Lao PDR Country Profile

Lao PDR General Information

Capital: Vientiane

Language: Lao (official), French, English, various ethnic languages

Religion: Buddhist 64.7%, Christian 1.7%, none 31.4%, other/not stated 2.1% (2015 est.) 

Currency: Kip

Cryptocurrency:  The Bank of Lao PDR has warned everyone against buying, selling or using cryptocurrency for money transactions. wholesale ban on the use of cryptocurrencies.No financial institutions are allowed to possess, engage in or encourage cryptocurrency transactions.

GMT: (+) 7

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is one of the world’s only socialist states openly endorsing communism, and is also one of the poorest countries in East Asia. The only legal political party is the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP).

About Lao PDR

Laos is officially known as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Laos is bordered by Myanmar (Burma) and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand to the west and southwest. The major languages of Laos are Lao and French and the main religion is Buddhism. Bounnhang Vorachit was appointed president by the National Assembly in April 2016.

Laos is one of the world’s few remaining communist states and one of East Asia’s poorest. Laos was a French colony until the 1953. The power struggle which ensued between royalists and the communist group Pathet Lao which saw the country caught up in the Vietnam War. Communist forces overthrew the monarchy in 1975, heralding years of isolation. After the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, Laos began opening up to the world. But despite economic reforms, the country remains poor and heavily dependent on foreign aid.

Laos ranks 171th on the World Press Freedom index 2019. The ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) maintain strict control over the media. The government owns all newspapers and broadcast media.

Slandering the state, distorting party policies and spreading false rumours are all criminal offences. Although government-regulated media frequently point to corruption, it does so without mentioning names. The restrictions imposed on the media means Laotians are turning to the Internet and social media. But use of online news and information platforms is held back by a 2014 decree under which Internet users who criticize the government and the Marxist-Leninist LPRP can be jailed.

The same decree also forces Internet users to systematically identify themselves by the name they have registered with the authorities. A decree by the prime minister that took effect in January 2016 allows foreign media to set up office in Laos on the condition that they submit their content to LPRP censorship. So, only the Chinese news agency Xinhua and the Vietnamese news agency Nhan Dan have opened offices in Vientiane.