And the relaxed attitude of the Lao people in general should help mitigate development greed.
Nature, which the Lao government has been careful to protect, seems to be enough on its own.
"They did what they know best, " another Lao aid worker said, on condition of anonymity.
"Never had citizens here been consulted in that way before, " a member of the Lao aid community said.
En route, we also stopped at an open-air restaurant for grilled Mekong fish, one of the most pleasing staples of the Lao diet.
Lee Thorn, the head of the Jhai Foundation, an American-Lao organisation, has been working for nearly five years in the Hin Heup district.
Now prominent chains such as Lao Feng Xiang have ambitious plans to open standalone stores in next few years, especially in smaller cities.
Similarly, after his experience with the Lao newt, Bryan Stuart discovered a species of poison snake and decided to keep its location secret.
BBC: Should the location of newly discovered species be hidden?
When Lao-tzu said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, implicitly he was telling you to take that first step.
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"We share views with Vietnam, but between friendly nations that is normal, " says Lao Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad (Click here for the interview).
One Western diplomat in Vientiane said they believe Mr Sombath was now caught in a power struggle between conservatives and reformers within the Lao government.
The Lao government has plans to build a series of dams along the Nam Ou River, which would have a profound impact on the area.
For some species, such as the Lao newt, smuggling can have a devastating effect, but most amphibians face the much greater threat of habitat destruction.
BBC: Should the location of newly discovered species be hidden?
The Lao Department of Education will organize teachers training workshops partnering with local teachers colleges for ethic teachers in primary education to ameliorate this situation.
National policy makers from developing countries in the region including Lao PDR, Viet Nam, Indonesia and China will be present to discuss common approaches to regional-level qualifications frameworks.
UNESCO: Detailview | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
As expat Canadian Sandra Yuck, who owns the exquisite Lao crafts store Caruso Lao, observes, big developments are coming to this little town, now the focus of so much world interest.
There are other problems: few Lao and Cambodian officials speak English, the working language of ASEAN, and Lao officials may not be able to afford plane tickets to attend meetings.
The Lao government claims that between 1964 and 1973, 260 million bombs fell on Laos making the country on a per capita basis the most heavily bombed civilian population ever.
From there a two-hour drive took me to the border, where I exited Thai immigration and wandered over to a wooden hut on the Lao side to obtain a visa and clear immigration.
Most of these teachers are local villagers in the communities who have some knowledge of Lao language and have been familiarized with the curriculum that they have been taught previously at school.
It was the first time broadcast television archivists from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Mongolia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam gathered to discuss archiving issues and guiding principles in digital archiving of materials in public service broadcasting.
While that temple dazzles because of its detail and sheer massive scope, the Lao version is a more delicate pleasure, offering the ruins of two matched pavilions, along with other temples containing walls dating to the fifth and sixth centuries.
Lao PDR, as a Party to the Convention, is expected to present by 30 of April 2012 a periodic report on the policies and measures taken within its territory and at the international level to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions.
There are only so many small boats that can go up the Mekong to see the Pak Ou caves, with their hundreds of Buddha figures, and so many vehicles that can drive the winding roads to the remote ethnic villages, where people who have never fully integrated into Lao society live unwired, in simple wooden houses on stilts as they have for centuries.
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