Asia - Laos To Create New City Costing U.S.$2 Billion

Uh oh, "A new urban area covering 3,000 ha is expected to be created near the World Heritage-listed town of Luang Prabang, at a total cost of US$2 billion," says Bernama (http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=367561).

I've always thought, as I sat in one of the dirt floor restaurants on the Mekong drinking Beerlao (big bottles), that the area needed some 36 hole golf courses.

Thats a lot of Kip. Hope they also upgrade their airline.

IF properly executed (and that's a big IF), this could be a good idea. Tourism is bound to go from growing-fast to exploding in Luang Prabang, so it's arguably a good thing to carve out a new city away from the old one and let development take place there, so that the old city can be preserved.

I was trying to decide if I should go back to Laos. That pretty much settles it for me. Once more people move in, the character of the place will change. One last chance to see!