As of 2026, the Laos you once knew is officially over. The good times for Korean expats have passed, and there is no bright future in sight. Even the tour guides, who once enjoyed their golden age here, have mostly left for other popular destinations, chasing the ever-changing travel trends. Laos has lost the very charm that once allowed it to ride the wave of those trends.

Perhaps due to that specific "shrewdness" of Koreans, even golf caddies are now moonlighting as guides, starting from airport pickups. Koreans have a peculiar love for golf caddies, after all! It highlights a typical Korean habit: if something works well for one person, everyone copies it. Because of this mindset, people opening restaurants end up cannibalizing each other, becoming parasites fighting over scraps of a shrinking pie. They never stop to think that this just leads to everyone’s demise...

All of this started when Laos was featured on a Korean TV program and tourists began flooding in. My next-door neighbor rented a house and sold Vietnamese coffee—worth $1—for $50. With seven tour buses pulling up to his house every day, he was practically raking in money. Then COVID hit, the world went into lockdown, and he went back to Korea.

Once the crisis ended and borders reopened, Koreans flocked back to Laos. Golf courses became completely gridlocked with teams waiting 30 minutes at every hole to tee off. The golf courses were thrilled! Consequently, they jacked up the green fees to the point where "value for money" no longer applies. On top of that, stories about human trafficking and sex tourism spread across social media, compounded by news of voice phishing rings in neighboring Cambodia. These are the root causes of the problems Laos faces today.

I have always been baffled as to why people come here. This country doesn’t have much to see, eat, or do. It is simply a peaceful, slow-paced nation with nothing to show off but its tranquility. I fell in love with that serenity and chose to live here, but as a tourist destination? I’m not so sure.

When green fees were cheap, playing golf here was worth it, but now the prices are the same as in Korea. There is no reason to come all this way for a round of golf just to save money. Furthermore, stupid old Korean men bragged on YouTube about how to meet young women here, causing herds of desperate older men to swarm the country. It reached a point where the Lao government actually issued a warning to Koreans to stop making Laos look like a cheap destination for sex tourism. Stupid humans are, as always, stupid.

However, from the perspective of the Lao people, the city is changing. High-rises are going up, new businesses are popping up everywhere, new apartments are being built, and roads are being repaved. There are so many Chinese electric vehicles roaming the city that it’s confusing whether this is Laos or China. Chinese capital holds immense influence in the energy, agriculture, and tourism sectors.

Chinese-run shops never use English on their signs, so if you don’t know Chinese, there is no way to know what they are selling. For me, Chinese feels like a language I will never master in this lifetime, much like Lao.

One thing I want to say about the Chinese is that they are different from what people usually think. Most Koreans assume that anything "Made in China" is cheap or poor quality. I thought so too, because the Chinese products I used in Korea were all cheap. However, the Chinese agricultural and industrial products currently in Laos are far superior to what I used in Korea. Seeing the sheer number of Chinese car brands driving around Laos, I can understand why so many Chinese EVs are being sold in Europe.

China has built a high-speed railway in Laos that connects to Thailand. I took it when I went on a golf trip to Luang Prabang, and it was amazing! It was built very solidly and ran without any noise. My opinion of China changed completely after riding that train.

In fact, China is currently fighting the U.S. over who will rule the world, and they are doing quite well. Trump is trying to stop their advance.

However, Laos is now essentially a Chinese colony. Northern Laos is practically owned by the Chinese, to the extent that the Yuan is used instead of the Kip. There are Chinese people everywhere in Vientiane, and they are leading most of the new real estate developments.

I suddenly remember the first Lao gentleman who visited my café. He said, "Take it, we have plenty." That attitude may be the very strength that allows Laos to survive amidst this chaos we are experiencing now

In my opinion, the essential element humans need in this era of AI is "old-fashioned warmth"

We need a sanctuary where we can rest as true human beings in a world overrun by robots. A place where people genuinely greet each other with a "Sabaidee!" whenever they meet. A place where humans can simply be human. I believe that countries like Laos are the ones that will thrive in the future—especially if we look 100 years ahead.

When everything becomes mechanized for our convenience, a mechanical existence starts to feel like the norm. It creates a bleak and stifling world.

The unique "Humanness" that only Laos possesses—this is what will make it immensely popular in the days to come.