Robert Cooper - CultureShock! Laos: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette

This 2nd edition published in 2011 by:

Marshall Cavendish Corporation

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First published in 2008.

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Photo Credits:

All black and white photos by the author. All colour photos from Photolibrary except pages a, fg, lm (Getty Images).

Cover photo: Photolibrary.

All illustrations by TRIGG

Culture shock is a state of disorientation that can come over anyone who has been thrust into unknown surroundings, away from ones comfort zone. CultureShock! is a series of trusted and reputed guides which has, for decades, been helping expatriates and long-term visitors to cushion the impact of culture shock whenever they move to a new country.

Written by people who have lived in the country and experienced culture shock themselves, the authors share all the information necessary for anyone to cope with these feelings of disorientation more effectively. The guides are written in a style that is easy to read and covers a range of topics that will arm readers with enough advice, hints and tips to make their lives as normal as possible again.

Each book is structured in the same manner. It begins with the first impressions that visitors will have of that city or country. To understand a culture, one must first understand the peoplewhere they came from, who they are, the values and traditions they live by, as well as their customs and etiquette. This is covered in the first half of the book.

Then on with the practical aspectshow to settle in with the greatest of ease. Authors walk readers through topics such as how to find accommodation, get the utilities and telecommunications up and running, enrol the children in school and keep in the pink of health. But thats not all. Once the essentials are out of the way, venture out and try the food, enjoy more of the culture and travel to other areas. Then be immersed in the language of the country before discovering more about the business side of things.

To round off, snippets of basic information are offered before readers are tested on customs and etiquette of the country. Useful words and phrases, a comprehensive resource guide and list of books for further research are also included for easy reference.

Seven for Heaven: Popular and Traditional Dishes

What is a Lao? Who are we talking about? In a way, this whole book is a definition of Lao. I use Lao in the broadest cultural sense to mean a species of Man sharing common attributes and a common self-identity and in the geopolitical sense as an inhabitant or citizen of the country known, among other names, as Laos. When precision is necessary to differentiate between ethnic groups of Lao citizens, I provide it by adding a qualifier: Lao Loum (Lowland Lao), Lao Hmong, Lao Khmu, etc.

I use Laos to refer to the country where most Lao live or originated. The countrys official name is The Lao PDR, which is itself short for The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic. I use the alternative Laos, as a convenient shorthand, to make things easier for the reader and the writer. I am aware that the Lao in daily conversation call their country Lao, with no s, and I am aware that foreigners visiting Laos often refer to it in English as Lao rather than Laos. While the s was added by French colonialists, the word Laos, with a pronounced s, avoids the possible confusion of referring to the country, people and language by a single word: Lao. The term Laos is also the term most often found in literature on the country written in English, and the term for the country used by all current guides to Laos. Nowhere in this book do I refer to a plurality of Lao by adding an s to the ethnic or political term.

As will become evident in the section on People, not all citizens of Laos are Lao in the sense of being Lao Loum, and not all Lao citizens speak Lao as their mother tongue or share many common attributes with the Lao Loum. This book makes occasional mention of Lao citizens of minority ethnicities and languages, who together make up perhaps 3040 per cent of the population (depending how you count), but is concerned principally with the culture of the Lao Loum, and how the foreigner in Laos can best co-exist with that culture, and how s/he can best do certain things, and best not do certain things in Laos. Things being actions that might have required very little thought in the visitors country of origin, but could require a search for information and advice in Laos. This book provides that information and advice, but because not all Lao are the same and not all foreigners are the same, it cannot be exhaustive. It aims to set the foreigner in situations and enhance skills of interaction.

This book is at one and the same time a guide to the Lao and to those aspects of Laos of which a foreigner staying awhile should be aware. It is an advisory, not a Bible, and like all advisories will be updated from time to time as Lao and Laos change. It offers non-Lao a shortcut to understanding the Lao and a fast-track to functioning within slow-track Laos. It is not simply a list of dos and donts: the non-Lao visitor is a foreign guest and should first and foremost enjoy Laos and the Lao. The best way of doing that is to allow that the Lao are going to do many things differently to the way you are used to and avoid providing Lao with any reason not to respect you. At the same time, do not become overly-preoccupied with details of daily life that would not worry the Lao themselves.

Robert Cooper

Any book written in English and dealing with Laos is going to use transliteration of Lao names and common words. Since there is no standard system in use, writers tend to pick and choose and make up depending on what they think best represents the sound as it would be made by a Lao. So do I.