P r o f . M o r r i s o n , P r o f . L e s t z , P r o f . C h e n

Summer 2012

Vishal Bharam

River Cities of Asia

Introduction

This voyage of cities situated on the banks of the rivers including the Mekong and the

Yangtze let us walk through the heart of Asia’s complexity filled with tons of challenges and

amid a blizzard of languages, from the tongue spoken by the largest number of people in the

world, Chinese, to a dialogue only limited to very few people in the world such as Kmong. It was

amazing as well as surprising to study the adventurous architectural designs along with the

burgeoning economic growth and the rapidly rising standard of life in the vastly developing river

cities. Most of these cities we traveled through in this Mekong Delta were aspire to develop into

huge megacities on the basis of industrialization, while others were trying to establish themselves

on the basis of tourism and traditional businesses. Though recent economic growth has been

changing the face of these cities, they are still suffering through enormous amount of problems

ranging from poverty, unemployment to environmental and cultural degradation. Not all of the

cities are facing the same issues as most of the issues are categorized by the region. While, the

Chinese cities are anguished by the huge loss of environment and rich culture along with

migration as result of globalization and industrialization, the Southeast Asian cities are suffering

through poverty and unemployment.

One of the questions that come to mind while thinking about this issue is why people

choose to pursue the activities even though they have a direct impact on the surrounding

atmosphere? Obviously, there is not a single answer to this question, but the most obvious one is

why not if sacrificing a small part of the environment gives a countless benefits. Once popularly

known for the “extremely diverse culture”, and “the second richest biodiversity”, this Mekong

Delta, today has become a victim of this reasoning because it has been misused through

exploitative practices during times of pressing circumstances as well as normal scenarios.

Migration to the urban centers combined with high population growth rates, and the failure of

infrastructure to keep the pace with this population has seen the Mekong and the Yangtze

become the dumping grounds for garbage, sewage and industrial pollution. The development

projects guided through the strategy of “destroy first and clean up later” not only have become

the environmental threats but also have been destroying the cultural and historical values of the

cities situated around the Mekong and the Yangtze. Though there exist cities like Lijiang, Siem

Reap and Vientiane, which still holds the charm of the history and environment, it will be

interesting to see how they will cope with upcoming challenges of preserving the environmental

and cultural values of the region while dealing with socioeconomic problems like poverty and

unemployment.

Lijiang: A Paradise for the Tourism?

Lijiang, situated within the spectacular Jade Dragon Snow Mountains in the Yunnan

province is one of China’s historically and culturally preserved cities. Comprising a variety of

cultures and ethnicities including Naxi, Yi, Tibetan, Bai, Lisu and many others, this region is

mostly dependent on agriculture [1]

. It was a thriving city during the late Song dynasty and began

to attract tourists after getting officially opened for the tourism in 1985. Now-a-days, along with

the cities like Shanghai and Chongqing, Lijiang is also rapidly becoming one of tourist paradises

of the Southeast Asia. However, unlike Shanghai and Chongqing, where most of the tourists

favors the globalizing Chinese culture, Lijiang is especially known its own ancient culture. As

observed from the visit, the cultural and historical heritage of Lijiang has not only attracted the

foreign tourists but also brought all generations of the Chinese people, who find it really hard to

feel historically and culturally Chinese otherwise. If remembered correctly, I could hardly see

foreign tourists compared to the huge pool of the Chinese tourists during the visit to those Snow

Mountains and the ‘blue water lake’. If said it statistically, the foreign tourists were less than 10

percent of all of the tourists visiting the city, which is about 15000 - 20,000 per day during the

summer as mentioned by the tour guide. Due to this increasing number of tourists, and thus, the

increasing demand of the related services, tourism has become the major occupation of this

region.

Though tourism has brought prosperity to this region, it has been slowly affecting the

local culture and environment. It is not just because of tourism; but Lijiang has been influenced

over the centuries by the outside forces. Prior to 1950, these effects were very intermittent, only

limited to the Han military presence [2]

. After 1950, the impacts of a lowland and distant central

1 Jack D Ives. “Highland – Lowland Interactive Systems, the Case Study of Lijiang Country, Yunnan, China: Forests

and Tourism Development.” FAO FORC/IYM. 15th

March 2001.Page no: 104 2 Ibid.

authority became pervasive, yet the cultural and historical values were still there [3]

. However,

enormous amount of changes have occurred to the environment and many ethnic minorities in

last 25 years [4]

. There are two possible reasons, which seem to be responsible for this vast

amount of changes. One is the lack of proper control due to the distant provincial government

based in Kunming and another is the controlled development for the benefit of China as a whole.

Among these two factors, the latter one along with the globalization and industrialization under

the name of massive development can be held responsible for recent environmental and cultural

degradation not only in Lijiang but also most of other Chinese cities including Shanghai and

Chongqing.

The environmental degradation in the Lijiang region

The contemporary environmental degradation seen in Lijiang and other Chinese cities is

not only due to the recent activities; it is also a product of China’s past. In the early era, Taoist

and Buddhist believed in the philosophies that respected the nature and made it one of the

integrated parts of life. While Taoism preached in leading a simple life with accommodation of

nature [5]

, Buddhism promoted the equity between the human and nature [6]

. However, none of

their theories were dominant and influential enough to be adapted by everyone. Though there is

enough evidence of environmental mismanagement before 20th

century, the Lijiang was still

China’s one of the most environmentally protected regions.

One of the primary factors leading to forest loss during the 20th

century in China was the

persistent changes in the forest policies by the central and regional government. These policy

changes were by the political forces, which enact policies for economic priorities. Most of these

policy changes occurred under the leadership of Mao Zedong, which were responsible for the

massive environmental damage. The Communist Party under Mao attempted the human mastery

and reconfiguration of the natural world to the extremist degree possible, much less a war against

the nature [7]

. Mao’s idea of “Man Must Conquer Nature” deliberately started to exploit the

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Economy, Elizabeth. The River Runs Black: the Environmental Challenge to China's Future. Ithaca: Cornell UP,

2004. Page no:35 6 Opt. Ct. 36

7 Shapiro, Judith. Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. Cambridge UP,

2001. Page no: 213

whole environment, including that Lijiang’s [8]

.In that era, Yunnan was one of the most

important sources of China’s much needed supply of timber. Thus, in the early 80s, massive

deforestation had occurred throughout Yunnan (including Lijiang), which resulted in soil

erosion, land-sliding and downstream-flooding situations [9]

.

The attack on the environment was continued even after the end of Mao’s leadership in

form of tourism. After getting partially opened for the foreigners in 1985, tourism, both domestic

and international, was recognized by the central and provincial governments as potentially the

most lucrative form of development [10]

. In order to attract the tourists and reach their demands,

loggings were constructed. From then, commercial logging, much of it illegal has become the

most important enterprise of the region [11]

.Along with the logging, lots of roads, electric lifts and

many other facilities were constructed and given the new market access, their number has been

increasing day-by-day. As a result, tons of trees have been getting cut in the mountains. As

observed during the visit to the Snow Mountains, a whole belt of the trees is destroyed under the

name of tourist comfort as it is sacrificed to build the electric lift that can take people up and

down from the mountain in no time. Furthermore, throughout the plane ride from Kunming to

Lijiang, I was revealed to some of the extensive damages to forest areas. Some parts of the

jungle were filled with trees, while in other parts, bedrocks with all soil cover washed away were

visible. Along the trees, the wild life has also been in danger due to the tourism. This region and

its extremely diverse flora once supported varied wildlife, including red panda, leopards, bears,

tigers, wolves, foxes and many species of birds, amongst which are a striking variety of raptors

and gaudy pheasants, some endemic to the region [12]

. However, due to the deforestation as a

result of rapidly increasing tourism, a lot of these animals have lost their shelter and looking for

new homes. Given the impacts of the historical and political dilemmas on the nature, we cannot

totally blame tourism alone for environmental degradation. Tourism has its own share in the

natural damage of Lijiang and it is important for the central and provincial government based in

Kunming to take steps that will improve the quality of environment as well as the tourism.

8 Shapiro, Judith. Mao's War against Nature: Politics and the Environment in Revolutionary China. Cambridge UP,

2001. Print. 213 9 Jack D Ives. “Highland – Lowland Interactive Systems, the Case Study of Lijiang Country, Yunnan, China: Forests

and Tourism Development.” FAO FORC/IYM. 15th

March 2001.Page no: 106 10

Opt. Ct. 105 11

Ibid. 12

Opt. Ct. 121

Impacts of Tourism on Ethnic Minorities of Lijiang

Along with the environment, rapidly growing tourism is also responsible for the cultural

degradation in this region. In 1985, regional government declared the Lijiang Naxi Autonomous

area open to the foreign tourists [13]

. In the next five years, most of the area around the Lijiang

became free to be explored by domestic as well as foreign visitors. In the following decade, the

tourism in this region reached its peak, presenting substantial opportunities and risks. Being a

community filled with one of the poorest minorities in the country, the rapidly rising tourism has

been significantly presenting a lot of economies opportunities [14]

. Today, this area is filled with a

lot of small businesses related to the tourism. As observed in our stay in the old town, the whole

street was filled with the shops containing cultural consumer goods, restaurants, coffee-houses

and many other shops for the tourists’ services. Along with the tourism, Lijiang is also slowly

getting affected by the globalization as it is not hard to find Pizza-Huts and Starbucks on each

corner of the main streets. However, this was not there before two decades, when the minority

people in this region were solely dependent on agriculture and hunting. Along with the

agriculture, they were also busy practicing a lot of cultural and traditional activities. This whole

region was mainly known for the unique culture of these minorities. However, nowadays these

people are completely busy serving the tourist that they have no time for their own traditional

life. In addition, Lijiang is very busy with tourism for about 8-9 months of the year, which means

that they also do not enough time for the agriculture. It is so unfortunate that the only real

cultural thing we got to experience was the dancing show in the open stadium. It was such an

amazing gathering of all minorities in their own customs. But, how long will we be watching

such shows in live action? Given the pace of the tourism development, it is clear to see that

Lijiang will be losing its rich culture faster than expected, if appropriate policies in order to

lower the pressure of tourism are not implemented.

Today, appropriate tourism is not an either-or situation. Though, tourism definitely has

brought economic opportunities, employment and thus, prosperity to this region, it is also

responsible for the enormous changes in the nature and culture of the region. This rapidly rising

economy of this region might promote migration, leading to unemployment, homelessness,

13

Opt. Ct. 118 14

Ibid.

begging, prostitution and other issues. Thus, it is required to implement an alternative type of

tourism that would not only bring prosperity to Lijiang and stabilize the economy but also

protect against environmental and cultural degradation. Though, this recent priority placed on the

tourism as one of the best sources for the rapidly growing economic success has created natural

imbalance, it has changed the face of this region that less than two decades ago was still one of

the most isolated areas in the world.

Siem Reap / Angkor: The City of Rich History

Unlike Lijiang, Siem Reap has been one of the most famous and well-known cities in the

Asia. Located just east of Siem Reap is the Angkor city, which was controlled by the Khmer

empire who ruled much of today’s Cambodia and Thailand [15]

.The first Khmers to come from

India were followers of Hinduism and when they arrived to Cambodia, they encountered other

religion believes such as ancestor worship, totem religion, and Theravada Buddhism [16]

. Instead

of wiping out these believes, the Khmers accepted all of them and incorporated them with the

Hinduism [17]

. After establishing themselves in the region, then king Suryavarman II (1114-1163)

started to build Angkor city and dedicated it to the Hindu god Vishnu [18]

. While constructing the

city, a great priority was given to the Hindu temples, which still exhibit several different

architectural and artistic styles. These temples, more than one thousand in numbers, ranging from

ordinary piles of brick ruins scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, built by

Vijayavarman VII, are being said to be the world's largest single religious monument . Most of

Angkor ruins are located amid forests and rice-farms to the north of the Great Tonle Sap Lake.

Though having its own unique style, these temples still represent the Hindu culture. For example,

the five towers of Angkor Wat are said to represent the five peaks of Mount Meru, the abode of

Vishnu, to whom the city was dedicated [19]

. Along with this, the Angkor Wat has many other

Hindu features such as the cobra or Sacred Naga carvings, “multiple corridors and terraces laid

out in an explicit geometrical configuration” [20]

, which displays the “true richness” of this city.

15

Srivastava K M. Angkor Wat and Cultural Ties with India. Books & Books, New Delhi (1987). Page no. 20-30. 16

Fujioka, Michio. Angkor Wat. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd (1972). Page no: 17 17

Ibid. 18

Opt. Ct. 14 19

Srivastava K M. Angkor Wat and Cultural Ties with India. Books & Books, New Delhi (1987). Page no. 30 20

Fujioka, Michio. Angkor Wat. Tokyo: Kodansha International Ltd (1972). Page no: 30

Angkor after the decline of the Khmer Empire

Angkor’s reputation started to diminish after the demise of Khmer empire, and till today,

it has not been able to bring the city back to that standard. There are many mysteries about what

happened to this once great empire and the mostly believed one is that they were overtaken by

one of neighboring tributaries after they had been weakened by the hard work due to rapid

construction of the mighty temples. Though the famous Angkor has lost its shine, we are still left

with the heritage of these great temples surrounded by overgrown jungle. However, the

unfortunate thing is that most of these temples are in bad and unsafe condition and one fears that

in couple of years we might start losing them if proper care is not taken.

Preserving one of the most famous wonders in the world, the Angkor city, is becoming

harder and harder task for the central and the local government of Siem Reap. After becoming

the UNESCO world heritage, Siem Reap became one of the most visited towns of Southeast

Asia. Visitors from all over the world have been visiting the area not only to see the fabulous

architecture but also to do research and study about Hinduism, architecture and related fields.

However, failure to maintain the Angkor temples to that standard has been one of the biggest

worries. As observed from the visit to the Angkor city, most of these temples are in broken

positions and some of them are even lying on the ground. Some of the sculptures and paintings

on the sides of the temples are difficult to recognize because parts of the sculpture are missing.

This is almost everywhere in the Angkor Wat, especially for the carvings of Naga and lions.

Literally, none of the Naga carvings in whole temple seems perfect. Some of them are even

without the head of the Naga. The situation is the worst in the Ta Prohm temple. This area filled

with huge trees throughout the whole temple, said to older than hundreds of years, is in

completely broken condition. Except the wall surrounding the temple, none of thing in the whole

area is in watchable condition. Half of the temple area was inaccessible due to the security

reasons and ironic thing was that there was only one security guard to take care of whole temple.

The similar is the situation of the Preah Khan temple. Many of the structures at Preah Khan also

appear to be on the verge of collapse. A concerted effort needs to under way to stabilize and

repair the numerous architectural remains that are threatened to be fallen down [21]

. It is also

important to “control vegetation that otherwise would severely disrupt the stability of walls and

21

Keith Eirinberg. Preservation Priorities: The Angkor Challenge. World Monuments Fund (1996). Page no. 16

carved stonework” 22

. While visiting this whole area, it could be observed that there seem no real

efforts and ambition from the local government to save this historical city that is a perfect

example of pure skill and intelligence. The staircases everywhere are very risky to be climbed

and there seems no other result than death if someone is to fall down from there. Furthermore,

there are not enough maps and security instructions around the temple that might be able to help

the foreign visitors who are not able to communicate otherwise. This whole situation of the

Angkor city is not only disappointing us but also creating worries about the future of these

fabulous architectural adventures.

Failure to maintain the standard of the Angkor temples if haven’t affected the tourism

already, it might be affecting in the near future. If the current situation of the area is not

improved as soon as possible, some of these temples might become a security concern for the

tourists in next couple of years. This will not only destroy the tourism industry but also thrash the

whole economy of Siem reap, which is solely dependent on the tourism. As Siem Reap being one

of the cities known for tourism for many years, the effect of shutting down of the tourism

industry might be harsher than ever expected. It will not only affect most of the hotels and

restaurants, which are established just to serve the tourist, but also shut off many small

businesses like massage centers and TUK-TUK services, which are constantly in the hunt of the

tourists. As observed from the visit to the temple, along with these small businesses, a lot of

other individuals are also dependent on the tourism in some way. Hundreds of people were

standing on the roads or running around the tourist to sell some small products such as books and

traditionally designed hand-fan. It is painful to see that most of them are small kids, who are

begging the tourists to buy their products. Listening to their adorable English along with their

perfect marketing skills, it hurts to think that if their products are not being bought, hundreds of

these talented kids will not be able to go to the school. This displays that though mass tourism

has switched the agriculture-based economy into a tourism-based, it has made thousands of

people in Siem Reap completely dependent on it. And, if this tourism industry shuts down, there

will be no less than a drought in this whole region.

One of the questions being raised by everyone is why Angkor is still in this damaged

condition even after being an UNESCO world heritage for many years. There are about 2-3

22

Ibid

million tourists visiting the Angkor city every year and 40-50 million USD are being raised

every year under the name of the renovation of the temples and development of the city.

However, is those couple of staircases really worth that much money? If not, then where is all of

this money going? As being an UNESCO world heritage site, a special planning committee

named APSARA Authority, is in charge of the physical expansion of the entire Angkor region.

They are in control of development and renovation of the old Angkor ruins. However, as Prof.

Lestz mentioned in one of his lectures, the Angkor is trapped under control of a corrupt

government. As he said, most of the money that is being raised by the tourists, under the name of

development, actually is going for the development, not of the Angkor ruins or the Siem Reap

people but private properties of the officials. APSARA Authority is investing the money raised

from the tourists for building private hotels and lounges in Siem Reap rather than developing the

situation of the broken Ta Prohm and Preah Khan temple. Little or no money being generated by

the tourists is ploughed back to help the Cambodian people [23]

. The land prices and food prices

around the Angkor have increased but not the living standards of the Siem Reap locals. Although

hotel expansion has hoped to provide some of the job opportunities, a vast majority of the poor

farmers are not getting benefit from that at all [24]

.They are being pushed out, unable to cope with

rising costs and increasing rents [25]

.Most of them are hoping for mass tourism to be a great

source of employment; however, only private sectors like international hotels, travel agencies,

and foreign airlines are being the major beneficiaries of the tourism [26]

. Among hundreds of the

people running behind the tourists to buy their products, only few of them are being able to sell

their products. This has been a leading factor for the increasing unemployment in the region.

However, till now local authorities have not been able to implement a system that will allow

poor farmers and salesmen to take most benefit of the mass tourism. Education and public health

services around the Angkor are still under-funded [27]

. It is really surprising to know that till

2007, there were only 13 secondary schools and no state universities in Siem Reap [28]

. This

whole situation tells that mass tourism has done very little or nothing to develop the Angkor

ruins or economy of Siem Reap but to fill the pockets of local authorities and business mafias.

23

Fawthrop, T. “Will Angkor Wat Survive the Invasion of Mass Tourism?” Third World Resurgence (2007). Page

no. 42-43 24

Ibid. 25

Ibid. 26

Ibid. 27

Ibid. 28

Ibid.

Impacts of Tourism on the Angkor Ecosystem

In terms of the environment, the mass tourism can be seen as a double-sided sword. Siem

Reap has significant natural resources, including forests, water, unique topographical features

and ecosystems. The accelerated development of tourism has been able to place a premium on

achieving the environmental stability of this region. The importance placed on the environment

quality to the sustainable tourism has been protecting the natural resources and has stopped the

deforestation around the Angkor. However, due to the increasing demand of the tourism-related

services, some of these resources are in danger of being over-exploited. As a result of vast

tourism, water consumption in the area has increased a lot throughout last 20 years. At the

moment, “the groundwater is extensively being pumped to meet the rising demand of hotels,

guesthouses and residents in the close city of Siem Reap” [29]

. About 16,000 m³/d water is being

pumped from the well field south of the western Baray, and 18,000 m³/d in Siem Reap city

[30].This huge amount water extraction represents a big threat not only to the natural hydrology of

the area but also to the stability of the Angkor temples [31]

. Besides the Angkor’s temples, Siem

Reap is also in danger of being affected by bigger water management issues as it happened in

terms of relevant floods in 2009 and 2011[32]

. Thus, it is really important to control the use of the

groundwater, because excessive extraction of it might be causing problems to the overall water

management scheme in Angkor.

Steps toward Redefining Angkor:

Given the current condition of Angkor ruins along with the city of Siem Reap, it is really

important to redefine the value of the entire Angkor region. Strategic changes need to be

implemented mainly in the region’s tourism and conservation policies, institutional structures as

well as economic and social investments. Because the poverty level is so high, opportunities for

employment must be created. Thus, it is necessary to develop the system that will allow the poor

farmers along with the international hotels and businesses of the region to take advantage of the

mass tourism. It might help improving the employment in the region, which will also be helpful

29

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. “Restoration and Preservation of the Angkor

World Heritage Site’s Water Management System.” January 2012. Page no: 3 30

Opt. Ct. 4 31

Ibid. 32

Ibid.

for reducing the poverty. Once Siem Reap address these hidden but huge problems, the focus can

turn towards improving the world heritage sites and attracting more visitors. Obviously, this will

take a long time and thus, it is important to start as soon as possible, otherwise it might be too

late.

Vientiane: the Driver of Laos’s Economy

Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is the largest city in the country situated on the bank of the

Mekong River, bordering with Thailand. During the French colonization, Vientiane was the

administrative capital and nowadays, due to the economic growth in the recent times, it has

become the financial and industrial center of Laos. This economic growth of the whole country

has been the result of the New Economic Mechanism that lifted the price controls, unified the

exchange rates, encouraged the development of private sectors and opened the country to the

foreign trade and investments [33]

. Responding to these reforms, the Laos economy grew at an

impressive pace with real GDP growing at a pace more than 6 percent per year throughout 90s

[34]. Though there has been impressive economic growth in recent time, amongst the fastest in the

Southeast Asia, Laos still stands within the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and this is

reflected through the standard of its capital Vientiane. The economy of the whole city is still

primarily dependent on the various kinds of traditional businesses ranging from the hand-made

silk factory to the regional salt-industry. There still exist traditional selling markets such as

Kmong market, where we can still find some of the unique things that characterize the Kmong

culture. Along with this, another factor that makes Vientiane special is the Buddhist cultural

heritage of the city. Vientiane contains many temples and Buddhist monuments including the

famous Pha That Luang, Wat Si Muang along with the recently built Patuxai [35]

. As seen in our

visit to one of the Buddhist temples, the unique architecture of most of these temples is the main

anchor attracting thousands of visitors. Though, these special characteristics may not be acting as

the powerful drivers for the economic development, they represent the environmental diversity

and a unique culture, of which many people around the globe are fan of.

33

UN Development Programme. “Assessment of development results of Lao PDR.” May 2007. Page no: 11 34

Ibid 35

Lao national Tourism Administration, http://www.tourismlaos.org/web/show_content.php?contID=328

Unsuccessful Rebellion of 1827 as a Root of all Problems

Even though, Vientiane is in a good position in terms of the economy, it is still not

developed to its full potential. One of the primary reasons can be held accountable for the

underdevelopment of Vientiane is the ineffective governance of the city. From the history,

Vientiane always has been unstable because none of the government ruling the city was powerful

enough to control the city and develop it to its full potential. After getting established in 1354

under the kingship of then king Lan Xang, Vientiane has been the administrative and business

capital for all of the kingdoms from then till now [36]

. Vientiane was under control of king Lan

Xang till 1779, before falling to the Siamese general Phraya Chakri [37]

. Throughout this time,

though Vientiane was not as rich as Angkor or other famous kingdoms, it was still one of the

most famous ones in Asia. However, in January 1827, then ruler of Lao state of Vientiane, Chao

Anu led his armies in a rapid and unexpected attach on his suzerain, the third king of Thailand’s

Chakri Dynasty [38]

. Reacting to this unexpected march of Anu, Thai mounted a counter attack

which scattered and expelled the Lao forces [39]

. This counter-attack was so powerful that it

completely destroyed the whole city of Vientiane [40]

.The city was burned to the ground and was

looted of nearly all Laotian artifacts, including Buddha statues and people [41]

. Along with the

complete destruction of Vientiane, a massive resettlement was followed which allowed the Thai

ruler to take over the territories, which are now the Thai side of the Mekong [42]

. After this

unsuccessful rebellion, it was the time during the French colonization, when the city was rebuilt.

The French not only rebuilt the city but also repaired Buddhist temples such as Pha That

Luang, Haw Phra Kaew, and left many colonial buildings behind. Though, French helped to

rebuild the city, the economic and political instability of the city was not under control until

1986, when the government implemented “New Economic Mechanism”, which has primary

reason for the economic success of Laos as well as Vientiane.

36

Maha Sila Viravong. History of Laos. Paragon Book Reprint Corporation (1964), New York. Page no:35 37

Ibid 38

David K Wyatt. “Siem and Laos.” Journal of Southeast Asian History, Vol 4. No.2, Cambridge University Press

(1963), Page no: 13 39

Ibid. 40

Ibid. 41

Ibid. 42

Ibid.

Though Vientiane is the primary driving force behind the economic success of Laos in

the recent years, it is still facing many problems while stabilizing the economy of the country. It

was in fine situation before the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC) in 1997-98. During this crisis, the

economy was struggling against the high depression of its currency and hyperinflation, which

was about 150% in 1999. In addition, the agricultural production and FDI were also decreased.

While the economies of the most of the Southeast Asian countries along with China were able

recover from this crisis, Vientiane is still having difficulties adjusting Lao’s economy.

Nowadays, even though the economy of Vientiane along with Laos has been maintaining high

economic growth with low inflation and a stable exchange rate, there are still serious

macroeconomic issues to overcome. One of these issues is the prioritization of growth over the

macroeconomic stability in order to escape from Least Developed Country (LDC) status by 2020

[43].If the government decided to the prioritize the growth over stability, loosening of money

supply and a depreciating exchange rate policies are also needed in support [44]

. However, given

the lack of enough liquid in the market, it seems that the Vientiane economy would not be able to

afford to adapt depreciating exchange rate policies. Given the current economic situation, it will

be a huge challenge for the government to decide whether to go for growth-based or stability-

based approach. In addition, the economy is also facing “chronic twin deficits in both

government spending and international trade deficit” [45]

. The Laotian government is still

dependent on the foreign savings to cover the budget deficit and if it becomes too dependent, it

could even cause a foreign debt crisis [46]

. This issue is very serious as if the budget deficit

continues to expand; it will cause an accelerating inflation rate, which would lead to the

economic instability like the one during the AFC. Thus, it is necessary for the Vientiane, as

being the capital of the Laos to implement a proper macroeconomic policy management to

secure the economy against huge crisis.

Along with the economic issues, the city is suffering from a lot of social problems like

poverty, education, unemployment and migration, which are opposing the rapid economic

growth of the country. Among all of these problems, poverty is one of the most pressing one. As

43

Phouphet Kyophilavong. “Evaluation of Microeconomic policy in Laos.” Graduate School of Economics, Nayoga

University. March 2009. Page no : 3 44

Opt. Ct. 4 45

Opt. Ct. 10 46

Opt. Ct. 11

being the capital of one of the poorest countries in Asia, Vientiane has been one of the biggest

victims of poverty. The condition of the poor people is very extreme. Most of these people are

homeless who are scavenging for food and essentials to survive. Many of them are ethnic

minority groups, who have no access to water or any other facilities. This poverty has been the

root of many other problems such as unemployment, inaccessibility of education along with the

migration. According to the study under the ‘United Nations Development Program’ in 2007,

about 10% of total workforce were migrated from rural Laos to Vientiane[47]

. Among these

migrant, 55% of them were women who were working in homes, at hotels, restaurants, garment

industries and food processing, while the men were working at construction, fishing and

factories[48]

. However, as any other city, Vientiane is also having difficulties in terms of urban

planning, lack of health services, human trafficking as a result of unemployment and migration.

Today, while most of the Southeast Asian economies are on the verge of rapid economic

development, Vientiane, as being the primary driver of Laos’s economy has left with no other

option. It is important for the government, based in Vientiane to prioritize the stability-priority

policies as it would help to control the money supply, stabilize the exchange rate and increase

government investment. In order for the overall growth, the government also needs to implement

strategies directed towards more equitable activities, such as support to small and medium sized

enterprises, agriculture and food processing, infrastructure, industrialization and tourism. Given

the rapid increase of the tourism industry, it will be important to provide opportunities for small

operators and producers, while maintaining the pristine environment and charm that attracts

tourists. If the government is able to implement its plan properly, it might make Vientiane a

rising star of the Southeast Asia.

Comparative Analysis of Lijiang, Siem Reap / Angkor and Vientiane

As discussed above, Lijiang, Siem Reap and Vientiane along with most of the Asian

cities we traveled through are going through a period of rapid economic development fueled by

different anchors. While Lijiang’s economic boost is related to the tourism development of the

region, Siem Reap/Angkor’s overall development has its roots from the history Khmer Empire;

47

UN Development Programme. “Assessment of development results of Lao PDR”. May 2007. Page no: 7 48

Ibid.

where, Vientiane’s economic growth is the result of recently implemented “New Economic

Forum”. Though, these cities are growing in their own way, they are facing tons of various

challenges. As explained individually through the case of each city, it seems that these

challenges are related to historical and cultural heritage, geographical features, and environment

of the respective city. Thus, the integrity and depth of these problems differs from the city to

city.

While comparing the challenges of these three cities in terms of the urban development, it

is necessary to analyze the economic scale. From our visit to all of these cities, it was easy to

notice the different modes of urban development of each city through various standards. There is

a saying that “wealth of the house can be judged from the quality of the yard” and applying this

on the broader scale, it is convenient to say that “the prosperity of the country/city can be

determined by the quality of the airport”. This definitely makes sense for the cities we visited.

For example, the high standard of the airport in Lijiang and Siem Reap tells the story of their

boosting economies and rich cultural heritage, while the airport in the capital city Vientiane

describes the condition of the whole country. Furthermore, Along with the infrastructure, these

cities can be differentiated in terms of the factors such as industrialization, urbanization and

migration. Though, Vientiane seems more developed in terms of industrialization and education,

the standard of the industries create doubts about it. This is because unlike developed cities,

Vientiane is still predominantly dependent on the traditional small scale businesses such as hand-

made silk factory, which is not able to employ more than 10-15 people at a time. On the other

hand, the booming logging and hotel industries in both Lijiang and Siem Reap are big sources of

employment; however, they do not seem to be the long term assets of the economy due to their

high dependency on tourism industry. Furthermore, the increasing migration to Vientiane and

Siem Reap has created issue for the urban planning. Though, both of these cities are attempting

to follow China’s lead in urban development, it seems to be an unsuccessful mission as these

cities are not large enough to support a significant urbanization movement without a proper

planning.

While talking about urban development, there seems to be a complex dilemma between

the education and the poverty. While talking to the tour guide in Lijiang, she mentioned that less

than 10% people in the whole city are illiterate and very few of them are able to speak English.

However, the lack of education did not seem to affect the tourism industry to a higher extent.

Compared to Lijiang, Vientiane and Siem Reap is better position in terms of the education, as

they have much higher rate of literacy. Not only that, most of the people we came in contact with

in both of these cities were able to speak good English, including the kids. However, was that

knowledge helpful for them to live a better life than those in Lijiang? The answer is damn easy,

no. It was clear to see that even though most of the people in Lijiang are illiterate and unable to

speak English, they are still in better economic condition than Vientiane and Siem Reap. This is

maybe because most of the tourists visiting Lijiang are the Chinese people. Then, why is it not

the same case for Siem Reap and Vientiane, even though the locals are very comfortable in

interacting with foreign tourists? This is not because, there exists a bad system; but there exists

no system at all. Therefore, even though Vientiane and Siem Reap have more educated people,

the lack of a system is not allowing to get rid of the poverty and thus, unemployment.

Unlike Siem Reap and Vientiane, Lijiang faces a totally different set of problems,

because it does not want to develop as an industrialized urban center but to strengthen it cultural

and geographical heritage. On the other hand, Angkor is keen to preserve its long time cultural

heritage, however, Siem Reap still wants to become a developing urban center. This creates a

huge conflict between the heritage conservation and urban development. Therefore, even though

both Lijiang and Angkor are facing the similar challenges in terms of the conservation of the

respective heritages, they are on the opposite ends while approaching the secondary objective.

However, unfortunate thing is that not much of decent efforts are being taken by both regional

and central government in order to preserve the unique historical heritage; instead, it is just being

seen as a tool of attracting the tourists and making as much money as possible. However, while

trying to make most out of tourism, environment is being killed. The pace of deforestation is

increasing to create more room for logging and tourists services. Along with the tourism, the

increasing speed of migration and thus, the increased demand for the higher infrastructure has

also been accounting for the environmental degradation in all of these three cities. Given the

depth of this environmental and cultural degradation as a result of human actions, a system needs

to be established that benefits the poor, respects cultural and natural diversity and enhances

sustainable development.

Conclusion

In conclusion, during this era of rapid globalization, most of the Asian cities are marching

toward the high economic growth. Among the three cities discussed above, Vientiane and Siem

Reap are aspire to develop into huge urban and global centers with help of industrialization,

while Siem Reap also wants develop itself on the basis of tourism along with Lijiang. Due to this

complex scenario, the challenges faced by three of these cities are also very complex and so are

the solutions. While Vientiane is facing tons of socio-economic challenges, Lijiang and Siem

Reap/Angkor are anguished by the environmental and cultural degradation. Though, Siem Reap

lies in the shadows of Angkor, and a lack of government planning and oversight prevents it from

developing into a reputable city. In this respect, it is necessary for governments of Vientiane and

Siem Reap to increase investments in education and vocational training institutions, strengthen

the sectors that will generate employment opportunities for the poor, women, and young people,

while maintaining the environmental and cultural standard of the city. Furthermore, sustainable

management of natural resources and preservation of cultural heritage can bring tangible

economic benefits as a result of rapid tourism and play a key role in poverty alleviation in

Lijiang and Siem Reap.

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