Change comes to Sleepy Luang Prabang, no longer a hidden gem with skyrocketing tourism

A railway from China, the world's most unlikely film festival and a new generation of local entrepreneurs are shaking things up in UNESCO site Luang Prabang, northern Laos

By Ron Gluckman

South China Morning Post Magazine

Mar 8, 2025

https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3301453/sleepy-little-luang-prabang-awakens-skyrocketing-tourism-hidden-gem-no-longer

As the small plane banks, then dives steeply towards rugged hills below, I feel a familiar thrill, seeing rivers loom closer on a scenic descent to one of my favourite destinations, Luang Prabang , the charming old capital of northern Laos.

For several decades I’ve been happily revisiting one of Asia’s more unusual places, a Unesco World Heritage site packed with old palaces, French-Indochina architecture and elegant temples, on a peninsula sandwiched picturesquely between two rivers.

When I first visited in1993, about 30,000 international tourists managed to gain access to reclusive Laos, but only a fraction made the trek along dangerous roads to Luang Prabang, or from northern Thailand, then by ear-busting speedboat five hours down the Mekong River to where it meets the Nam Khan.

Now it has an international airport and, as in most years, I’m back for Luang Prabang’s film festival, the unlikeliest of cinematic celebrations, hosted by one of the world’s last communist countries in a city without a single cinema, the last one having closed in the 1980s.

Nonetheless, since 2010, this spunky Sundance of Southeast Asia has screened films from all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in hotel meeting rooms and school grounds. Covid-19 curtailed festivities, but it relaunched in 2022 as the Blue Chair Film Festival.

Operating to international standards, juries in each Southeast Asian nation select films and, at the 2024 edition, more than 60 were shown between December 5 and 9, along with panel discussions.

The atmosphere contrasted the country-fair vibe at the primary school, where about 1,000 people on blue plastic chairs munched popcorn and Lao snacks nightly, with a splash of red-carpet glitz on the Mekong, at the opening night gala.

And all the films and talks were free admission,” notes executive director Sean Chadwell.

The festival also provides a boost to tourism, a vital industry in this landlocked nation that has long lagged decades behind the rest of booming Asia. The gap seemed even greater during the previous festival, in 2022, when everyone – shopkeepers, tuk-tuk drivers and tourism officials – bemoaned the lack of tourists.

Luang Prabang had just 250,000 visitors in 2022 – about a third of the pre-pandemic tally, in 2019. But tourism had skyrocketed since my last visit, meaning the biggest story at this film festival wasn’t on-screen, but playing outside, in real time.

Along Luang Prabang’s rivers and sleepy streets famed for a parade of monks each morning, chanting as they collect alms, the scene now includes jostling tour groups. And noise rather than tranquillity. Sunsets still dazzle with blazing orange and red hues over the Mekong, but are soundtracked by swarms of boats blaring competing karaoke.

Mass tourism has finally arrived in Luang Prabang.

Credit – or blame – is widely pinned on a new Chinese-built railway, with Luang Prabang being a popular stop on the Boten-Vientiane line. Planned for decades, both track and station were opened in late 2021, but the impact was felt only after China lifted its own Covid controls.

Then came a torrent of visitors, transporting this historic town from its dreamy past of fairy-tale palaces and gilded temples to an uncertain future of crowds and conflicts.

“The rapid influx of tourism does of course present opportunities, and challenges, depending on which side of the fence we are,” says Andrea Vinsonneau, general manager for Exo Travel, one of the top tour operators in Laos.

With most customers journeying to Luang Prabang for a taste of the past, she says, “The main challenge is balancing the economic benefits of tourism with the preservation of Luang Prabang’s uniqueness.”

A tipping point of sorts was reached last year, ironically proclaimed Visit Laos Year 2024. Laos received more than 4 million visitors, up nearly 20 per cent from 2023 (and from 4.8 million in 2019). Figures were even more extraordinary in Luang Prabang, which set an ambitious target of 900,000 visitors. Yet they exceeded expectations, totalling more than 1.5 million for 2024, with Chinese visitors topping the list.

Suddenly, the night market, dismantled then set up again daily on the main street of Sisavangvong, in front of the former Royal Palace, was busy again, and the outdoor food market nearby, forlorn on my last visit, bustles nightly, filled with the aroma of steaming noodles and grilled meat.

On the other hand, ancient roads built for foot traffic are clogged with vans making the same rounds of sights. Sunsets from Mount Phousi still take your breath away – if you can navigate the steep pathway packed with tourists. So many cruises cater to tour groups that the Mekong is a chaotic tangle of boats with competing music performances by locals dressed in unconvincing tribal gear.

Signs along the main street advise on proper dress and manners at the formerly mesmerising morning alms, now often a scrum of selfie sticks. And practically every lot or shuttered wooden building I recall seems to be sprouting a new hotel or cafe.

At the Sahai Lao Coffee Roastery, a battery of people sit at tables tapping on laptops in front of a colourful wall mural. Closing my eyes, I imagine the buzz is Bangkok or Hong Kong, an illusion soon punctured by the rich aroma of Lao Coffee.

Sahai sits on a corner of Sisavangvong Road, a street now packed with bistros offering international as well as local and Asian cuisine. It’s a perfect pit stop for soaking up the scene, and the growth of Luang Prabang tourism.

In 1993, there were only a few noodle and vegetable stalls, and no buses, cars or any traffic – water buffaloes dozed on the road. On a few folding tables, old women displayed woven goods.

Now, there are scores of antique, designer jewellery and crafts shops, and premium silk boutiques such as Ock Pop Tok (meaning “east meets west”), which offers high-end Lao textiles at a shop in town and its Living Crafts Centre, a restaurant and hotel rooms, on a prime location overlooking the Mekong.

Run by Veomanee Douangdala, whose family helped revive local weaving, and British partner Joanna Smith, the centre produces and sells silk clothing and other crafts, while also demonstrating the entire silk production process. Local dishes and Lao-flavoured cocktails are served on a huge wooden deck with dazling sunset views.

“There are a lot of challenges,” concedes Smith, as we watch the sun dissolve into layers of gold and red over the Mekong, “but Luang Prabang is still one of the best places in the world.”

With us is Sanya Souvanna Phouma, whose father was a Lao prince and whose grandfather, Souvanna Phouma, was prime minister until the communist Pathet Lao took over, in 1975.

Sanya Souvanna Phouma is behind innovative Bangkok hospitality ventures such as Maggie Choo’s and the Bed Supperclub. Now he sees a big part of his future in Luang Prabang.

“I’ve been back to Luang Prabang before, but this is different,” says Phouma. “I feel drawn; to come, contribute and help make a difference.”

Phouma has taken a role as historical adviser at La Résidence Phou Vao, one of the most luxurious and historic hotels in town. Phou vao means “hill of kites” and it was a royal retreat where princes like his ancestors flew their aerial toys.

In modern times, the spacious villas with grand wooden terraces have been the choice of celebrity guests such as the Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger.

And Phouma isn’t the only Laotian entrepreneur responding to the siren call of Luang Prabang.

Across the street from Sahai is Little Lao Culture Bar, which invigorated the dining scene when it opened last summer in a huge building dating back to the 1800s.

It’s the first local project by Vansana Nolintha, who was born in Luang Prabang but sent to the United States in the late 1990s. With his sister, he opened Laotian restaurant Bida Manda and Brewery Bhavana, a Chinese dim sum restaurant with a taproom and bookstore, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

But he was enticed back to his hometown, and this particular building. “I remember it since I was a little boy growing up, seeing it and dreaming about the possibilities,” he says.

Leasing the building in 2023, Nolintha renovated it into a fine-dining space, with spiral staircases leading to the buzziest cocktail bar in town.

His newest project is next door, in another heritage building showcasing local crafts, ceramics and fashions. Upstairs are rooms that can be used for meetings and events – such as the screening of films at a film festival in a town with no cinemas.

“This is really a great time for Luang Prabang,” he says. “Lots of talented people are moving here, from Vientiane and all over.”

Further confirmation can be found below La Résidence Phou Vao, at the base of Kite Hill, where another new property splashed onto the scene last summer.

The Senglao Boutique Hotel is an exuberant inn of green, orange and yellow hues, with original art and walls textured in the style of Lao fabrics. The vivid colours are all the more striking when contrasted with the numerous hotels that have been opened in former colonial mansions.

“We did want to shake things up,” says Sayasone Panyathip, founder and CEO of Senglao Group, which is involved primarily in advertising and events. With wife Ketsavanh Panyathip, he also runs a resort in Vang Vieng and a cafe with a cinema theme in Vientiane.

Mass tourism is a pressing challenge, they concede, but are confident Luang Prabang can accommodate the traffic, and are planning a new hotel, this one in a historic wooden building.

“This place is unique,” says Ketsavanh Panyathip. “We want to contribute and help preserve the special qualities here.”

Even decades ago, when Luang Prabang started popping up on lists of the world’s best destinations, there was concern about over-tourism. But although the crowds have grown, so have services mushroomed.

It’s a tightrope act, but while strolling a stretch of some of the finest temples in Southeast Asia, or relishing a sunset from a viewpoint over the Mekong in total isolation, I’m reminded all over again just how well Luang Prabang has managed. It’s still a special place where a path less travelled can always be found.