About AaronW2E

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Male

Currently Lives:

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Laos: Sponsorship of Lao Law School student in Luang Prabang:

First off cueldee, I must say what an honorable and inspirational thing you are trying to do! I do not have any experiences with sponsorship but have been researching a lot on accredidations of schools for my own children (we are US citizens and planning on moving to Laos) and found the Vientiane International School. Not sure if I can post a link on this forum so I won't but if you google search it, it will come right up. I know that this is a high school level and not college but they prepare students for acceptance in colleges internationally with the IB (International Baccalaureate) program and have a lot of international students such as children of diplomats, expats, etc. They deal with transfers from all over the world so if they do not have an answer for you perhaps they may know someone that can help. Good luck! -Aaron B P.S. all education and government stuff goes through the offices in the capital, Vientiane so I wouldn't waste my time trying to reach someone in Luang Prabang.

Laos: Life in Laos:

I can't see my reply to you. I will resubmit my reply if it doesn't show up within a day.

Global Expat Forum: Moving to Laos:

Hi Tony, We go back home to visit Vientiane, Laos every year and plan on relocating there the latter part of 2014 so perhaps I can be of assistance. I would need more information about your living situation in Australia and examples of what you like, dislike and wants to be able to give a good response. Without additional details from you I'm afraid I would end up writing a book in response. The long and short of it, cost of living in Laos is low but can vary greatly depending on what you want. For instance, you can rent a modern home for $2000 (US) a month or find a convenient condo or midsize villa for $800 a month or rent a thatch hut for $100 per month. Food is dirt cheap and eating out can cost from $2 per person at a local joint or $15 person at a nice restaurant along the Mekong river. I am in the USA and have never been to Australia so I can't do a comparison for you but will do my best to help. Feel free to private message me.

Laos: Buying a used car in Vientiane:

Hi Zam, My mother-in-law says there are plenty of cars to buy used or new. Your best bet is to probably buy one in Laos. If you import a car the tax is 100% which means it will cost you the price of your car to import it into the country. There was talk of lowering this tax burden but I do not know the status of that. Sorry, I didn't read your profile so I do not know what country you are from but Laos drives on the left like in the US. So if you drive on the right, you have to factor in the cost of changing the steering column over to the other side. It used to be that you had to purchase cars all cash as there was no such things as financing but now you can get cars financed but you have to put a 40% down payment. Car prices in Laos depends on the origin of country. The cheapest are Korean made cars because they are less reliable. The most popular are Japanese cars, especially Toyota. There are plenty of auto repair shops that carries parts for Toyotas but all others make and models are hard to find or have to be special ordered so will be expensive to maintain. General consensus for purchasing USED vehicles are: 5,000 USD and under are all lemons...you will have to always fix something 6,000 to 9,000 is a gamble 10,000 and up, you will be safe. Depending on the size of your family, you can get dependable brand new compact cars (Toyota) is between 10,000 and 15,000 brand new. Traffic speed in Laos is very slow (as compared to the US) so compact cars are pretty safe. Hope that was helpful! Good luck! -Aaron B

Date Joined:

10/17/2013

Total Posts:

6

Posts/Day:

0.00