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7/27/2019 ILS Journal Issue5
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ils-journal-issue5 1/4
Volume V I Little Slave Journal: Democracy and Economics in the LPDR
7/27/2019 ILS Journal Issue5
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ils-journal-issue5 2/4
Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo
answers questions about the
Mekong River, Lao Foreign
Relations and Forgiveness in
this issue of ILS Journal.
Volume V: The Mekong River and Current Events in the LPDR — page 2
Cover Photo: Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo and members of a Southeast Asia delegation on the
Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, 2010.
FI: To celebrate the 66 th anniversary of Laos’ Independence Day, you
spoke at the World Affairs Council of Oregon. You talked of the history
of Laos. What do you think about today’s situation in your homeland?
Dr. Khamkeo: In 1945, a group of nationalists, including the Pathet
Lao, declared independence of Laos from France. Today Laos is still not
independent because of the Laos-Vietnam Friendship and Cooperation
Treaty signed in 1977. The Treaty is signed for 25 years and can be
extended 10 years automatically. Today Laos is under strong Vietnamese
inuence in every eld of political, military, economic, social and cultural
aspects of life.
The Lao leadership in Vientiane cannot do anything against the
Vietnamese. Personally, I’m certain that the Lao government wants to
be free and independent but they cannot their hands are tied by the Treat;
they are oppressed by the Vietnamese. That’s why I always say that exile
Lao can help. Lao inside the country and outside the country can work
together for this noble cause. I’m not saying that we want to overthrow
the government. We only want to help the government to regain Laos’independence. I want to promote dialog. I want to break barriers between
enemy cultures.
FI: You continue to mention forgiveness in all your talks. Why is
forgiveness important to you?
A: Hate is blindness and leads to irrational thinking and behavioral.
Hatred can only generate hatred. I forgive those who create the man-made
injustices that cause my suffering. For the salvation of Laos, I shall not
hate, I must work with the true patriots inside the country.
© 2011, ILS Journal
Published by Foreign Interest
Projects, Portland, Oregon, USA
Editor:
Sherry Harbert
Cover Photo:
Joel Haugen
ILS Journal is a publication of Foreign Interest Projects, based onthe work of Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo
and others to bring democracy andhuman rights to his homeland, theLao People’s Democratic Republic
(Laos). Opinions stated are thoseof the author and not expressively
that of Foreign Interest.
Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo’s
lie illustrates a compelling
story o survival in his
native country, Laos (Lao
People’s Democratic
Republic). He is the ormer
Executive Secretary o
the Lao Delegation o the
Mekong River Committee.
He survived seven years
inside inside Lao political
prisoner camps. Now a
U.S. citizen and author,
Dr. Khamkeo is working
to bring democracy
and human rights to his
homeland.
www.foreigninterest.com
© F o
r e i g n I n t e r e s t
7/27/2019 ILS Journal Issue5
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Volume V: The Mekong River and Current Events in the LPDR — page 3
FI: Environmental groups have opposed many of the dams and industrial development along the Mekong
River. How has development threatened the Mekong River?
Dr. Khamkeo: Dam constructions without coordination are a chaos on the Mekong River. There is no
coordinated approach, which not only means that each country’s decisions are taken on a national interest.
Concerned people around the world talk about upstream dam constructions in China that threaten the Lower
Mekong River. The Mekong River is Southeast Asia’s Mississippi or Rhine. China’s dams on the Lancang-
Mekong River in the Yunnan Province have affected river hydrology throughout the basin, and have caused
considerable controversy in downstream countries, most notably during the 2008 oods and the 2010 drought.
To make things worse, Laos has built a number of dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries that
government ofcials have said their ambition is to turn the country into “the battery of Asia.” And Cambodia
follows suite with two dams in sight on the Mekong. The victim is Vietnam which is located at the end of the
river. Hanoi reports dam constructions upstream have impacted its agricultural and sheries at the delta of
Vietnam.
Environmentalists worry that the rush to build dams on the Mekong is not only changing the panorama of the
river but could also destroy the livelihood of people who have depended on it for centuries, and natural disaster
and de-forestation. That is why, in July 2009, the U.S. government proposed the Lower Mekong Initiative as a
means to enhance cooperation in the areas of environment, health, education, and infrastructure development.The key player is China, but China is not a member of the Mekong River Commission which includes Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. We should include China in such talks. We should involve China in the Mekong
business for the good of the ve countries.
The rst Friends o the Lower Mekong (FLM) was held in July, 2011, with representatives rom
Australia, Japan, Republic o Korea, New Zealand, European Union, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
Vietnam and the U.S. convening with members o the Asian Development Bank and the WorldBank to discuss sustainable and equitable development along the Lower Mekong River.
The Lower Mekong Iniative (LMI), established to provide a working efort or regional
cooperation between the countries o the Lower Mekong (Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and
Cambodia), met our times this year. One o the many projects o the LMI includes cookstove
design and testing to improve health practices.
International Partnerships
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Volume V: The Mekong River and Current Events in the LPDR — page 4
FI: The Golden Triangle has recently resurfaced with recent reports
of violence along the Mekong River due to drug trafcking. What is
causing the upsurge?
Dr. Khamkeo: The causes continue to be the poppy cultivation in
Southeast Asia which is within the Golden Triangle. It’s a relatively
lawless territory, fueled by ethnic armies, opium warlords, and drug
cartels. Several of the ethnic groups ghting Burma’s government are said
to be deeply into heroin production.
Drug trafcking in the Golden Triangle, which includes Burma, Thailand
and Laos, has not only “re-emerged”, it has also increased for the last four
years according to a report of the Southeast Asia Opium Survey by the
Unites Nations Ofce on Drugs and Crimes, threatening to discourage
international measures taken to stop the drug trade in Southeast Asia.
As you know, the Golden Triangle has been an important heroin-producing
area for many decades. Poppies are grown here. Drug trafcking generates
hundreds of millions of dollars for these three countries. Drugs—
particularly heroin, opium and methamphetamine—are sold from here to
the rest of Asia.
The trend is seen by the U.N. as disturbing. It is being driven by poverty and political and military instability
which push farmers to grow, or sometimes return to growing illicit crops. The recent global economic crisis in
2008 appears to have exacerbated the situation for poor communities that cultivate opium poppy.
Can the U.N. and world efforts stop illegal drug trafcking? I think that if the military and political conict in
Burma is resolved, the ow of drugs is likely to decrease because Burma is the biggest producer of opium today
FI: The U.S. has increased diplomatic talks with Myanmar (Burma). Do you think the recent actions by the
government are positive? Dr. Khamkeo: Since the introduction of a civilian-military government this January in Burma, President Thein
Sein has made several public statements and promised a number of reforms and has even met with opposition
leader Aung San Sui Kyi. Now there appears to be the possibility of greater freedoms, rational economic
policies and a development of civil society. This is good news for the people of Burma who have suffered
decades of military dictatorship.
Indeed, Asia is undergoing profound political changes, such as in Tunisia, Egypt, Thailand, and Libya. Even
though Laos is still the same, unchanged, I believe strongly that nothing lasts forever. Change will come to
Laos. That is natural law. Laotian Communist Party and Laotian government have no choice.
I am positive that international conjunction will inuence Laos’s future like at the opening of the former Soviet Union to a market economy. Today, it’s true that the party-state has loosened some of its power, but
it’s not enough at all. Human rights in Laos are still a burning topic as evidenced by the multiple activities of
the Laotian nationalists in Laos who work closely with the true patriot Laotians living abroad. If you visit the
exiled Laotian websites, you can tell that the themes of their debates are freedom, human rights, dignity, and
independence. Time will tell who will win, oppressors or liberty combatants?
Dr. Bounsang Khamkeo (on right) at the Vat Pho
Temple Complex in the Champasak Province sh
before his incarceration.
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