Here is a high profile case since its in a major and problematic city in California. The former mayor grew up in Stockton and moved to Oakland to escape a domestic violence issue with her former husband and now is caught up in a corruption case ( nothing new for Oakland politicians). I believe she is the first Hmong female to become a mayor of a big and high profile city such as Oakland.

Stepping it up in the world of criminality.

I found this recently and if you want to view more you can go to Facebook . So nothing is new regarding diaspora returning to their homeland to work or open some type of business . However I found this one quite interesting. This is definitely well thought out and curated per se. I think they are going after tourist or expats as their main consumer demographic based on what I can tell I have to assume the owners are Cambodians from Long Beach or have lived in or near Long Beach. Now Long beach is a huge city within LA county, however prior to Snoop Dogg I never heard of this city.

So we all know the amount of Lao descendants ( all groups ) in the USA is estimated to be around 500K. However we don't really have a big national marquee city where we live or have made a real cultural impact. Cambodians alone are about 275K. I don't know if it was intentional or unintentional how and where they were resettled because they have made a cultural impact in a lot of the cities or near by major cities they were resettled at. You can even say when people think of gangbanging for Asians/Southeast Asians they automatically think Cambodian ( not that it's a good thing) same with the donut business in California.

So recent deportees have opened American style businesses over there however majority of these guys are more doing it out of necessity vs passion project per se. The question would be what city in America could be the moniker like the above business. I know it isn't Fresno, Murfreesboro, Elgin, Ft Smith, etc. Maybe Dallas/Ft Worth or even New Iberia if they could get access to premium quality seafood.

What are your thoughts?

Here is a story about the 2nd Lao deportee to be deported to a 3rd country. This is in South Sudan located in Eastern part of Africa and just gained independence in 2011. The lawyer who helped him a Vietnamese person who helped the other dude from Estawani get sent back to Laos. Both have lived here for over a year.

So far these SEA communities have had a night like this and of course Lao people don't know or don't care why we are not in the mix.

There is a decent size Lao community in San Diego area, do you think something like this can happen with the San Diego Padres?

• Filipino Community in Los Angeles,CA with the LA Dodgers as of June 2026
• Vietnamese Community in Anaheim,CA with the California Angels as of July 2026
• Cambodian Community in Seattle,WA with the Seattle Mariners as of September 2026

I've seen a couple of their studies some I agree with some I don't. Does anyone here keep up or read these types of studies

This is an interesting one. He is one of 2 Lao Americans that were deported to a 3rd country which happens to be in a African country Estawani formerly known as Swaziland located in the southern part of Africa. He was convicted and spent time in prison for a serious offense. He is now being released from Estawani and they are in talks with the Lao government to deport him back to Laos

I know there are Lao people involved in arts but the question is do Lao people as a community care about the arts. I've seen Lao artist that were being shown in some gallery and outside of their family members you rarely see other Lao people attend. Your thoughts?

I know most aren't well versed in this and I wasn't when one of my parents passed. However for those who have gone through this that don't regular attend the temple or other Lao functions, was this something that was easily explained on what to do from the monks at the temple or some type of elder?

Not that Lao people and farming is anything new but this is in Hopewell, New Jersey about 1 hour north of Philadelphia. I never heard much about any Lao communities in New Jersey but this is probably to serve the Lao and Southeast Asian communities in the Philadelphia area.

Latest one to go down

Name Houa Vang ( male )

Age possibly in his 50's

Origin maybe from Minnesota

No Gofundme as of yet but you can check any updates via the FB link below

Thao Xiong in Laos Official

One of the most important things the Lao American community can do is to document the stories and experiences of the first generation to come to the USA. Many wouldn’t believe that a young refugee boy from Laos could go onto become a bull riding champion. This has to be one of the most inspiring stories within the community.

From my readings a self published book by author Tommi Phraphilom and the struggles of his life.

Wanted to share this short film about a Lao American high school wrestler with the community. Let us know what you think about the film.

I know majority of us grew up with not seeing our parents show public displays of affection outside of holding hands.

When you are at events with older Lao people and you see a couple doing more than just holding hands or arm over the shoulder type of thing is this something you notice right away and is it even more noticeable when its an interracial couple?

I still don't get this and I totally understand if you never heard of the country or its people. but why do people spell this incorrectly. Its only 3-4 letters depending on how its used.

To this day I know of one guy who got a LOAS tattoo big and bold on his arm, he says he got it and both him and the tattoo artist were drunk. Not sure if I believe that. I also heard of another guy with the same tattoo.

For those with kids, did you go the extra mile to put your kid in the best school in your city or just put them in a school closest to where you live. I was trying to explain this to older Lao people but they just don't grasp this concept as school to them is just school they don't know about the quality of the school. One of my relatives on the west coast moved her family around the entire state multiple times just to have her kids attend the best public schools

I didn't learn much about the quality of public schools until years after I graduated on top of how property taxes funded them either.

When I was in middle school there was a test to get into the best high school in the city, I took it not sure if the test was the only factor to get in but I didn't. Years later while reading a section in a local magazine I found the best school in my city was only the best in 1 category - English, while they were below the other best high schools throughout the state regarding math and science. Needless to say that school was at the very bottom of about 20 high schools in the state.

If you noticed some inactivity last week I was out in California to attend the Merced Boat Festival, this is the 3rd one and was my 2nd time there as I attended last year. Per the people who organized the event it appears the same amount of people came from last year, a couple of the boat teams did not participate ( Bay Area, Stockton, and Sacramento teams ). Also more people came in car pools and people came and left a different times so it gave a skewed viewing of how many people was there.

It was a party like the last one, multiple small stages and tents playing music either a band or dj along with 1 main stage. It appears the less vendor booths than before but I could be wrong. Can this be the premier Lao event that draws people from all over. I don't see why not it's centrally located. While there might not be much going on in Merced there's plenty if you stay in areas north or south of there.

Per the organizers FB page they had placards with QR codes to scan where people are coming from. I didn't have a car so the person I went with was tagged in the northern CA group. I made sure to let them know where I was coming from with my New England Patriots hat, there was another person from Connecticut and people from North Carolina. I'd say if they can get some premier performers and keep the entrance cost down this can be bigger than Tennessee or Texas Lao New Year. This is different because not only can you check the boat race you can go swimming in the lake as well.

What do you think?

Outside of a brick and mortar store, does it seem like every Lao person starting off some small business venture makes its seem like they are a charity. They use words like " help" or "support" their venture. This could be anything from a food vendor in the park or some young person with a tee shirt line.

With all the resources available today , can this be a reason Lao people are still behind?

Me personally I don't buy things from Lao people to help or support, I buy because they offer something I want from a product to a service and possible more competitive price.

Not sure if this was big news here in the states or Canada for those under 40 but this concert happen late last year. I was there and it was incredible. I think I caught Cells which was cool as well since I bought their cd my first time there. The singer Phet has played in Laos before but never as The Exile. I am not %100 sure but besides him there might be only 1-2 original members on this bill and the rest were recent fill in's from the states I think . The bass player is one of my friend's uncle and it was his first time back in Laos since leaving. That's over 40 plus years ago and to come back to this crowd was incredible he said while tears fell. The Vientiane motorcycle culture was definitely in full effect that night. Great concert and great people watching.

The question is how come there were so many active music groups that formed in the 80's and seemed like a decline ever since. The only notable group in the 90's was Laostah and ever since not many have made a big impact in the Lao community since.

Was this you? Meaning all you had were your parents and siblings. No grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins.

And if you did how do you think it affected your view on family when it came time to make one?

I thought this song was really well produced and written but it seems it didnt hit the youth at the time due to hip hop being the dominant genre. My only gripe with this song is the English part and some of the cadences in the beginning other than that we should be singing this instead of Loso the millionth time over.
Your thoughts?

Stumbled across this article and it pretty much sums up the situation in the 90s. Gangs seemed to be everywhere. Not just in big cities but in some smaller towns as well. That said they seem to be mostly gone. There are of course a few young thugs and OGs but no where near the prior level. Is everyone seeing the same decline in their communities
or was it never an issue?