European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Going backward to the future in a tropical Bell Jar byte Bartimus associated press o nce the Royal kingdom of a million elephants Laos is now practising the gospel according to Lenin isolating itself Ina tropical Bell Jar without a single government computer and Only one discotheque. Since the communists took Over Laos in 1975, the agrarian nation hemmed in by China Thailand Vietnam Burma and Cambodia has gone backward to the future. Pre revolution pro american leaders Are dead have fled the country or have been deposed to re education Camps. The poor Are poorer the Rich Are gone. There Are few remnants of an educated Middle class. Stern ideologues who fought from the 1940s Onward for a Patchet lao Victory Rule with tight listed control. Soukhanouvong the red Prince abolished his own Royal heritage and is now president. There Are no democratic freedoms. The Economy is deteriorating. The . Government estimates 10 percent of Laos people have left the country since 1975. There Are now More laotians in America about 150,000 than there Are in Vientiane. Hmong tribe people the Mountain dwellers who were once allies of americans fighting in Indochina Are crammed by the thousands in makeshift refugee Camps in Northeast Thailand. Some of the hmong who be escaped accuse Laos marxist Hierarchy of using chemical weapons against them. A top priority of the laotian government for 1986 is the establishment of a Library for the nation. That s one Library for 3.6 million people but less than half of them can read or write. Yet Laos riverfront capital of Vientiane is still a Lovely Backwater of whitewashed buildings flowering Trees pungent sidewalk food stalls and smiling merchants who warmly Greet the rare sight of american visitors and their Welcome dollars. It s a lot quieter now and it was plenty quiet before the communists took Over 12 years ago said . State department officer Stephen Johnson. In 1975, Johnson was political officer at the . Embassy in Vientiane. He returned to the City Early this year accompanying a delegation of . Senators and congressmen who went to Southeast Asia to talk about South China sea a map americans still missing in action More than a decade after the Vietnam War ended. I was struck by All the empty shops the Lack of people at the hotel the deteriorating plumbing and water system the Way things had obviously gone downhill said Johnson who grew up in Asia As the son of a former Diplomat. But there Are no troops on the Street no military formations no oppressive atmosphere. It is just a quiet place now. Very very  Vientiane s citizens do not hurry toward their daily destiny. The 100,000 residents of this communist Brigadoon beside the Mekong prefer instead to stroll the wide Dusty boulevards of their City. In a nation smaller than Oregon where an average a customer admires a Western mannequin at a Street Side stand in Vientiane. Page 16 stars and stripes sunday March 23, 1986 a photo life Span is 46 years and an annual income is about $150, there is no reason to Rush. Even some of the laotians benevolent Stone Buddhas spend eternity lying Down. Those who do not walk to work or Temple or Market in Vientiane pedal there on antiquated bicycles. Sometimes three people Perch in perfect balance aboard a two Wheeler a woman s Sarong skirt demurely wrapped about her Ankles As she rides sidesaddle. There Are few cars. Those earmarked for top leaders Are mostly soviet built volgas and even those sturdy Black sedans Don t stray far from Vientiane. There Are Only a few roads outside the capital. My idea of a pleasant sunday is a Short trip to the country or a picnic with my family said Sangkhom Phomphakdy an official in the ministry of foreign affairs. Vientiane s Broad tree lined streets along with crusty bread and government in Triplicate were bequeathed by France before its colonialism finally failed in the 1950s. What was once a genteel provincial outpost on the fringe of the French Cochin Empire is now a place where almost nobody goes anymore. The aging hard Core leaders of what is now the lao people s democratic Republic Don t want an influx of foreigners who might destabilize the rigid control exercised by the disciples of the soviet Union and Vietnam. We do not have Many amenities needed to Host visitors said Sangkhom in Good English. For instance we do not yet have government computers but we would like to get  Sangkhom cited such clerical problems and logistical handicaps As reasons for restricting the number of westerners allowed to attend 10th anniversary celebrations last december. We did not have enough hotel rooms or cars he said. He added however that soviet bloc journalists had no trouble getting credentials transport or a place to sleep. Today instead of civil servants out of Paris or hordes of american contractors and . Officials orchestrating a Covert Jungle War there Are just a few soviet diplomats and East european technocrats sweating it out under Laos Noonday Sun. There Are also according to Western sources 50,000 vietnamese troops scattered through the country to keep order alongside a like number of laotian soldiers. During the 1960s and 1970s, when America was mired in the indochinese War in Vietnam and Cambodia Laos was the third leg of both sides military tripod. Since dec. 2, 1975, when communist victors abolished the monarchy dissolved a coalition government and established a socialist state Laos has turned a cold shoulder to the West. Earlier that same year there were 1,400 employees at the . Embassy in Vientiane. Today the lao government permits nine . Citizens to live and work at the embassy. But Laos flexing its autonomy to its allies in the marxist bloc still maintains diplomatic ties to the United states. There is no such Bond Between Hanoi or phenom penh and Washington. The serenity of Vientiane caught me by Surprise said sen. Frank Murkowski a Alaska who headed the . Delegation allowed into Laos in january for a rare glimpse of life under the new regime. I was t prepared for the Beauty of the people the River the City itself. It was sort of unnerving to me coming As we did directly from Hanoi with its overwhelmingly visible poverty and the crush of  hamburgers and French Fries were served As the entree at a formal laotian government luncheon honouring Murkowski and sen. Dennis Deconcini d ariz., rep. Bob Mcewen a Ohio rep. Mike Birlirakis r-fla., their wives and staff members. We Hope you like this special Steak Sangkhom said. It is to make you enjoy our food or hospitality it is the Correct thing to  Murkowski said such concern for their guests sensibilities made him feel comfortable in Vientiane. Or perhaps it s because we have an american