Vientiane Times / 31 August 1998 Telecommunication services to improve nationwide By Phonekeo Vorakhoun The Lao Telecommunications Company (LTC) plans to expand its service network to meet nationwide demand. "Next year the company is going to install another 50,000 telephone lines, at a cost of US $10 million. We are also going to expand the service area of mobile phones to other provinces, and open an Internet service at the end of this year. LTC is presently ordering the installation equipment and preparing other services to meet the demand of the people, such as a paging service and public phone service", said Ms Soulichanh Khamvanvongsa, deputy director general of Personnel and Administration at the LTC. These days, more and more people want to have telephones. About 1,000 people have applied for the installation of private telephones, but the company are unable to provide them because there are no available lines. "At the moment we have a shortage of lines because the number of telephone users is increasing rapidly. Buying equipment for the company is also difficult because we lack US dollars and we have to order the equipment from abroad. Our customers pay us in kip, which we find very difficult to change into US dollars. In addition, the rate between the kip and dollar is always fluctuating, which is why there has been such a delay in the increase of telephone lines. However, I still believe that our company can meet the demand of the people soon," added Ms Soulichanh. In 1993, Shinawatra International Plc of Thailand joined with the newly-restructured Enterprise de Telecommunications Lao (ETL) to form Lao Shinawatra Telecom Co Ltd (Lao-Shin). In 1996, the Lao Government and Shinawatra International agreed to set up a new joint venture, Lao Telecommunications, by merging ETL and Lao- Shin so that network development could be accelerated. The Lao Government holds a 51 per cent stake of LTC while Shinawatra International holds the other 49 per cent. LTC commenced operations in November 1996, with a 25-year license that covers all telecom services including a Global System Mobile (GSM) cellular phone network, a public telephone network, a fixed-line telephone network, an international gateway service, digital paging, an Internet service and other telecom services. "After we set up the joint venture, business was going well and our customers were increasing. Last year we earned about 27 billion kip, and this year I think it will double. In the first six months of this year we have already made 28 billion kip. We plan to reach 60 billion for this year," said Ms Soulichanh. The number of people using telephones is rising every year. Last year the fixed-line telephone network increased from 20,000 lines to 25,000 lines, and the availability of mobile phone frequencies also increased from 3,000 to 5,000. At present, the fixed-line telephone network covers 39 cities in all provinces with a penetration rate of 1.4 lines per 100 people. Between 1996 and 2001 this will expand by 86,234 lines to provide 58 towns with local, domestic and long-distance telephone services. The company has begun to install public phone boxes and support networks in high-demand areas such as airports, markets, post offices, bus stations, hospitals, universities and hotels. LTC now has 150 public phones and it will add another 450 phone boxes throughout the country next year. Up until now, the Government has only allowed one company, Lao Telecommunications Co Ltd to provide telecommunication services in Laos. According to Ms Soulichanh, after the year 2000 the Government will allow investment from other companies, interested in running a telecommunications business. When asked what Ms Soulichanh thought about possible future competitors, she said that she was not worried because the majority of the population were already customers of LTC and the company would try its best to maintain their customers' loyalty. In regards to value for service the Vientiane Times asked Ms Soulichanch if she thought another company would be able to provide a cheaper service than the LTC. She said: " No way, when large amounts of money are invested into a new business, big profits are also expected. The price, which our company charges is reasonable, just 45 kip per minute for a local call. If we compare this with other counties it is not expensive. Competitors or no competitors, the service price of LTC will continue to decrease because the company has been established for a longer period of time, profit margins increase allowing the prices to become cheaper and cheaper," concluded Ms Soulichanh. Vientiane Times / 31 August 1998 KPL's statement on Hmong issue at Tham Krabok, Thailand THE Hmong residents at Wat Thaln Krabaok in Saraburi, Thailand, are not originally from the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The statement is made by KPL, Khao Sane Pathet Lao, the Lao news agency, based on the information given by relevant agencies of the Government of the Lao PDR. Earlier, many senior Thai officials said through the Thai mass media that these Hmong had originated in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and infiltrated into Thailand. Those officials also said that a move to push these Hmong back to their hometowns in the Lao PDR was under way. The Thai authorities have stipulated that Tham Krabaok is not a refugee camp and that they have not provided aid nor support for these people's activities against the Government of the Lao PDR. That's why the Lao authority is not able to take these people and repatriate them in the country, as they are not viewed as refugees. The Lao authorities hold that the issue of the Hmong at Tham Krabok is an internal affair of the Thai government and it should be settled within Thailand without any connecticn with the Lao PDR. The Thai mass media has recently run continual reports about over 20,000 Hmong residents at Wat Tham Krabaok in Saraburi, Thailand. According to those reports, the Thai authorities have sent in several hundred police officers to the temple to search the grounds. It was found that these Hmong residents have been settled in the temple for dozens of years. Phra Chamroon Panchan, the abbot of Wat Tham Krabok in Saraburi, said that these Hmong had originated in northern Thailand and have stayed in the temple for the treatment of narcotic addiction. In the meantime, they also make a living in the province. The Thai authorities also found that by taking refuge in the temple the Hmong had made money from drug trafficking in a well-organized illicit movement and committed crimes for a long time. The Nation / 1 September 1998 Business ADB steps up push for tourism along Mekong By Kulachada Chaipipat THE Asian Development Bank (ADB) has taken further steps to promote the Mekong River basin as a world tourist attraction and a commercially viable holiday site amidst the region's economic contraction. A concept paper aimed at promoting tourism along the Mekong River, from China's Yunnan Province to Vietnam's Mekong Delta, was presented at a seminar in Bangkok last week. About 600 people, including tour operators, investors and representatives of the governments of the six countries which border the Mekong, participated in the seminar. The bank's study, conducted by Pacific Consultants (Japan), is due to be completed next month. "It is not a comprehensive study, but it will serve as a guideline for public and private sectors to maximise limited funding opportunities available in the present global market to enhance existing resources and facilities and to formulate market strategy," said Arjun Thapan, the bank's senior project specialist. Thapan said there are abundant opportunities for tourism in the Mekong basin, but that most of the regional governments lacked the capacity to promote it. Since 1992, the Bank has promoted the Greater Mekong Subregion Economic Cooperation among the six countries which border the river. These include China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Tourism development, which is one of the eight prioritised development sectors identified by the Bank, is so far the most progressive in terms of planning and studies. According to the study's concept paper, the Mekong basin is not currently a popular destination among international tourists in Southeast Asia. "To promote the wealth of resources and potential expenditure of the Mekong river, it is necessary to establish a clear regional image; one that is distinctive and unique, apart from the other, already-established destination areas in the GMS countries,"it said. The study identified some 250 sub-projects to be implemented over the next 20 years, as well as investment opportunities in the six countries. It also identified projects including those in the priority tourism circuit plannned between 1999-2006. According to the study, the pressing need is to improve infrastructure, especially road, river and air links between tourist centres. The study noted that regional tourism has been maintained, and in some cases, strengthened by Asia's currency crisis. The West's strong global economic performance has brought in long-term, high-spending tourists, especially from the US and the UK. The study predicted that tourism would offer high economic returns, with the average internal rate of return of investment over the six tourism segments projected to be about 24 per cent. The approximate investment cost is about US$420 million for the priority circuits. Among this is required separate funding of over US$100 million each from the governments and private sectors of the six countries and the other half of some US$200 million will be shared by both. The bank also provided lending facilities if requested. But Thapan noted that the competition for ADB's lending facilities is very fierce and so far there was only one loan requested by the private sector for tourism development projects. "There is a need to ensure that each member country comes up with the most highly attractive projects," he said. Developing Asian countries are expected to grow by an average of 4 to 5 per cent in both 1999 and 2000, the study said. However, Southeast Asia as a whole is likely to register little or no growth in 1999 and possibly 2.5 per cent in 2000.