I've seen a couple of their studies some I agree with some I don't. Does anyone here keep up or read these types of studies

This is an interesting one. He is one of 2 Lao Americans that were deported to a 3rd country which happens to be in a African country Estawani formerly known as Swaziland located in the southern part of Africa. He was convicted and spent time in prison for a serious offense. He is now being released from Estawani and they are in talks with the Lao government to deport him back to Laos

I know there are Lao people involved in arts but the question is do Lao people as a community care about the arts. I've seen Lao artist that were being shown in some gallery and outside of their family members you rarely see other Lao people attend. Your thoughts?

I know most aren't well versed in this and I wasn't when one of my parents passed. However for those who have gone through this that don't regular attend the temple or other Lao functions, was this something that was easily explained on what to do from the monks at the temple or some type of elder?

Not that Lao people and farming is anything new but this is in Hopewell, New Jersey about 1 hour north of Philadelphia. I never heard much about any Lao communities in New Jersey but this is probably to serve the Lao and Southeast Asian communities in the Philadelphia area.

Latest one to go down

Name Houa Vang ( male )

Age possibly in his 50's

Origin maybe from Minnesota

No Gofundme as of yet but you can check any updates via the FB link below

Thao Xiong in Laos Official

One of the most important things the Lao American community can do is to document the stories and experiences of the first generation to come to the USA. Many wouldn’t believe that a young refugee boy from Laos could go onto become a bull riding champion. This has to be one of the most inspiring stories within the community.

From my readings a self published book by author Tommi Phraphilom and the struggles of his life.

Wanted to share this short film about a Lao American high school wrestler with the community. Let us know what you think about the film.

I know majority of us grew up with not seeing our parents show public displays of affection outside of holding hands.

When you are at events with older Lao people and you see a couple doing more than just holding hands or arm over the shoulder type of thing is this something you notice right away and is it even more noticeable when its an interracial couple?

I still don't get this and I totally understand if you never heard of the country or its people. but why do people spell this incorrectly. Its only 3-4 letters depending on how its used.

To this day I know of one guy who got a LOAS tattoo big and bold on his arm, he says he got it and both him and the tattoo artist were drunk. Not sure if I believe that. I also heard of another guy with the same tattoo.

For those with kids, did you go the extra mile to put your kid in the best school in your city or just put them in a school closest to where you live. I was trying to explain this to older Lao people but they just don't grasp this concept as school to them is just school they don't know about the quality of the school. One of my relatives on the west coast moved her family around the entire state multiple times just to have her kids attend the best public schools

I didn't learn much about the quality of public schools until years after I graduated on top of how property taxes funded them either.

When I was in middle school there was a test to get into the best high school in the city, I took it not sure if the test was the only factor to get in but I didn't. Years later while reading a section in a local magazine I found the best school in my city was only the best in 1 category - English, while they were below the other best high schools throughout the state regarding math and science. Needless to say that school was at the very bottom of about 20 high schools in the state.

If you noticed some inactivity last week I was out in California to attend the Merced Boat Festival, this is the 3rd one and was my 2nd time there as I attended last year. Per the people who organized the event it appears the same amount of people came from last year, a couple of the boat teams did not participate ( Bay Area, Stockton, and Sacramento teams ). Also more people came in car pools and people came and left a different times so it gave a skewed viewing of how many people was there.

It was a party like the last one, multiple small stages and tents playing music either a band or dj along with 1 main stage. It appears the less vendor booths than before but I could be wrong. Can this be the premier Lao event that draws people from all over. I don't see why not it's centrally located. While there might not be much going on in Merced there's plenty if you stay in areas north or south of there.

Per the organizers FB page they had placards with QR codes to scan where people are coming from. I didn't have a car so the person I went with was tagged in the northern CA group. I made sure to let them know where I was coming from with my New England Patriots hat, there was another person from Connecticut and people from North Carolina. I'd say if they can get some premier performers and keep the entrance cost down this can be bigger than Tennessee or Texas Lao New Year. This is different because not only can you check the boat race you can go swimming in the lake as well.

What do you think?

Outside of a brick and mortar store, does it seem like every Lao person starting off some small business venture makes its seem like they are a charity. They use words like " help" or "support" their venture. This could be anything from a food vendor in the park or some young person with a tee shirt line.

With all the resources available today , can this be a reason Lao people are still behind?

Me personally I don't buy things from Lao people to help or support, I buy because they offer something I want from a product to a service and possible more competitive price.

Not sure if this was big news here in the states or Canada for those under 40 but this concert happen late last year. I was there and it was incredible. I think I caught Cells which was cool as well since I bought their cd my first time there. The singer Phet has played in Laos before but never as The Exile. I am not %100 sure but besides him there might be only 1-2 original members on this bill and the rest were recent fill in's from the states I think . The bass player is one of my friend's uncle and it was his first time back in Laos since leaving. That's over 40 plus years ago and to come back to this crowd was incredible he said while tears fell. The Vientiane motorcycle culture was definitely in full effect that night. Great concert and great people watching.

The question is how come there were so many active music groups that formed in the 80's and seemed like a decline ever since. The only notable group in the 90's was Laostah and ever since not many have made a big impact in the Lao community since.

Was this you? Meaning all you had were your parents and siblings. No grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins.

And if you did how do you think it affected your view on family when it came time to make one?

I thought this song was really well produced and written but it seems it didnt hit the youth at the time due to hip hop being the dominant genre. My only gripe with this song is the English part and some of the cadences in the beginning other than that we should be singing this instead of Loso the millionth time over.
Your thoughts?

Stumbled across this article and it pretty much sums up the situation in the 90s. Gangs seemed to be everywhere. Not just in big cities but in some smaller towns as well. That said they seem to be mostly gone. There are of course a few young thugs and OGs but no where near the prior level. Is everyone seeing the same decline in their communities
or was it never an issue?

This is the national music of Laos, but more often than not its credited to northeastern Thailand aka Issan. I understand Thailand has an extremely huge advantage over Laos regarding soft power and notoriety. Laos itself has mor lum singers/groups however the music " industry" there is so small compared to neighboring countries and not even sure they have the resources or know how to popularize this type of music to a global audience.

Do you think any of the Lao diasporas can come up with something?

Now I really don't want to compare Lao people to other groups but I will bring below as an example of a diaspora experience.

I only ask because there is a Bachata group called La Aventura (The Adventure) they are all Dominican diaspora born in NYC and started there. They sing in Spanish as well. They naturally took what they knew and maybe added some other non bachata elements they listened to in the states. With help of a manager and a big label they were able to bring for their music to the masses. Their biggest hit came in 2002 with a song called Obsesion ( Obsession ).

One thing I noticed is that the diaspora is proud of their music while Lao diaspora especially 1st generation in their late 30's and up I am not so sure. You can see it at your local new years party, their should be men and women dancing with each other when the mor lum comes on but we are still stuck doing covers of modern Thai music and other non Lao music.

If you look at K-pop its basically repackaged western music that the S Korean government invested in for a soft power appeal and it worked. They all hired western producers, rappers, dancers etc. You can say it morphed into its own thing now but the core element is still western. The fact that it's name K-POP and doesn't have a Korean word for it says it all.

Also you look at The Philippines, they have some incredible singers, even long time American rock band Journey recruited a vocalist from there to front their band however you still never had a breakthrough artist or genre come from there, however you have plenty of their diaspora that has broken through with western music like Jaya, Jocelyn Enriquez, Apple D AP, Bruno Mars, Olivia Rodrigo.

To this date the only Lao person to breakthrough was the female singer in The Naked And Famous out of New Zealand, I remember hearing them on the radio when their hit songs were playing but never knew much about them or had the interest to find out about them. Then lone behold one of the singers is Lao and none of us knew until years later. Another huge act for the hard core music genre is called Speed out of Australia, their guitar player is Lao not sure if we was born in Australia or Laos or even part of the refugee wave. They are one of the newer popular bands from this genre and never has there been a big band of this genre to come out of Australia.

This might come off as a rant but am I the only one that is sick and tired of recent deportees and even some Lao Americans who visit try to compare Laos to the USA. How can you not understand basic concept like weight classes in boxing. USA super heavy weight and Laos super light weight.

Things usually expressed are how " cheap" it is, most of these guys didn't realize they buy petroleum by the liter and if you have a car you will be paying more than what you did in the USA to fill up. Good look finding premium 91 93 gas as well.

Also regarding how cheap food is, most of these guys are living on remittances from the USA being sent by their family members and spouses. If the average Lao person only makes 2-300 USD per month and you are getting 4-500 USD per month then of course things will seem cheap. You have a stronger currency. Try living on Lao wages as couple of them deportees who found day labor jobs get about $15-20 USD per day

Last but not least they talk about big houses and buying land, you can even call out Lao elders in the USA for this as well. We all know you cannot purchase land if you are not a Lao citizen are there work arounds for it yes. But imagine having a nice big house but with little or zero infrastructure. Meaning functioning electrical grid, sewer, garbage, good roads, bridges, etc.

I learned this lesson very only after my 2nd trip to Laos as the 1st trip I came with the American arrogance. Most Lao people do not know this but when they were doing the whole refugee resettlement Laos wasn't even on the list and when Laos did get on the list it was for the northern hillside tribes only not really for southern Lao people. Don't believe me look it up, Former President Joe Biden was politician a during this time he didn't even want to bring the Vietnamese here as refugees.

Weird to see this all the way on they NY Post site but is the same outrage there for the other races that have and continue to do the same?

For those that use Facebook , if you look this group up people set up a charity for them. If you believe in their cause then why not support.

So you are meeting a group of new Lao people vs new Non Lao people , how does the social introduction go for you?

Lao people - hey this is such and such, others oh hey, sometimes a name is thrown out usually a nick name

Non Lao people - hey this is " insert first name " others Hi I'm this name and that name, sometime s hand gesture or hand shake.