Budhist temples, which were in every village, served as intellectual centers. Buddhist holidays dictate the planting and harvesting, births, marriages, and deaths. Like most of eastern Aisa, agriculture is the prinmciple force of the economy. Rice is the main crop in Laos. THe main plantation crop is coffiee.
Livestock breeding is also important to the economy.
Industry in Laos is not very productive, being limited to small plants manufacturing consumer products. THey ahve not fully utilized the Mekong River, so their eceonmy is very, very poor. Another problem is the land, due to the fact that most of the population live together in one main area. Review Questions 1. The countries of SE Asia can be divided into compact, elongated and fragmented.