Human Trafficking Or Seeking For Better Opportunity?

I’ve read this story about a week ago, it is disturbing to find large numbers of women and children are involved.  Most of those women are probably being sold to some type of sex trades.  Is Lao Government working hard to prevent this trend at all?  Is this meant Laos doesn’t have enough jobs for their people?  I am sure that those women and children are going to Thailand seeking for better opportunity to earn some money to support family back in Laos.  They might be mislead by group of people whom recruiting them to work at factory.  Once they are in Thailand, it is like a fish lost in a big ocean.  UNDP and Lao Government made a movie few years ago regarding this very same issue to educate the woman and children.

I have some relatives back in Laos that are in similar situation.  Few of their children are working illegally in Thailand.

This kind of news usually goes unreported in Laos.  Especially the SEA Games will kick off next week.

 

Laos: More Women and Chldren Trafficked to Thailand
By Songrit Pongern Bangkok, Thailand 24/11/2009

Click here for Lao version/ຄລິກບ່ອນນີ້ເພື່ອອ່ານພາສາລາວ

A young woman involved in illegal sex business was arrested by police in Thailand and sent back to Laos

High ranking officials of the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare acknowledge that the number of Lao women and children who have fallen victims of human trafficking is alarmingly increasing, and that the US government has agreed to assist Laos in solving and preventing this problem.

The officials, though admitting that the number is large, say they do not have the exact figure of how many of the victims have been trafficked to Thailand.

However, during the course of a three-year cooperation between Lao and Thai authorities on this matter, as many as 1,100 women and children who were trafficked to Thailand have been rescued and sent back to Laos.

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Labor, there are over 400,000 Lao workers currently working in Thailand. But only 80,000 of that number have properly registered to work there legally. This means that more than 300,000 of those are illegal workers, and over 60% of them are women and children who are at risk of falling into the trap of transnational human trafficking in Thailand.

Lao authorities acknowledge that it is a daunting task for them to prevent Lao

Lao officials held an anti-child sex workshop last year to discuss the serious impact of human trafficking on Lao women and children

workers from sneaking into Thailand to seek employment and work illegally there since Laos and Thailand share a common border of almost 2,000 kilometer long. Another factor is the inability of the Lao government to create enough jobs for its growing workforce.

Nevertheless, Lao officials believe that the gravity of this problem will be mitigated if they receive cooperation from foreign governments and the international community in developing and lifting Lao workers’ skills to the standard of foreign companies.

Aware of this situation, the U.S. government, via its embassy in Vientiane, has agreed to help Laos combat the problem, aimed at reducing the number of Lao women and children falling into the trap of transnational human trafficking and trafficked to Thailand.

Listen to Songrit’s report for more details in Lao.

http://www.voanews.com/lao/2009-11-24-voa5.cfm

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone..

As a laotian kid growing up I didn’t really know the true history or meaning of Thanksgiving holiday.  Just those stuffs they taught you in grade school about the indians and white folks.  All I know was days off from school, playing football on the streets with bunch of my cousins and neighborhood kids.  I don’t think my mom ever cook the turkey during Thanksgiving time.  But, she would cook lots of traditional lao dishes and our relatives would be over all day long.  In the past few years the gathering got smaller and mainly just family only.  This year will be at my brother’s place and I think he will deep fried his turkey.  I’m looking forward to spending time with families, eating, drinking and of course watching 3 football games.  I should weight myself tomorrow morning and weight myself again after the weekend.  Probably gain about 8 or 10 lbs hahhahahha..

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Here are some of the pictures I took earlier today..    So much foods for 10 adults and 3 kids.

ready for the bird..

meet our 15 lbs turkey.. my brother marinated it over night.

the bird is going in for a dip.. it took about an hour to cook 15 lbs bird

little princess is keeping herself busy.. trying to start her lawn mower

she loves to be around grandpa... i sneak up on them two..

there are few dishes missing.. 2 type of turkey, one deep fried and second one cook in the oven.

5 different kind of dessert... i was so full and never got to the dessert

lunch time... little princess loves stickyrice.. lao will always be lao:)

ນາງສາວປະເທດລາວ (First Miss Laos)

After all these years, Laos finally crowned the “First Miss Laos” ever.  This article got me thinking, is this mean she will be representing Laos on the upcoming Miss Universe?  I’m not familar with the process and rules of all these contest.  I just hope that there will be 2nd Miss Laos next year and years after.  The reason I’ve said that, few year ago they held similar contests like Miss Apon and Miss Lux.  All those contests was discontinue without any announcement to the public.  One probably say, what you expect from Laos???  Which I don’t really have an answer for.. Another good example would be the very 1st music award in the country was held last year in August of 2008.  It was a big event to showcase all laotian artists and the music industry.  So far, there’s no 2nd music award plan for 2009 and the year is almost over.  It is so hard to expect some or any consistency from Laos.  It is like one hit wonder.. Here and gone..

Student is first Miss Laos Tuesday, 24 November 2009 18:24 VIENTIANE – Spectators were surprised when Phailinda Philavane, 19, a student at Rattana Business Administration College in Vientiane walked off with the Miss Laos title last weekend after already being voted Miss Photogenic and Miss Healthy.The 165-cm tall Phailinda walked away with the crown at the end of the first Miss Laos contest ever to be held in Laos, and featuring 23 finalists from around the country.   The winning beauty gave what judges at the Don Chan Palace hotel considered to be the best answer when asked what aspects of Lao culture impressed her the most. “Lao women are beautiful both physically and mentally. This is particularly evident in their smiles, when they wear a silk blouse and long silk skirt, pin up their hair and wear a sash,” she answered. Her response was enthusiastically received by the audience, who clapped loudly in appreciation. Smiles and friendship Phailinda also encouraged all Lao people, especially women, to welcome visitors to the SEA Games with smiles and friendship. She received a crown worth 20 million kip (RM7,975), 50 million kip (RM19,938) in cash, a gold silk sash worth 1.5 million kip (RM598), a Build Your Dreams car worth 85 million kip (RM33,894.50), 45g of gold, an LCD TV and gift vouchers. “I was so blissfully happy I was unable to stop my tears falling when I learnt I had won. This is the first time in my life I’ve won a contest like this and I’m overwhelmed to win the first Miss Laos contest,” she said as tears of happiness brimmed in her eyes. “I think I won because of my confidence in answering the question, and my belief that I could do it. In addition, I had a lot of encouragement from my parents, and I think this helped me too.” Phailinda said she will be a worthy recipient of the crown and a good model for Lao women in conserving Lao culture and spreading the message about its importance. She planned to demonstrate to the younger generation that Lao women are both beautiful and strong. The runner-up was Vongphachan Vongvilasak, 21, from Champassak province, who took the Miss Friendship Vote. She received 15 million kip in cash (RM5,981), a gold silk sash, a CTV and gift vouchers. In third place was Niphaphone Phommachan, 20, from Vientiane province while fourth place went to Souphaphone Inthavong, 19, from Vientiane and Chanpasong Sitthiphan, 18, from Attapeu province who was also voted Miss Popular. Kesone Phon-arth, 20, from Champassak province was voted Miss Good Character. Largest beauty contest Originally 24 women were selected for the final but one of them, Bouddalay Latthachak from Xayaboury province, withdrew due to health reasons. Phailinda, as Miss Laos 2009, will be considered a representative of Laos, and will act as an ambassador for Lao culture and traditions, both locally and internationally. This is the largest beauty contest to be held in Laos and the first the government has been involved in. The event aims to promote Lao culture, lifestyle and customs, particularly women’s traditional dress, and to raise awareness of the country’s unique culture amongst young people. The forerunner of the Miss Laos contest was Miss Apone Lao, which was first held in 2006. The contest is organised by the ministry of information and culture with support from K&C Company and Lao Brewery Company, and aims to reveal the nation’s most beautiful and congenial women. – Vientiane Times/ Asia News Network Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 November 2009 18:31http://www.malaysianmirror.com/homedetail/45-home/20189-student-is-first-miss-laos-

Last Home Game

On Saturday night I had a chance to watch D-I Women Volleyball game.  It happen to be the final home game for this season.  My little princess future school didn’t play so well and got swept in 3 games.

the arena was pretty dead...

I'm just chillin... enjoying the game

This is part of my cheap entertainment for the weekend..

Torta Cubana Anyone???

My co-worker and I usually go eat out once a week.  We would take turns on picking the bills and who ever is buying that day usually pick the place to eat.  So, today is my turn to buy him a lunch and for some odd reason I’ve been craving mexican foods for couple days.  I normally ordered chicken enchilada lunch plate everytime we go there.  But, for some odd reason I want to try this Torta Cubana aka “mexican sandwich” today.  We were chowing down some chips and salsa while waiting for the sandwiches.  When I saw two ladies each holding a plate walking toward our table, I thought to myself… Holly S#@% this thing is HUGE!!!!  I was like, I have to take picture of this thing and blog about it.. hahahhahahah

one big sandwich..

As you can see… this thing is HUGE..  it has lettuce, tomato, jalapeno, avocado, ham, becon, big thin strip of steak and melted american cheese.

if you're counting your calories intakes.. this is not your sandwich to eat.. lol

I can only finish 1/2 of it.. hahahahha  My co-worker killed his, I was shocked how he can pack that big sandwich into his little body. hahahhahah  I need to go to the gym and run on the threadmill for few hours. hahahha

Scouting College

On last Friday I had a chance to take my little princess out scouting her future college.  She had a blast and I think she’ll fit in well at this college:-).  In about 17 more years though… hahhahaha

It is been awhile since I’ve last picked up the camera.  So, it is a perfect time to go out and capture the fall landscape around this beautiful campus.  I heard it was voted in top 10 most beautiful campus in U.S.

i love the architectural of this building..

another view from different corner

columns

My little princess checking out her future campus..

eating her snack and marching right along

she attempt to walk around the fountain

so focus... i was more nervous that she might fall in

The little princess had a blast that day, so many students came up to say hello to her…  She always replies with hand waving hi and smiles..  I think we will be going back there soon.

Veterans Day

Many of us probably know someone or have relatives that serves in different branch of military.  As for myself, I have 4 first cousins served in Army, Air Force, and Marine.  All of them ended their military career a year or two ago.  One served 25 years in the Army and others have at least 15 years each.  The military gave them the chance to travel and free education.  Although, our families worried for their safety when they were deploy Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

As some of you might know that one of the fallen victim of Fort Hood shooting is laotian.  His name is Kham Xiong, 23 lost his life while waiting to get a flu shoot and eyes exam prior to deploy to Afghanistan.  He left behind a wife, 3 children of his own, and 10 other siblings.  My heart and pray goes out to his family in this tough time.  I have a deep appreciation to all the veterans and can’t thanks them enough.

Out At The Farm

This year weather in Northern Cali has been relatively mild compare to all previous November.  First Saturday in a long time where I didn’t wake up with a hangover or places I have to be.  I decided to take a nice drive out to my buddy farm.  He had told me couple weeks ago that the persimmons will be ready to pick soon.

He used to have 4 or 5 trees, but now just 2 remain.  His dad planted these trees about 50 something years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I only filled up the 2 buckets I have with me.  Gave one whole bucket to my parents, they both love eating it.  Probably ending up give other half bucket to my brother.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just hand picked the biggest and nicest one:-).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty soon the birds will be all over it.  I notices few fruit already been picked by birds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All these pictures was taken by my cell phone camera.

Would You Move Back To Laos?

This thoughts about moving back and live in Laos has been bouncing in my head for few days.  Not that I’ll be making a move myself, not now at least.  The reason I had this thought because one of my cousin and his wife is making that journey soon.  They both retired young and been ponder over the big moves to Laos.  Sold all their belongings, rent out the house and off they go next week.  I talked to them yesterday, they both seems to be happy and looking forward to be back in the motherland.  It is a scary moves.  I guess the worse comes to worse they can always come back.  Would anyone of you make the move if opportunity is there??