Laos's two state-run television stations do not have the resources to produce the slick soap operas and flashy television shows Laotians hunger to see, local viewers said. If I didn't have a dish at my house, I could only get one Thai channel. Viewers along the Thai border and in the lowlands can pick up a maximum of three Thai channels, Vongphaehan said, but with a dish they can receive five. Despite the economic slowdown and sharp dip in the value of the Laotian kip, vendors in the market said sales are steady. The kip has dropped to 4,190 per dollar now from around 3,500 in June.
Most vendors sell about five dishes and receiver sets a week.
Not a lot by the standards of other consumer societies, but significant in a country where poverty is abject, especially in rural areas. The dishes are manufactured in China, and reimported through Thailand. Inexpensive receivers come from China, with higher-end models made in Korea, vendors said. The dishes have become a status symbol in remote villages, where they sometimes are placed in front of homes made from only a few dollars worth of timber, he said. While viewers can receive up to 60 channels, the vast majority watch only Thai shows rather than CNN or StarTV because of the language barrier.