Tubing in Vang Vieng doesn't make everyone happy

Tubing in Vang Vieng doesn't make everyone happy

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DJ at the river in Vang Vieng

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It could be so beautiful. We arrive at the Organic Farm. Goats standing in their wooden stables, chewing mulberry leaves. A black-white kitten is walking with us, asking for attention with a loud "miau". Birds are singing from the trees. Morning clouds are hanging deep around the hills surrounding the Nam song river valley. Nature at it's best. If there wouldn't be another sound: blasting music. Welcome to Vang Vieng, the “paradise” for backpackers.

It's starts in the morning and ends late night: The new sound of fun is all over the valley, you can't really escape the techno and hip hop coming from the bars along the river. 20somethings from Australia, Europe and the US are the main clients, coming to Laos for one reason: Getting drunk while tubing.
Recently fishermen were complaining that they can't walk barefoot in the river anymore as they did for generations, because of the broken glass from uncountable beer bottles left on the rivers ground. And because of the loud music they can't get much sleep either.

We are walking to one of the bars. It's advertising shisha and chilling tunes. The noise from the bass is rumbling in our stomach. "Why you need to pollute the place with that loud music?", I ask the young foreigner, who is the the DJ and apparently one of the bar owners. "We didn't start it", he says. I try to explain that the beauty of Laos is the untouched nature. That it's a ecotourism country (whatever that means, but for sure not the fun parks in Vang Vieng). "I get your point", he says. I explain about the culture and that girls in bikinis and drunken westerners are kind of offending the locals. "We speak Thai and Lao", he try to find an excuse.
In fact, they don't care about culture, tradition and environment. The government was recently considering a ban for bottles, and want to introduce cans instead. As if this would change anything.

Someone posted on Facebook the other day that the music is marketing, and that the local bar owners need that to survive and make a living. That's just wrong. First of all marketing studies actually proof that loud music leads to lower consumption. That's why drinks in discos are expensive, because people don't drink that much. Second, it's not that they would not get any guests without the music - or less noisy tunes. Some backpackers are already so drunken, they stop everywhere as long as there is cheap beer.

Tourism companies are already pulling out clients from Vang Vieng. "We get too many complains about the music", one employee who did not want to be identified by name told me. Also, due to the small profit local business make with the money-saving backpackers, there will no investment in improving restaurants and hotels.

But it could get worse. The more party people are coming, the more bars will open up. Although prostitution isn't that obvious in Laos, it's there. And it will grow. As the drug use and trade will be. Why should farmers send their kids to school, when they can easily let them serve beer to the young foreigners?

The only solution is a change of the backpackers mindset. Years before, backpackers were exploring a country. They were looking for the undiscovered places. Nowadays, backpackers discover places by Lonely Planet, the bible, dressed in Beerlao shirts, shorts and sandals and the water bottle in hand. Not that much individual, by the way.

Vang Vieng has to offer so much more than tubing. It's a perfect spot for hiking. also try a kajak tour and enjoy the stunning landscape. (Aren't the hills look like the one's on Pandora in the Avatar movie?). Explore the caves nearby. Stay at the organic farm for some days and feed the goats. Talking about hills, Vang Vieng is also perfect for rock climbing. Take a beginners curse or bring your own equipment and literally hang around.

Backpackers must go back to their origin. Responsible tourism isn't only for wealthy people, it's something everyone needs to accept and adapt. Otherwise, westerners will again just invade and destroy parts of South East Asia.

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