurants in the district.
Mr Sangviane estimated that at least 15,000 people would attend the festival, and the authorities had arranged extra accommodation, if needed, in the neighbouring districts of Kaenthao and Sanakham, about 70km from the festival venue, less than two hours' drive away.
The first elephant festival was held in Hongsa district, Xayaboury province by the provincial authorities and the French-run ElefantAsia. There were only 49 elephants joined in the event last year.

By Ekaphone Phouthonesy (Latest Update February 07, 2008)