This might come off as a rant but am I the only one that is sick and tired of recent deportees and even some Lao Americans who visit try to compare Laos to the USA. How can you not understand basic concept like weight classes in boxing. USA super heavy weight and Laos super light weight.

Things usually expressed are how " cheap" it is, most of these guys didn't realize they buy petroleum by the liter and if you have a car you will be paying more than what you did in the USA to fill up. Good look finding premium 91 93 gas as well.

Also regarding how cheap food is, most of these guys are living on remittances from the USA being sent by their family members and spouses. If the average Lao person only makes 2-300 USD per month and you are getting 4-500 USD per month then of course things will seem cheap. You have a stronger currency. Try living on Lao wages as couple of them deportees who found day labor jobs get about $15-20 USD per day

Last but not least they talk about big houses and buying land, you can even call out Lao elders in the USA for this as well. We all know you cannot purchase land if you are not a Lao citizen are there work arounds for it yes. But imagine having a nice big house but with little or zero infrastructure. Meaning functioning electrical grid, sewer, garbage, good roads, bridges, etc.

I learned this lesson very only after my 2nd trip to Laos as the 1st trip I came with the American arrogance. Most Lao people do not know this but when they were doing the whole refugee resettlement Laos wasn't even on the list and when Laos did get on the list it was for the northern hillside tribes only not really for southern Lao people. Don't believe me look it up, Former President Joe Biden was politician a during this time he didn't even want to bring the Vietnamese here as refugees.

Weird to see this all the way on they NY Post site but is the same outrage there for the other races that have and continue to do the same?

For those that use Facebook , if you look this group up people set up a charity for them. If you believe in their cause then why not support.

So you are meeting a group of new Lao people vs new Non Lao people , how does the social introduction go for you?

Lao people - hey this is such and such, others oh hey, sometimes a name is thrown out usually a nick name

Non Lao people - hey this is " insert first name " others Hi I'm this name and that name, sometime s hand gesture or hand shake.

Interesting story to read.

Such a tragic accident regardless of the ethnicity but when you see a Lao last name it hits home. Just driving down the road and minding his own business. Not sure if the driver of the semi even knows what happened. Praying for his family.

I recall seeing something online about this maybe 2 months ago however I cannot find that link again. For those that know they will deported this might be an option to stay in North America. If you were in this position would you try it?

Here is a recent news on the US lifting some not all visa sanctions on Laos. You will have to dig further to see which ones.

I don't think I have ever seen one where I live even when we had a bigger community, I think it was handled by people at the temple or people who had some type of home business.

Do you have one in your area and do you think this type of store subconsciously promotes one to maintain a monoracial marriage?

Sad story on top of sad hair style.

This can apply to deportees and those that go and visit. Also can apply to various situations. I myself am guilty of this on my 1st trip home about 20 years ago and on the 2nd trip definitely cut that bs out. However I just saw something online that made me shake my head twice

Without mentioning any names but a recent deportee to Laos opens a restaurant, great he finds a way to make a living. However heres the kicker, his signage shows the far to common poor marketing Lao people do here with the “ Lao-Thai” thing and in English in Laos of all places. One can argue that a random tourist might want a Thai option but thats a rare case and most tourist will want to try “ Lao “ food.

Once again a poor understanding of optics

Do you see many Lao people in your city/town going for government jobs. I know the first generation really didn't do this due to language barrier but how about the 2nd generation since language isn't an issue. These jobs aren't widely advertised and have heard about the huge amount of nepotism but I never looked into myself.

Just in case your looking for extra money.

Do you know any families like this. They are either the only Lao family or 1 of less than 10 families, nowhere near or very far from an enclave city/town. I'm sure most of our parents didn't know or have any control where they were going to be resettled at which leads to another question why would you stay in a place like this.

I have relatives like this they do not live in America but Europe the place they live they are 1 if 10 families who happen to come from Asia. I can tell this did some type of mental damage to 2 of my cousins cousins. They are Lao/Viet and yet still have never went to a cultural celebration for either side despite it being available in neighboring countries. If anything they had to latch on to nearby Thai community for temple based things.

I feel my community is in this type of decline and I am hopeful to move out and back to my original resettlement state.

Do you know many you grandparents. The age group would be 40-50. I recall totally bugging out when a guy I grew up with told us he was a grand parent at 40. I knew he had kids young but I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in this case.

Not sure what is going on here but age 45, I hope she has citizenship.

Does your community participate in your city/town politics outside of voting? Going to things like town meetings, protest, etc.

As the title states. I've been to a couple new years out of state in the past 2 years however I can only speak regarding the event not the community that lives there daily. My prior post mention continuing migration to southern states, however the question is which city in America with a heavy Lao community is thriving.

Examples of thriving -new business, increase in monoracial Lao marriages/families, high educational attainment, new immigration and socioeconomic development that benefits Lao people.

Go big or go home they say.

Another deportee death to be reported. You can get the full story on the Roots Laos Facebook page. This guy was under 40 as well. Link below if interested

Hoyvanh “Tony” Khounmixay

Donation

This guy is running for lieutenant governor. He previously served in city called Newport, with almost a 0.001 Asian population. From my readings he is biracial Lao father White mother, lived in a super affluent community outside the 2 main enclaves for Lao people in RI.

I haven' read much about what he stands for but something about him is off. This brings me to another story about a fully Lao guy that ran for lieutenant governor in California, however we would have never known since he legally changed both his first and last name. He didn't win but someone that needs to do a full name change is weird.

In your city, does any Lao owned business who has been in business for over 30 years or more same owner same location. Have they ever upgraded their building, change logo, or anything to give a visible upgrade to their business. I find most Lao stores that been open for a long time , have the same smell, same signage, almost a living time capsule outside of the goods being made/sold.

Since Covid, have you noticed any new or rise in homeless Lao people. I mean I see everything from people that lived in apartments for very long times and all of the sudden the landlord sells, losing jobs, etc. I've seen various stories all over the states including one dude I grew up with dying from a car running him over at night.

I live in a small city but the housing is extremely tight, this is something most Lao people here don't even think about the competition for housing and market rate. Most have paid under market rates for their entire lives due to not living in the best conditions.

Last homeless Lao person I met was on the strip in Nashville, I saw the one and only Asian guy outside of my group. Dude was probably late 50s early 60's, I gave him some money and asked where he was from he said Thailand but his sound made me do a double check and asked if he was Lao, then he tried to play it off and at that point I knew he was Lao.

This is the current mayor of St. Paul and these are allegations currently brought up against her. She had another issue prior that caught the news.

This was no doubt one of the biggest tragedies to strike the Lao community since setting foot on American soil. At first I couldn’t understand the lack of national news coverage. Then even more concerning was the complete indifference to the incident within the larger Lao community. I didn’t know the victims personally but members of my family did and were at the funerals. Initially I suspected Mexican Cartels. They are brutal in their enforcement of the drug trade in California. Sadly all indicators point to an enemy from within. Even the gang epidemic of the 1990’s didn’t bring this kind of brutality. That was mostly gang on gang or a robbery gone bad. While tragic and wrong you could at least rationalize it. For someone to slaughter mothers, grandfathers and people just trying to earn some money is a calice and inexcusable crime. I hope someone in the community steps up and brings these animals to justice.