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Loss of forest cover has an important impact on global climate change. This study investigated variation in forest cover in Luang Prabang district, the capital of Luang Prabang province, Lao PDR, using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite imagery over the period 1988–2021. The maximum likelihood classification technique was used to classify Landsat images of the years 1988, 2001, 2011, and 2021 and was evaluated for accuracy using the kappa coefficient for each year (0.860, 0.869, 0.878, and 0.950, respectively). The potential of classification based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) to detect changes in natural forest and cultivated forest cover compared with supervised classification was also evaluated. The natural forest cover of the study area was estimated at 84.09% (687.82 km2) of the total land area in 1988. This number decreased to 56.93% (465.69 km2) in 2001 and subsequently increased to 60.85% (497.77 km2) in 2011 and 66.49% (543.92 km2) in 2021. Cultivated forest cover in 1988 was 4.96% (40.58 km2) and increased to 16.84% (137.76 km2) in 2001, however it decreased to 13.57% (110.97 km2) in 2011 and 9.67% (79.10 km2) in 2021. Severely reduced forest cover is often associated with the expansion of agriculture on the forest edge. Logging and charcoal production are other problems that contribute to the reduction of forest cover. Overall, our results show the necessity of forest management, rational land-use planning policy, and increased community awareness of conservation and sustainable development of forest resources in the study area in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the heritage site of Luang Prabang, Laos, international and local stakeholders employ the practices and rhetoric of conservation to constitute and reaffirm their belonging to imagined national communities. By negotiating with each other the preservation of old houses and temple rites, French heritage experts reaffirm the role of France as a universal civilizing power, Laotians validate the status of Laos as pearl of unsullied Buddhism, and Thai tourists enhance their status as a modern, progressive nation. While many studies have linked heritage with colonial and national identity, we demonstrate how a single site may serve to confirm multiple national identities through friction with significant cultural others. Heritagization may thus be both a repressive, as well as a creative force in forging dynamically evolving identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Luang Prabang, Laos, since 2006, expands the analysis of the conflicts and divergent interpretations regarding non-Western UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We suggest that the Buddhist temples of Luang Prabang, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995, may best be understood as 'shared shrines' or 'contested sanctuaries.' Here, three cosmological perceptions intersect: the local Laotian Buddhist cosmology, the statist cosmology of the contemporary Laotian regime, and the Western cosmological perception of heritage, comprising modernity and (colonial) nostalgia. We show how the relevant parties – local town dwellers, Laotian state officials, and Western foreign experts and tourists – are involved in a cosmological debate over the ways in which rituals operate, time evolves, and material objects are created, maintained, destroyed and rebuilt. We conclude by arguing that these differing perceptions of the universe make world heritage sites such as the Buddhist temples of Luang Prabang into ambiguous and contested spaces, where a temporary, apparently harmonious balance exists between conflicting cosmologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Rapid tourism development adversely impacts and negatively transforms World Heritage Sites. This study aimed at examining how tourism growth has impacted the built environment of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR through an empirical approach. Luang Prabang has received a critical warning from World Heritage Committee for the escalating development pressure on its vulnerable landscape. Hence, this study examined two aspects: (1) the spatial pattern of the increase of touristic usage; and (2) the relation between the increase of touristic usage and the significant changes in the built environment. For this, geographical information systems (GIS) are combined with statistical methods such as logistic regression and chi-square test of independence. The results affirmed that the change from other types of usage to touristic usage in existing buildings has a higher chance to occur along riverbank areas than in the middle of the peninsula in the core heritage area. Change to touristic usage is also related with three significant changes in the built environment, namely: (1) change from other types of architecture to Lao traditional architecture; (2) change from modern to traditional roof materials; and (3) change from traditional to modern building materials. This indicates that the increase in touristic usage has contributed to strengthening the heritage elements of the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is motivated by the initiative to implement mobile learning to promote world heritage site awareness among young adults living in the world heritage town of Luang Prabang in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). Mobile learning is still in its infant stage in Laos. The objective of this study is to investigate the drivers of mobile learning acceptance among young adults in Luang Prabang. Structural equation modeling analysis based on 349 students of higher education indicates that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment directly affected their behavioral intention to use mobile learning. Social influence and self-efficacy indirectly affected mobile learning acceptance through perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use respectively. Findings from this study yield insights for policy recommendations for mobile learning implementation in Luang Prabang, and also contribute to the understanding of mobile learning acceptance from the perspectives of a least developed country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Luang Prabang World Heritage Site experienced tremendous change caused by rapid development and tourism growth. It is recognized that change is inevitable in evolving historic urban cities. Adequate information is essential in formulating strategies to manage change without compromising heritage values. Existing studies are critical of the impact of tourism negatively transforming Luang Prabang but lack in-depth analysis and a significant sample size to clearly discern the changes. This paper addresses the need to visualize the significant changes affecting the built environment of the core inscribed area of Luang Prabang World Heritage. Geographic information systems (GIS) were applied to compare the landscape between 1999 and 2009 based on indicators adopted from the Safeguarding and Preservation Plan (PSMV). Four significant changes were identified as follows: (1) there was an evident shift from residential to touristic use, particularly to guesthouses; (2) Lao traditional architecture has replaced modern architecture; (3) modern building materials have replaced traditional building materials; and (4) traditional roof materials have replaced modern roof materials. Changes in landscape were interpreted and factors that caused the changes were identified from the local stakeholders' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luang Prabang native textile is regarded as the city's principal cultural merchandise. In the past, aesthetic and refined weaving was intended as gifts to present to kings and aristocractes only. However, after Luang Prabang was declared a world heritage site, the city became a popular tourist attraction, and this raised the value of its cultural goods. Textile became an item precious to travellers, the most famous being the royal fabric or (Pa-Tor-Raj) of Luang Prabang's Royal Residence. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate patterns, identity and creative processes of the native textile industry of Luang Prabang, a World Heritage city of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. The study uses the in-depth interview method to elicit information from well-known professional weavers and royal fabric weavers who have been producing textile since before the regime change. The results of the study revealed that the patterns of native textile could be classified into two main categories. The first was textile used in daily life, such as sarong, Pa-Biang (shawl used by women that wraps over one shoulder around the chest and back) and shawl (used by women to cover their shoulders), while the second category was textile used in religious ceremonies, such as tung (fabric hanging down a long piece of wood) and curtain material. The prominent motif used in weaving is a pattern inspired from ritual and traditional belief representing the great naga or serpent. Manufacturing procedure was developed from the surroundings and religious faith; these may be divided into three categories: 1) patterns derived from animals, such as the naga, mermaids, birds, lions and the Morm, mythological creature 2) patterns derived from flora, such as trees, vines, flowers and fruit 3) patterns based on people and folklore, such as virtue codes of morality and tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to assess tourists' expectations and perceptions of service quality of resorts and hotels in Luang Prabang by integrating the SERVQUAL model and Kano's model. Four hundred and seven sets of responses were collected from tourists staying in resorts and hotels in Luang Prabang using a structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that tourists' perception of resorts and hotels service quality is significantly higher than expectation in terms of service reliability and tangibles. According to Kano's model, the results show that among resorts and hotel quality improvement indicators, there are two one-dimensional quality elements (O). These include the nonunexpected service costs and friendliness indicator and courtesy of the service personnel indicator. After integrating SERVQUAL results with Kano's model results, both areas show high expectations from tourists. Moreover, the results from an expectation-service gap matrix indicate that the areas that require attention and improvement, due to high expectations and high negative service gap, are availability of service personnel when needed, provision of adequate information about the service delivered, ability to handle customer complaints efficiently and seeking the best to satisfy the interests of customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Painted and engraved rock art appear at the Pak Ou caves, a complex of caverns containing Buddhist offerings and shrines located at the confluence of two rivers in Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. Faded red paintings and writing can be found on the cliff face housing the lower cave, colloquially known as the "Cave of a Thousand Buddhas," while in the upper cave, red anthropomorphs and flowers along with black anthropomorphic figures are painted on the walls. This red and black rock art may predate the Buddhist use of the cave. However, one painting found in the upper cave 10 m from the entrance is unusual as it utilizes a green pigment, and resembles modern steamships that might have transited the upper Mekong. This article considers the historic context of the cave and significance of this Laotian rock art site, which has received little attention in academic literature thus far. Because boat imagery in rock art is not unheard of in Southeast Asia, we hope to highlight the potential for this art to illuminate episodes from the recent past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper reports on the findings of a study into the interactions between entrepreneurs and heritage regulators in the conservation of historic buildings in the UNESCO listed town centre of Luang Prabang, Laos. Based on interviews and surveys conducted with property owners and business owners in this heritage zone, and with a representative of the town's heritage regulation authority, the research investigates the relation between enterprises, the heritage environment they occupy, and the Heritage House – the heritage regulation body that determines the way in which they may use and adapt their buildings. Issues include perceived benefits and constraints brought by preservation policies and practices, as well as changes in property usage and decline of traditional ways of life as spinoff effects of UNESCO listing, which threaten the town's intangible heritage. Entrepreneurs and regulators each perceive the other stakeholder group as a source of constraints and challenges. The paper proposes that understanding heritage in terms of collaborative, rather than adversarial, processes, could contribute to more socially sustainable conservation practice, and makes recommendations for institutional and organizational changes that could support such a culture of negotiation and collaboration in heritage conservation in Luang Prabang. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Inextricably interwoven into the Western tourist experience of Luang Prabang, former royal capital and former French colonial town, is a food encounter increasingly subsumed under the description of ‘Lao-French fusion cuisine’. There has been a conscious exploitation of the connection between the cultural heritage of this World Heritage town, and the distinctiveness of its cuisine as intangible heritage. This article explores the intersections between the way the cuisine is represented, the contestations around these representations (what is included and excluded, the use of the past) and the Western cuisine experience of Luang Prabang. We argue the rhetoric of fusion is partial, selective and strongly influenced by the various ways Luang Prabang (re)presents itself to Western tourists. Further, that the touristic image/experience of Luang Prabang's cuisine camouflages under the fusion description a highly mobile set of dynamics and understanding of the food scenarios within the historic city. In particular, the intermingling of many food traditions; the highly improvized nature of cuisine, the interplay between local farming, markets and food production, food imports from Thailand, China, Vietnam and France, the way cuisine marks and ritualizes social groups (Lao bourgeoisie, students, monks, hilltribe ethnic minorities, expatriates, Western tourists, etc.) and the ebb and flow between these groups in food production and consumption. The heritage tourist rhetoric of fusion masks complexity and freezes an open-ended process into a fixed representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies of tourism in Luang Prabang World Heritage site in Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic are critical of the perceived impacts on heritage values of the city. Criticisms relate to the incursion of new buildings into the historic core, the loss of older dwellings, increases in foreigners renting and restoring properties as guest houses and restaurants and the movement of locals out of the historic core. Other criticisms relate to the effects on community support for the monastic communities that create the sacred and ritual geography of the city, the loss of community diversity within the World Heritage boundaries and increasing uniformity as the development of tourism continues apace. While our research does not challenge these observations it raises questions about the type of analyses and conclusions reached. Too often ‘heritage’, ‘tourism’ and ‘community’ are considered self-evident and bounded entities, with tourism something faintly alien that causes disruption to the urban fabric of Luang Prabang and, consequently, to the values for which it was inscribed. We propose a different way of conceptualising the relationship between heritage, community and tourism by examining the interaction between global, regional and local mobilities in the context of globalisation and under the aegis of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Paragonimus harinasutai metacercariae were found in a species of freshwater crab, Indochinamon ou, collected in a small stream of Namback District, Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. Adult flukes were recovered after experimental infection of the metacercariae to dogs. Metacercariae were round or slightly elliptical, 0.666 x 0.626 mm in average size, and had a thin cyst wall of about 20 µm in thickness, a black excretory bladder, convoluted ceca, and some pinkish materials in the body. Adults were somewhat elongated, 95.2 x 36.5 mm in average size, covered with single-tipped tegumental spines, had a smaller oral sucker than the ventral sucker, a moderately branched ovary, and 5-6 lobulated testes. Eggs were ovoid and bilaterally symmetrical in shape, 79 x 45 µm in average size, and had a uniformly thickened shell. By the present study, it has been confirmed that I. ou is a new second intermediate host for P. harinasutai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field and a household survey, the latter of which included inspections and interviews with the residents of a total of 1370 properties, were conducted in 2004 in 30 villages of the city of Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, in order to assess the degree of rodent infestation and to identify potential factors influencing infestations. Roof rats, Rattus rattus, and the Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, were the only rodents found in the city, and trapping results showed a clear dominance of roof rats (80–90% of all individuals). Measurements of rodent activity using tracking patches correlated positively with the trapping data, and revealed a significantly higher degree of rat infestation during the rainy season (September) than during the dry season (November). If households in the vicinity of the sampling locations were considered, villagers' accounts of indoor rodent infestations recorded during the household survey correlated positively with measurements of rodent activity. At least every second household reported indoor infestations. Using explorative statistical analyses (classification trees, factor analysis) we checked the predictive or explanatory value of up to 28 variables assessed during household inspections for villagers' observations on rodent infestation as the dependent variable. Trophic factors such as exposed food (indoors) and garbage (outdoors), and structural features such as open ceilings (indoors) and rat harborage in gardens (outdoors) ranked highest as explanatory variables. Assessment of a small sample of roof rat droppings collected inside houses revealed the presence of the potential disease agents Salmonella javiana, Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia duodenalis and the parasitic nematode Calodium hepaticum (syn. Capillaria hepatica). These results underline the need for an appropriate rodent management strategy for the city, whereby simple sanitation and rodent-proofing measures could be cheap means of reducing rat infestation rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paragonimus harinasutai metacercariae were found in a species of freshwater crab, Indochinamon ou, collected in a small stream of Namback District, Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. Adult flukes were recovered after experimental infection of the metacercariae to dogs. Metacercariae were round or slightly elliptical, 0.666 x 0.626 mm in average size, and had a thin cyst wall of about 20 microm in thickness, a black excretory bladder, convoluted ceca, and some pinkish materials in the body. Adults were somewhat elongated, 95.2 x 36.5 mm in average size, covered with single-tipped tegumental spines, had a smaller oral sucker than the ventral sucker, a moderately branched ovary, and 5-6 lobulated testes. Eggs were ovoid and bilaterally symmetrical in shape, 79 x 45 microm in average size, and had a uniformly thickened shell. By the present study, it has been confirmed that I. ou is a new second intermediate host for P. harinasutai.