The ecotourism industry is experiencing increasing popularity as the demand grows for tourism that is environmentally sensitive, informative, and beneficial for local communities. For over a decade, Lao PDR, an underdeveloped country, has been promoting its 20 National Protected Areas as ecotourism destinations. These ecotourism projects are positioned as tools for protecting natural resources and reducing poverty, and are generating hope for the creation of local sustainable development. At this point in time, however, the Lao government lacks effective strategies for ensuring their long term success. This thesis was designed to address this concern by analysing the potential for one of these projects, Xe Pian ecotourism, to contribute to local sustainable development. The current outcomes of the Xe Pian ecotourism project were analysed and input was sought from all stakeholders concerning ideas for desirable strategies. Kiet Ngong village, located inside the Xe Pian NPA, Lao PDR, was selected for case study. Data was gathered by employing mostly quantitative methods consisting of semi-structured interviews, informal and formal interviews, private walks and observation, and questionnaire surveys. The findings illustrated that ecotourism in Kiet Ngong has impacted local livelihoods and other environmental, economic, social, and cultural factors in both positive and negative ways. However, the positive effects of Xe Pian ecotourism were found to be more significant than the negative effects. Importantly, Kiet Ngong residents expressed optimism about the future of ecotourism and have claimed that any negative consequences cannot discourage their desire for continuing ecotourism development. This research also revealed that the stakeholders involved in the project are able to offer a variety of strategies for resolving problems that have arisen along the way. Results from this study identified three main points that need to be addressed in order to maintain Xe Pian ecotourism, namely the promotion of economic and political empowerment of the local population, the development of external and internal regulations, and the adoption of a community-based ecotourism approach. Further recommendations are offered for the policy planners of both the government and the project‘s administrative bodies, as well as for the residents of Kiet Ngong. These are followed by additional suggestions for further study.

<p dir="ltr">Understanding the nonlinear rheological properties of food is essential for improving processes involving large-amplitude deformation such as pumping, extrusion, and consumer consumption. The development of mathematical analyses for analyzing these nonlinear responses has witnessed a notable upswing in the past decades. A novel mathematical analysis called "Sequence of Physical Processes" (SPP) was developed by Rogers et al. in 2011. Ever since, SPP has shown tremendous potential in characterizing and predicting the nonlinear rheological behavior of soft materials and polymers, yet more investigations are required to validate the efficacy of the SPP approach in the realm of food materials. Therefore, this thesis focuses on applying SPP method onto a range of food materials. Most importantly, we compared the analysis with the results obtained from the well-established Ewoldt-McKinley method of coupling “Fourier Transform with Chebyshev Decomposition” (FTC). As a result, it is found that SPP can provide a detailed picture of the material’s deformation history within an oscillation cycle. The time-dependent nature of SPP data allows a more accurate capture of important rheological transitions, which leads to a higher correlation with compositional and microstructural changes in comparison to the FTC method. Recognizing the potential of SPP analysis in studying food materials, this research emphasizes the necessity for further exploration across a diverse array of food types. The thesis contributes valuable insights to the evolving landscape of nonlinear rheological understanding, with the potential to improving methodologies in food processing.</p>

No description available.

Victors do not always write history. To date our knowledge of how the Pathet Lao seized power in Laos in 1975 has been based on accounts from those who witnessed events but who were not privy to the thinking and planning behind them. After the violent fall of Cambodia and Vietnam, the slow, relatively peaceful and seemingly dilatory takeover of power they observed did not equate with the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party’s assertion that its seizure of power was due to the “creative application of Marxism-Leninism to Lao conditions”. This work attempts to determine the accuracy of the Lao Party’s claim by using LPRP documents and written and verbal accounts, which reveal the strategic thinking and tactics behind the Lao Revolution. The piecing together of information drawn from many and varied sources that were directly involved, at last sheds some light on how a small, weak movement overthrew a government almost without violence. It also reveals that the LPRP carefully and deliberately planned and executed the peaceful formation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic in December 1975 in a revolution that was unprecedented in the history of Marxist-Leninist revolutions.

Au Laos, les années 1980-1990 furent marquées par d'importantes transformations de la paysannerie, liées d'une part à la politique de déplacement des villages montagnards vers les basses terres et d'autre part, au " décollage " de l'économie laotienne. Ces mutations furent vécues différemment par les sociétés villageoises et sont examinées selon une approche originale, combinant ethnographie, géographie du peuplement et économie rurale, appliquée à six villages d'un des bassins intramontagnards les plus dynamiques du pays : le bassin de Vang Vieng. Ces villages ont été sélectionnés selon plusieurs critères de différenciation tels que la distance du centre urbain, l'appartenance ethnique, l'ancienneté de l'implantation et la dynamique économique dominante : transition vers l'agriculture commerciale, émergence de l'activité minière et développement urbain lié à l'activité touristique et commerciale. De plus, deux de ces villages avaient fait l'objet de comptabilités économiques en 1967, offrant un recul historique rarement disponible. Le réexamen de leur situation à quarante ans d'intervalle permet de mieux comprendre l'impact, sur leurs institutions et sur leurs systèmes d'activités, des politiques de développement mises en œuvre au niveau du district ou du pays. Enfin, le recours à une histoire des relations entre populations taï et montagnardes permet d'analyser la formation et les caractéristiques d'un espace social pluriethnique à l'échelle du bassin, associant processus de laocisation, maintien d'identités ethniques particulières et émergence d'une identité territoriale commune.

La santé de la population de Vientiane est appréhendée à partir d'un examen de santé effectué en 2006 auprès de 2042 adultes et 1650 enfants, examen qui concerne les maladies chroniques (diabète et hypertension), de surcharge (surpoids et obésité), de carence (anémie, maigreur et retard de croissance) et infectieuses (contact avec les flavivirus). Ces informations biomédicales sont rapportées au lieu de résidence des individus. Les différentes analyses géostatistiques et cartographiques démontrent que des disparités spatiales de santé existent à Vientiane et que celles-ci sont étroitement liées au niveau d'urbanisation des villages - des unités spatiales intra-urbaines dont on aura discuté la pertinence. <br />Si cette ville abrite des phénomènes de santé spatialement différenciés, deux types de mécanismes peuvent l'expliquer. Le premier renvoie aux disparités socio-spatiales : les caractéristiques comme l'âge, le niveau d'éducation et le niveau de vie qui sont autant de facteurs de risque, ne sont en effet pas réparties de façon aléatoire à Vientiane. Néanmoins, il serait approximatif d'interpréter les disparités spatiales de santé comme le reflet des disparités socio-spatiales alors que celles-ci restent de faible ampleur à Vientiane en ce début de XXIème siècle. De fait, un second type de mécanisme participe activement à l'inégale répartition des problèmes de santé dans cette ville : les habitants, au-delà de leurs caractéristiques propres, sont d'autant plus touchés par le diabète, l'hypertension, le surpoids et l'obésité et d'autant moins touchés par l'anémie, la maigreur et le retard de croissance qu'ils résident dans un village plus urbanisé. La santé des habitants de Vientiane est étroitement liée au niveau d'urbanisation de leur lieu de résidence parce que celui-ci influence leur mode de vie, c'est-à-dire leurs comportements (alimentaires, de soin, etc.) à travers les équipements qu'il présente et les normes sociales qu'il véhicule. <br />Bien qu'avérée, l'influence du lieu de résidence sur la santé ne doit pas être considérée comme opérant de façon identique sur tous les habitants de Vientiane : cette influence varie selon leur pratique et leur maîtrise de l'espace (c'est-à-dire leur capital spatial). Cette recherche souligne donc l'influence du lieu de résidence sur la santé des individus sans toutefois céder à un quelconque déterminisme géographique.

<p>This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. </p><p>The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. </p><p>Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.</p>

The species of Amomum Roxb. (Zingiberaceae) in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are revised. Thirty-five species and two varieties are recognised, all names are typified, and detailed descriptions and a key are provided. Nine new species are described and one species is validated. Whilst revising Amomum for the Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam, we have proposed to conserve the name Amomum villosum Lour. with a recent collection from Laos, which was not included in the protologue, as its type. Our research on the use of Amomum focuses on the use of plants during pregnancy, parturition, postpartum recovery and infant healthcare among three ethnic groups, the Brou, Saek and Kry. The investigations aim to identify culturally important traditions that may facilitate implementation of culturally appropriate healthcare. Data were collected in Khammouane province, Lao PDR, through group and individual interviews with women by female interviewers. More than 55 plant species are used in women's healthcare, of which &gt; 90 % are used in postpartum recovery. This wealth of novel insights into plant use and preparation will help to understand culturally important practices such as confinement, dietary restrictions, mother roasting and herbal steam baths and their incorporation into modern healthcare. Through chemical analyses of Amomum we have recorded compounds with antimicrobial, analgesic and sedative effects that point to an empirical development of the traditional treatments around childbirth. Essential oils of three species used in hotbed and mother roasting, Amomum villosum Lour. Amomum microcarpum C.F.Liang &amp; D.Fang and Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC. were found to contain significant amounts of the following terpenes: b-pinene, camphor, bornylacetate, borneol, linalool, D-limonene, fenchone, terpinen-4-ol and a-terpinene.

This thesis seeks to understand and explain gendered everyday life in the village of HatNyao in Northwestern Laos, specifically in relation to rubber cultivation, by using an ethnographic approach and methods. The ‘rubber boom’ is changing the landscape of Northern Laos, and in the process is reshaping gendered everyday life. Gender relations in the village of HatNyao are undergoing various transformations whereby previous gender structures start to erode. Additional changes will probably continue to occur, largely due to increasing labour shortages. Gendered everyday life in HatNyao is therefore ‘bending’ with the changes associated with rubber cultivation, as well as in relation to different spaces of the everyday and household diversity. The concept of ‘paradoxical gendered spaces’ is invoked to capture the ways in which the dimensions and activities of the everyday vary with, in particular, ethnicity and age. Most households in HatNyao have improved their living conditions due to rubber cultivation. Nevertheless, inequalities are increasing within the village: better-off households have improved their situation, while for others it has been more difficult to adapt to the new conditions of everyday life and rubber cultivation. As the number of villages introducing rubber in Laos is increasing, alongside the number reaching the crucial tapping stage, it is essential to understand how rubber cultivation in smallholder communities interacts with gender relations and the division of labour. There are thus both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ outcomes from introducing rubber in Laos, since it depends on the context, as well as on the diverse spaces of the everyday.

This is a story about Lao Pako. Lao Pako is located on a small hill on the southern bank of the river Nam Ngum in central Laos. Four seasons of archaeological fieldwork have yielded considerable amounts of pottery, metallurgical remains, glass beads, stone artefacts, spindle whorls as well as other material and structural information that have created a foundation for interpretation. The archaeological interpretation presents Lao Pako as a place where people came to perform rituals c. 1500 years ago. In these rituals, sophisticated combinations of pottery depositions, infant burials and iron production produced a narrative about what it means to be in the world. Things in and on the ground created, and continue to create, non-verbal sentences about life and death, fertility, decay and worldly reproduction. The archaeological interpretation is, however, not the only valid story about Lao Pako. This is a place where spirits are; it is also a tourist resort and a national treasure. These other stories all work to create Lao Pako as a place of interest and are used in this thesis to define the archaeological story, and to visualize the aims and agendas inherent in the production of archaeological knowledge. Using the conceptual apparatus of postcolonial and other critical theory, the thesis aims to critically deconstruct the archaeology performed by the author and others. It entails an explicit critique of the deterministic temporal unilinearity that is inherent in the archaeological narrative of the evolution of humankind, as well as against essentialist notions of culture and the dissociation of the past as exotic otherness. Thus, the stories about Lao Pako demonstrate the need to critically revise the role of archaeology in a postcolonial world, and create archaeological stories by which we are touched, moved and disturbed, without resorting to imperialist notions of time and progress.