Settha Palace hotel in Vientiane is also developed by Belmont Hotel Investments (Laos) Ltd

(KPL) Luang Prabang province and the Belmont Hotel Investments (Laos) Ltd signed last Friday in the province an agreement on a 50-year land concession for the company to develop a hotel on Mount Makba at Phanom village, Luang Prabang district.

The signatories to the document were Mr. Bounkhong Phothitay, Deputy Head of Luang Prabang Provincial Land Management Authority, and Mr. Billy Theodas, President of the Belmont Hotel Investments ( Laos). Relevant officials of both sides witnessed the signing.
The construction is expected to be over within three years on Mount Makba on over seven hectares of land to accommodate the expected flow of tourists into the province.

According to the agreement, the investor will develop and operate its hotel for 50 years as of 2010 and could extend the agreement for another 25-year term with the payment of an annual rent of US$17,655 to the province.

News text from KP, Thanks...

Lao New Year 2553 or 2010 will fall on Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th of April, next month.

This year, the first day of Lao New Year is Wednesday so Miss Sangkane will be the fourth princess of Kabinlaphome, according to the history she will ride on the donkey.

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Bpee Mai is the most widely celebrated festival in Laos. The festival is also celebrated by Laotians in the United States of America, Canada, France, and Australia. When the Lao people first emigrated from southern China, New Year was celebrated on the first day of January. Since settling in mainland Southeast Asia the Lao have adopted the new year's traditions of the Khmer and Mon-Burmese people, based on the Indian calendar and traditions. New Year takes place in April, the hottest time of the year in Laos, which is also the start of the monsoon season in Laos when their crops grow. Lao New Year takes place at roughly the same time as Songkran in Thailand and Chaul Chnam Thmey in Cambodia which are like the same thing.
English text from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_New_Year

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(KPL) Luang Prabang is preparing ahead for the 9th National Games in December 2011. The main stadium of the province has been renovated completely and the construction of other facilities is underway.


The province is allocating venues to be used for the competition. Twenty three roads are also under improvement as well as other basic facilities such as water supply systems and electricity.

Last year, the Lao National Sports Committee undertook major renovations to the main stadium which now has 80,000 seats. This year they want to build seven more competition venues.

Head of the Provincial Sports Service, Mr Chandy Bounnhong, said that they were asking the government to provide more than 138 billion kip for constructing new facilities and improving the existing ones.

Construction of the additional sport fields has already started and in general around 30 per cent of the work is carried out. Mr Chandy said companies will use their own resources to build the venues and the government will repay them later.

The new competition venues to be built and is being built include the stadiums of basketball, petanque, tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball, swimming pool and shooting range.

There are twenty-one sports to be competed at the 9th National Games namely petanque, basketball, football, sepak takraw, volleyball and beach volleyball, muay lao, boxing, badminton, cycling, swimming, taekwondo, table tennis, golf, shooting, bowling, judo, karatedo, top spinning, crossbow, pencak silat, and track and field.

The Luang Prabang provincial Sports Department is asking six districts to host selection competitions for the games in football, petanque, taekwondo, badminton, top spinning and crossbow.

Mr Chandy said they needed funding for athlete preparation and training as well as administration of the games.

Luang Prabang province last hosted the National Games twice so far 1996 and 2007