25th SEA Games, Laos

(KPL) Some night pubs or entertainment places throughout Vientiane Capital might be ordered to close their operation temporarily during the 25th SEA Games, after having entertainment places found as guilty.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Public Security told KPL news that it would prepare a plan to join a co-operation with Vientiane Capital Information and Culture Office in inspecting the entertainment places, which have been seen as seriously social impact.

It pointed out that now many young people including students who have only 13-18 age, were seen in society they were being persuaded by many unsuitable things especially some entertainment places, which infringed regulations and principle.

Mr Sengpheth Phommaly, Deputy Head of Vientiane Capital Security Office disclosed yesterday that police officers have prepared their plan in order to cope with SEA Games by inspecting the entertainment places and cracking down the criminal gang throughout Vientiane Capital.

Now police officers suspected that having many entertainment places in Vientiane were accused of violating regulations, which involved with allowing many lower-age students to night pub and opening over times.

?Some entertainment places might be risky of enticing the young people step into necrotic drug easier if we no have any regulations for controlling them? said Mr Sengpheth.

He said that many ten places across the Vientiane Capital would be ordered to close their operation temporarily when police officers found many shortfall and guilty. As a group of business people who operate their business on entertainment they opened green light for young people aged lower than 18 year-old going to night pub.
He added that now the criminal and thief issues have been increased continuously, almost of cases are involved with young people.

The Lao male and female beach volleyball teams are confident of reaching the semi-finals at the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane this December.

The teams are currently training at a facility in Nongtha village in Chanthabouly district.

The teams previously trained on Done Chan beach and are now under the instruction of Chinese and Lao trainers.

One trainer, Mr Inthaphone Chengsavang said there is only one field for training, which means the female team trains between 8 and 10am and again from 2 to 4pm, while the male team trains from 6 to 8am and 4 to 6pm.

The teams hope to train at the facility to be used during the games in the coming months.

Mr Inthaphone said the Lao teams will face strong opposition from the Indonesian and Thai teams, who are amongst the best in the region.

The Lao teams will seek to gain international experience in the lead-up to the games.

The Lao Volleyball Federation will host a regional beach volleyball tournament before the games commence.

The women's team consists of players selected from the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of National Defence teams. The team is Phonthava Phetsalath, Thammasin Phongsavath, Nanthaxay Latmany and Somboun Sidavong.

The men's squad is made up of players from the Vientiane and Ministry of National Defence teams. The team is Chan-aloun Vongxaya, Pany Chanthavong, Phimphone Bualapha and Vongphachan Xayamoungkhoun.

Laos has never won a medal in beach volleyball at the SEA Games level.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

Mr Khamparn Douangpaseurt, a former champion cyclist and popular folk song singer, is now turning his talents to become a champion shooter of the air rifle as a member of the Laos team with high hopes of winning a medal during the SEA Games in Laos later this year.

Mr Khamparn, or Parn as he is better known to his friends, will be one of three national shooters of the air rifle (long rifle) to compete at this year's games from December 9 to 18. It is his first time in the national team for shooting and it is also the first time Laos has sent an air rifle team to compete in the games.

Mr Parn told the Vientiane Times yesterday that he has been fortunate because he has been successful in the things he has set out to do. When he was younger, some ten years ago, he had many successes in cycling and used to be a famous cyclist in the junior category. He received a gold medal in the national games in Khammuan province.

“My life seems to go in stages and any new direction happens according to the way I feel,” he said. Listening to him talk it is clear that he puts all his energy and enthusiasm into each of these stages in his life.

In 1994, after becoming a champion cyclist, he began learning to play the guitar and sing folk songs. Within two years, he was performing folk songs on stage at the Sara beer shop (near Thongkhankham market in Vientiane ). Then he entered his first competition for folk songs winning third place.

After that the shop asked him to play and sing more regularly. Over time he was asked by many shops and bars to perform. In 1996-1997, he made an album for the first time. It was called douangdao douangchai (Star and Heart). This first album became quite famous but he only continued to perform for another 12 months before he turned his attention to other things

Three years later in 2000, he was asked to join Lao Art Media where he laid down a second album called Thang haeng khouam fan (Road of Dreams). In this album he needed a female singer

Many auditions were held for female singers to sing with him, then eventually Miss Thidavanh Bounxouei or Alexandra was chosen. She has since gone on to become a Lao pop superstar singer.

Alexandra and Parn became popular with their song kha lom hack kha lom luang (Only sweet talking but never fall in love), which was a very popular song at that time.

That song, kha lom hack kha lom luang, was to be the climax of his career as a singer.

After two more years, he went to work with an international organisation to help campaign on HIV/AIDS awareness through his guitar playing and singing. He worked with this organisation from 2003 until 2007.

Mr Parn said before his success as a singer, he also used to occasionally practice target shooting with a hand gun.

In 2007, he went back to target shooting and in 2008 it was a busy time with Champassak province due to host the National Games.

“My life took a new direction again, when I started shooting with a hand gun. I tried hard and hoped to join the national games in Champassak,” he said with a strong voice. At that time he trained with his friends at the Vientiane shooting field and sometimes at the police field. He discovered when he tried the rifle that he was much better. During this time he entered many regional competitions but did not win any medals.

Despite this, through his diligent efforts training with the air rifle, he was selected to join the Champassak Games in 2008, as a representative from the Ministry of Planning and Investment. He won three silver medals at the games.

After his success at the Champassak Games, he was selected to join the national air rifle shooting team in May this year by the Lao Shooting Federation and will compete at the 25th SEA Games. He has been training at the Vientiane Shooting Field from June until now.

Mr Parn said that his average score was 560. The air rifle shooting event has a maximum score of 600 with 60 bullets from a distance of l0m.

A shooting trainer Mr Xayya Sisane said “It is the first time for us to send an air rifle (long rifle) team to compete in the SEA Games, so we selected only three shooters and one shooter for the substitute.”

He said Mr Parn was a talented shooter in the team. Mr Parn said he goes to the field to train five to six hours every day.

“Shooting is very different from singing or playing guitar because singing is entertainment and is full of commotion. While, shooting needs calm, concentration, focus, dedication and patience, and especially a love of shooting,” Mr Parn said.

He hoped, based on his statistics to win some medals for Laos . If he doesn't win anything because of lack of experience it would still be a good starting point to gain more experience.

Through the changing stages of his life, he does not know what will come next after shooting.

He also said, he has been invited to join other singers to sing in the opening ceremony at the games.

By Panyasith Thammavongsa
Vientianetimes

The Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC) has completed improvements to six football stadiums in Vientiane to be used for training in the lead-up to the 25th SEA Games this December.

Manager of the 25th SEA Games Construction Project, Mr Khiengkham Phoutchanhthavongsa said the Lao government spent 5 billion kip on upgrading the stadiums.

LAOSOC will permit football teams from the 11 countries competing in the games to train at the stadiums in the lead-up to the event.

The stadiums are located at the National University of Laos' (NUOL) Dongdok Campus, Ministry of National Defence (Km6), Bank Institution, Lao National Television, and two at the National Football Training Centre in Hoayhong village.

The Lao Football Federation has reserved the football training centre for the Lao national female football team to undertake their preparations for the games.

Mr Khiengkham said the six stadiums will be adequate for training needs in the lead-up to the games.

LAOSOC began repairing the stadium at the Ministry of National Defence, located in Chommany village, Xaysettha district, last February.

He said LAOSOC spent more than 100 million kip improving the stadium to include a running track and athletes' dressing rooms.

The ministry hosts its annual football competition and other activities to celebrate Army Day at the stadium.

When the SEA Games have concluded the football stadiums will be handed over to the relevant organisations for use and maintenance.

LAOSOC is responsible for the three football stadiums to be used for competition during the games – the national football stadium at Km16 in Xaythany district, the NUOL stadium and Chao Anouvong football stadium.

The NUOL stadium will host the first round of women's football matches during the games, while first round men's matches will take place at Chao Anouvong football stadium.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

Patuxay Monument is expected to be one of the most popular attractions for visitors during the SEA Games. It is the most important symbol of Laos nationhood in Vientiane .

The monument stands proudly and prominently at the end of the grand Lang Xang Avenue . It is often compared to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris but it is uniquely decorated with Lao friezes from Buddhist mythology.

A park around its base is popular with Vientiane residents where they can walk and exercise in the cooler evening air.

Inside there are stairs up to a viewing gallery which visitors can climb to take in the panoramic view over the city.

Visitors are also able to buy Lao products from more than twenty souvenir shops selling Lao handicrafts, including silk clothes, jewellery, Buddha statues, and much more.

One shop owner, Ms Phetsamone Thammavong said there were many visitors, especially foreigners, who visit Patuxay and buy souvenirs, which makes the vendors full of smiles.

“Postcards with pictures of the main cultural sites are very popular with tourists,” she said. Her shop also sells some SEA Games souvenirs such as key rings. “Many visitors are asking for SEA Games souvenirs such as shirts and maps but they are not released to the market yet,” she said.

Ms Phetsamone plans to improve her English language speaking in order to better communicate with visitors.

By Phetsamone Chandara
Vientiantimes

The 25th SEA Games Marketing and Benefit Committee (SEAGMBC) has announced ticket prices and distribution for the event to be held in Vientiane this December.

SEAGMBC Vice President, Mr Chanpheng Siratana said the ticket prices had been agreed upon by all the committees involved in organising the games.

“We met and discussed the ticket prices many times and have come up with what we believe are reasonable prices for both local and foreign people,” Mr Chanpheng said.

Tickets for both the opening and closing ceremonies of the games will be divided into four different categories, costing 500,000 kip, 400,000kip, 300,000 kip and 200,000 kip.

Ticket prices for sporting events will depend on the event, but will cost between 20,000 and 100,000 kip. Some events will be open to the public free of charge.

“Seven sports will be free for spectators - cycling, golf, snooker, athletics, petanque, weightlifting and archery,” he said.

The committee reported that currently tickets are only available for purchase in Laos .

“We are not sure if we will sell ticket online because the matter is still under discussion with other committees. We hope to make tickets available to sporting fans in other countries soon,” said Mr Chanpheng.

There have been public complaints that tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies of the games are too expensive. Many believe the high prices are unaffordable for Lao people.

Mr Chanpheng said the opening and closing ceremonies would be broadcast through Lao National Television but urged people to attend the events.

“The ceremonies will be fantastic and I really want Lao people to attend and experience the atmosphere at their home games.”

“We also plan to invite representatives of government offices to participate in the ceremonies,” he said.

“We are not yet sure how many tickets to the opening and closing ceremonies will be made available to the public, because we are unsure how many VIP guests will be attending.”

“We have taken steps to ensure that counterfeit tickets will not be an issue,” Mr Chanpheng said.

Tickets for the games are already designed and awaiting approval from various SEA Games committees before they are printed and ready for sale.

The 25th SEA Games will take place from December 9 to 18. Athletes will contest 390 events in the 25 sports of athletics, swimming, archery, badminton, snooker and billiards, muay, cycling, football, golf, judo, karatedo, sepak takraw, shooting, tennis, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, pencak silat, petanque, fin swimming, diving and shuttlecock.

Athletes from Laos , Vietnam , Cambodia , Brunei , Thailand , Malaysia , Indonesia , Myanmar , the Philippines , Singapore and Timor Leste will take part.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientiane

Young female Hmong students at Phonesavanh Secondary School are training hard in the hope of representing Laos in the weightlifting event at the SEA Games in Vientiane this December.

The students continue to improve under the guidance of a Thai coach.

Laos ' best weightlifter in the female 69kg division is 21-year-old Ms Bao Vang.

She is working hard to improve on her personal best weight of 75kg in the hope of representing her nation at the games.

She only began weightlifting six months ago and trains every day. She is currently in sixth class at Phonesavanh Secondary School .

Ms Bao does not expect to win a medal at the games because she has no experience at the international level.

She said the Thai team has very good weightlifters and expects they will dominate the event at the games.

She became interested in weightlifting after watching her friends at school training with a coach provided by the Lao Weight Lifting Federation.

Ms Bao is also a skilled football player. She was born in Veunkhaen village in Pakngum district, Vientiane and received scholarship to study at Phonesavanh Secondary School .

Another talented young female weightlifter is Ms Mailor Lorvangdua, who is in fifth class at Phonesavanh Secondary School .

Ms Mailor currently competes in the 52kg category but is aiming to move up to the 58kg division before the games.

She said weightlifting is a relatively new sport in Laos and is not very popular because people believe it is dangerous.

Ms Mailor is 16 years old and comes from Sibounheuang village in Thathom district in Xieng Khuang province. She said she will be very happy if she is selected to join the national team for the games.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

Young Lao female petanque players from many provinces are currently training hard in Vientiane in the hope of catching the eye of national selectors in the lead-up to the 25th SEA Games in December.

While fourteen female players are currently training at the University National of Laos, only 10 players will be selected to represent Laos at the games.

At the tender age of 15, Ms Manyvanh Souriya is the second ranked female petanque player in Laos .

Ms Manyvanh competed in the women's team (four players) event at the last SEA Games in Thailand in 2007.

She said although she did not win a medal at the games she gained valuable experience.

She said she will be very proud if she is selected to represent Laos again when the nation hosts the event.

Ms Manyvanh's favourite event is the mixed doubles; however she is no certainty to be selected for the event because Lao selectors will choose the players best suited to each event.

She said the Vietnamese, Thai and Cambodian teams are amongst the best in the petanque event.

Ms Manyvanh is in fourth class at secondary school in Saphanxay village, Pakxe district, Champassak province.

She won a bronze medal in the women's doubles at the eighth National Games in Champassak province last December, where she represented Champassak.

Next month, she will join other national players to compete in a friendly petanque competition in Vietnam .

Ms Manyvanh has two older sisters, two older brothers and a younger sister, all of whom live in Saphanxay village in Pakxe district. Her father, Mr Dangvansoy, works at a sawmill and her mother, Mrs Lethiheuang, is a merchant.

She began playing petanque when she was 11 year old at a field next to her house. She played with her friends everyday after school.

Ms Manyvanh said her family supports her sporting endeavours, especially as petanque is not dangerous or physically taxing.

She and her fellow team-mates train from 8am to 11am and from 3pm to 6pm every day. The squad stays at accommodation at the university.

Ms Manyvanh said she is hopeful of representing Laos at international level tournaments into the future.

At the last SEA Games, Laos won gold medals in the men's and women's shooting events and bronze medals in the men's and women's singles, men's doubles and team, and mixed doubles categories.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

(KPL) The Lao National Taekwondo Federation sent seven taekwondo fighters for a three-month training stint in the Republic of Korea to prepare them for the coming competition in the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane in December 2009.

The federation held a farewell ceremony for its athletes on 29 July and this event was attended by the President of Lao National Taekwondo Federation, Mr Vilay Douangmany.

Mr Vilay, who delivered the farewell speech, advised the sportsmen to train hard, to dutifully obey their instructors and to learn new techniques.

During their training, Lao fighters would be competing in the Korean Taekwondo Open and other competitions in Korea and such experiences would further condition them to reach their peak.

Three of the Lao fighters would be participating in the World Taekwondo Championship in Denmark and after that they will become back to Laos and continue to train in the National Training Centre in Sikeuth, Vientiane.

In order to give the best training the federation recruited Jin Jung Woo, a South Korean and a world class trainer in this sport to train the Lao team. He won the world taekwando championship title in 1996 and he trained the Lao team in 2003.

(KPL) A new market, Vangthong Night Bazaar in Vientiane Capital will be opened early next month.

Next month the construction work will be 98 percent and it will be surely taken place at the same time while the construction was going on, Director of Vangthong Night Bazaar, Mr Phouvong Pamisith said.

The construction will be fully completed before the inauguration day of the 25th SEA Games.

?The Night Bazaar was constructed with the aim of welcoming the upcoming 25th SEA Games and the celebration of the 450th anniversary founding of Vientiane Capital in 2010,? he said.

The construction work started in May 2008 and now it completed 90 per cent of the plan, the director of night bazaar said.

Mr Phouvong added that the market would provide and serve the tourists and Vientiane residents for 24 hours.

Domestic and local products made in Laos such as souvenirs and Lao traditional textiles are available for sale.

The construction of night bazaar was a joint venture of local businessmen which was a total investment of 25 billion kip. The government gave a 40-year of land concession.

Night bazaar is located behind of the old Lao National Stadium in Chanthaboury district, Vientiane Capital.

(KPL) Villagers of Thapa village, Hardsaifong district, Vientiane Capital, have a tradition on growing rice and other crops during the rainy season and sell the surplus to markets in Vientiane.

Mr Savatdy Phoudthavong, chief of Thapa, said that the villagers were growing various crops to supply the 25th SEA Games events, scheduled late this year in Laos.Mr Savatdy said that the government and the district administration asked the villagers to grow rice, tomatoes, lettuce, scallion, collard, cabbage, cauliflower and maize.

Thapa village has a total land area of 470 hectares. The villagers grew second season rice on 186 hectares and all the growers had already harvested their second seasonal rice crop.

This village has a population of 1,686 in 357 families, 348 households.

Lao International Challenge 2009, a badminton competition, ended successfully last week, with 111 competitors from eight countries including Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia and Laos.

The five categories was played by knock-out system using rally point scoring system in accordance to Badminton World Federation level 4 rules and regulations.

The final results are as follow:

Men's singles final: Wong Beryno Jiann Tze (Malaysia) won Nguyen Hoang Nam (Vietnam) with the scores: 21:17, 21:16

Women's singles final: Umezu Chie (Japan) won Kametani Nozomi (Japan) with the scores: 19-21, 21-15, 21-12

Men's doubles final: Angriawan Berry, Ulinnuha Muhammad (Indonesia) won Vanhvilay Chanhda, Latsavong Yothin (Laos) with the scores: 21-16, 21-15

Women's doubles final: Akao Aki, Imabeppu Yasuyo (Japan) won Yamada Seiko, Hayashi Yuka(Japan) with the scores: 15-21, 21-11, 21-14

Mixed's doubles final: Duong Bao Duc, Thai Thi Hong Gam (Vietnam) won Ulinnuha Muhammad, Gozali Jenna, with the scores: 21-17, 21-23, 21-18

(KPL) Some members of the Lao Jewelry Association and other local businessmen voiced their unhappiness that they were not given equal opportunity to buy any of the sponsorship copyright of the 25th SEA Games? as they were priced at skyhigh levels.
Lao Jewelry Association said that they felt very upbeat and optimistic when they first heard that Laos would be hosting this regional sporting event and added that the business people who dealt with handicraft, souvenir, textile industry and jewelry dreamt they would be able to use their skills and creativity to design special products for the SEA Games meet in
December.

This association argued that they could acquire the coveted copyright only if they are reasonably priced and on its acquisition it would set off the ripple effect of creating jobs and income for the low income Lao people.

Mr Phouvong Khamisith, President of Lao Jewelry Association told KPL News last week that his body is not a large organization and could not afford to buy a SEA Games copyright which costs US$10,000 but what they are after is just the 25th SEA Games logo for labelling their goods.

?If we buy the copyright we might make a loss as the expenditure on the purchase is higher than the capital of our products,?? said Mr Phouvong Khamisith.
Commenting on this issue, the Lao traders in Vientiane Capital said that almost all the goods for the 25th SEA Games might be manufactured in foreign countries, especially Thailand and Vietnam and they would be sent to Laos for sale during the SEA Games period.

They added that this is only a scenario but it is most likely to unfold in the days to come but what is clearly discernible is that the Lao people are not deriving any benefit and they are the losers.

Lao traders argued that they should be given discounts as the event would be held in Laos and their design and craftsmanship would surprise the SEA Games visitors and also raise the image of the country.

Phetchampa Company is a joint venture company which got the green light from the government to operate its business on advertisement during SEA Games. Currently, some local companies, such as Lao Brewery and others had already bought copyrights from Phetchampa Company.

Construction of a four-lane road, linking Don Noun Three Junction to the National Stadium in Vientiane 's Xaythany district, is not running on schedule, a project official said last week.

Head of the Vientiane SEA Games road project, Mr Noulot Latxaphong said the main reason behind the delay is the wet season.

He said it is difficult to conduct land levelling in the wet season and heavy rainfalls have destroyed areas that have already been levelled as well as causing deterioration to already paved areas.

“We had set a target to achieve 18 percent of total construction each month, but in July we only achieved 5 percent,” he said.

“We will do our best to ensure the project is completed on schedule by October to welcome the SEA Games at the end of this year.”

The project is currently around 75 percent complete. Asphalt paving is 70 percent complete, despite the fact it was scheduled to be finished by June.

The road's walkways are 50 percent complete and traffic islands 20 percent complete.

Mr Noulot said measures have been introduced to speed up construction efforts.

“If there is no rain we will increase working periods. For example, we usually stop working at 6pm, but we will try to push that out to 8 or 9pm if the weather permits,” he said.

When finished the four-lane road will be 21m wide and 4.5km long.

It will be paved with a 5cm layer of asphalt and is expected to last for more than ten years.

The current road is only two lanes and 8 metres wide. In its current form, the road is unable to meet traffic requirements during a major event.

Construction is estimated at a total cost of US$3.7 million, of which US$3 million is a low interest loan from the Republic of Korea and the remainder from the government coffers.

There are several roads under construction in the lead-up to the SEA Games in December including Phontong Road, linking Dongdok to Savang village, and the 450 Year Road, linking Dongdok Road to the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, in Dongphosy village, Hadxaifong district.

The new roads will help facilitate increased traffic in Vientiane during the games.

By Times Reporters

Lao national tennis players need the Lao Tennis Federation to support them to attend international tournaments, claimed some players recently.

A member of the national men's tennis team said the players need to compete in international level events to gain experience before the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane later this year.

“Just training and not competing isn't so good. We would like the federation to address this problem because we are hosting the games and want to perform well in front of our home crowd,” the player said.

Many players agree that if the federation cannot arrange for the squad to compete in international tournaments they will continue to struggle to perform.

A committee member of the federation, Mr Sitthisay Sackpaseuth said yesterday the federation would like to send its players to compete in international tournaments but faces a shortage of funding.

“We plan to send them to a competition in Thailand soon. All sporting federations want their athletes to gain experience in the international arena, but many face funding problems like us,” he said.

Mr Sitthisay said Lao tennis players are still amateurs, which means it is hard to attract sponsorship.

“We hope to send them to international tournaments soon and we will also arrange local competitions for them to identify their weaknesses, so they can continue to improve their skills in the future,” he said.

The federation plans to invite tennis players from two or three countries in the region to participate in a competition at the tennis courts to be used during the SEA Games prior to the games commencing.

“The competition would provide a good test for our athletes, as well as referees and other technical staff before the real event in December,” Mr Sitthisay said.

The federation now has four female and seven male tennis players preparing for the games. The squad trains six hours a day, six days a week.

Federation Secretary, Mr Sisomphet Xayarath said the federation selected the squad in March, following on from the Eighth National Games in Champassak province last year.

“I believe all the players will do their best for their nation because they have demonstrated their dedication and willingness to practise hard,” Mr Sisomphet said.

The federation has vowed to do its best to raise more funds to allow the players to get international experience.

“The federation is currently discussing possibilities and will announce future plans next month,” Mr Sitthisay said.


By Souknilundon Southivongnorath

Many restaurants in Vientiane are preparing special new menus for visitors during the 25th SEA Games in December, according to a Vientiane Times survey yesterday.

The city already has many restaurants serving foods from different parts of the world, in particular, Indian foods are expected to be a popular dish for visitors.

“Nazim” is the oldest Indian restaurant in Vientiane and is a favourite among local and foreign diners. It has over 100 items on its menu which includes many that have the real taste of Indian dishes. These are popular with customers, as well as the reasonable prices.

The restaurant's owner Mrs Sengchanh Vanvilay told our Vientiane Times reporter that after 20-years of experience they had a high reputation for the quality and genuine flavours of their Indian cuisine.

“Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean people coming to support their teams will want to eat halal food. We are careful to prepare our food in accordance with halal custom. We believe we can provide the best service and foods for them,” she explained.

The restaurant is located at the Mekong riverside in Mixay village, Chanthabouly district Vientiane . It has a small outside eating area but if people look inside it can serve up to 100 guests at a time

“The most popular dishes are sheep and chicken masalas, mutton pepper dry masala, chicken tika masala and garlic nan. Many customers like it really spicy because Indian food should be heavily spiced but some will not,” Mrs Sengchanh explained.

She added that while most of their customers are from Malaysia , Indonesia and Singapore , many Western and European customers are also interested in eating Indian food.

The restaurant imports most of its ingredients directly from India , because they believe their food should be genuine . However some fresh ingredients they will buy from local markets.

“Not only our ingredients, we have also had a genuine Indian chef to cook in the traditional way for customers here for many years,” she said.

Nazim now has branches in Vangvieng, Luang Prabang and Champassak provinces. Luang Prabang is also very popular like the capital.”

Mrs Sengchanh welcomes the games as an opportunity to improve even more on her already high standards and is planning to reorganise her tables and service arrangements.

“I really hope to be able to serve the best food for visitors during the event,” she said.

Many other Indian restaurants in Vientiane are also preparing their establishments to welcome games visitors. So lovers of Indian food will not find it hard to find a restaurant to their taste in central Vientiane .


By Souknilundon Southivongnorath
Vientianetimes

A Vientiane taxi company is improving services and increasing its fleet size to meet expected higher demand in the city during the SEA Games later this year.

Closed-circuit-televisions (CCTV), two-way radios and global positioning systems (GPS) will boost services and increase security for passengers and drivers, said Chief Executive Officer of the Taxi Vientiane Lao Group Company, Ms Bounmy Thepphavong last week.

“We can monitor all our cars through GPS and CCTV to ensure the safety of our customers. We also have a call centre with staff who can speak numerous languages, so that drivers can arrange for their customers to communicate with them via a two-way radio system,” she said.

“All these measures assist us to monitor the performance of drivers and help reduce security fears,” she said.

The company has supplied traffic police with a list of its registered vehicles so that police can inform them if one of their drivers is caught driving illegally or inappropriately.

“The SEA Games is very important for the region and attracts many visitors. Our company wants to provide customers with the best services possible,” Ms Bounmy said.

The company hopes to import a further 170 taxis from China before the games commence, as well as hiring more drivers to meet demand for services.

“After our pilot project ends, we hope to launch full operations with a further 170 cars,” Ms Bounmy said.

The company currently has 30 taxis on call 24 hours a day.

Each taxi contains information brochures on various hotels, restaurants and tourism sites in Vientiane .

A journey in a taxi costs 20,000 kip for the first kilometre and 2,000 kip for every 300 metres thereafter.

The company's headquarters is located in Saphanthong village, Sisattanak district, Vientiane .


By Souriya Meunviseth and Lourn Saboeun
Vientianetimes