Evening star., 1961-04-03
WATCHING THE WORLD
Confusion Easily Found in Laos
By CROSBY S. MOVES
Foreign Correspondent of The Stor

direct your driver by tapping
him periodically on the rear
end and pointing the direc-
ton.
The normal problems Of the
tourist are special problems
for the group of correspond
ents who make their head
quarters in Vientiane during
these days of crisis. Since
there are no phones that
work outside the American
Embassy's private system,
the only way to see people
is to find them in their Of
fices. And since these peo-
pie have no way of knowing
that you are coming they
are quite likely to be out.
Ingenuity has triumphed
over Illustration. however. AS
a practical solution the re-
porters have established
themselves in the bar of the
Constellation Hotel where
anyone who has business with
them can find them most
any time of the day or night.
The bar, happily, opens onto
the main street of the town,
SO little can happen in Wen
tiane that escapes the notice
of the press.
Unfortunately the physical
problems are not the only
ones.
Murk and Confusion
Laos is like a cloud" q
friend explained. From q
distance the picture is clear
and the outlines are sharp.
But the deeper you get into
it the foggier it gets"
Some of the murk and
confusion are inevitable,
given the lack of communi-
cations. There are no news
papers in Laos and even
events that happen within
the country are passed
around by word of mouth on
a catch-aS-catch-can basis.
But a great deal of fog that
surrounds the current situa.
ton is also man-made.
Laos is noted among other
things for affable, talkative,
and highly individualistic
government officials. Each Of
them will give you his own
version of the state of affairs
and offer his suggestions for
a solution. There is, how
ever. no agreement among
them and nothing at all that
may be accepted as a gov
ernment line.
The man charged with lay
ing down this line is the in
formation minister. a par
ticularly quiXotic character
named Douavan Norasing.
In addition to daily "infor-
nation bulletins" the mini
ster also puts out a tract
known as The Echo Of
Xiengkouang" Che is deputy
from the province) which
features editorials that are
often completely at odds with
the ideas of his fellow mini
sters.
Nor is the American mis-
sion here always very help
full in clarifying things. The
people on whom the survival
Of the present government
directly depends make it a
point to stay discreetly in the
background. Members Of what
is known as the Program
Evaluation Office" - the
elaborate civilian outfit that
runs the program Of military
aid-are a particularly close
mouthed group. And when it
comes to transporting report
ers into disturbed or remote
areas planes are apt to be-
come mysteriously unavail-
able.
All of which accounts for
the fact that the problems
which hold the attention Of
the world today seem neb-
ulous and remote at close
range. You hear the universal
hope expressed that somehow
a solution may be found
which will insulate this i'm
probable land from the pres
sures which the cold war and
the accidents of geography
have inflicted on it. But in
the atmosphere of charming
ly muddled confusion that
prevails here most Of the
time, the answers are not
easy to find.