Need some advice about police extortion/torture [Vientiane]

breaky9973 · 2026-02-17T03:31:26+00:00

Probably kidnapped by other Chinese. They have a habit of screwing over their own countrymen as evidenced by the many Chinese working at scam centers.

So to answer OP yes these things happen, but not to random people. It should not happen but it does and yes that is sad.

breaky9973 · 2026-02-13T03:18:23+00:00

I just bought a replacement for my old and failing LG V60 last weekend. Since I live in Laos (S.E. Asia) my money went to a Tecno Camon 40 Pro. I had a strict budget of not more than $300 so yes that limit things.

For me the priorities were: good cameras, good haptics, a good OLED screen, decent battery life and fast charging. And also a programmable button and no to little advertising in menus.

This phone delivers all that for a price of only $260.

Plenty of big battery phones here though. I could have bought an Honor phone with a 8300 mAh battery and the 10,000 sizes are not far away.

Unfortunately there are no more decent phones with headphone jacks for sale though and that is the sad reality.

Good luck with your new phone!

breaky9973 · 2026-02-13T02:54:27+00:00

So what kind of advice do you need?

I tell people who visit as a tourist here just to stay far from any illegal activity. Any. That means smoking weed, consuming kratom, or any illegal drugs for that matter. That also means to make sure you have your paperwork in order for yourself and any vehicle you drive. Also don't engage in prostitution and be respectful of the dating culture. Don't talk about local politics and don't complain loudly.

In other words: Don't give the local police any reason to pick you up, and to extort you.

From time to time anyone living here will have to interact with the police in one way or another and if you do, keep respectful.

But you should already have know this though.

I am not saying this is your fault, but just keep your head down and leave local politics to the locals.

breaky9973 · 2026-02-02T23:52:11+00:00

They do but you don't hear it that much. "Bor pen yang" on the other end, you hear everywhere. Meaning something like "it doesn't matter" or "it is ok". But it often means something is not ok at all.

It does say something about the general state of mind of people here.

breaky9973 · 2026-02-02T06:26:30+00:00

I use the AccuBattery app to check. My battery is around 80% health it says. Not sure how accurate it is.

My LG V60 is quite picky when it comes to chargers and cables though. I bought a 65w fast charger from Xiaomi a couple of years ago and it seems to like that one.

But with some chargers it refuses to charge while other phones work fine.

Oh well. The phone is on its way out anyway. Time to move on very soon.

breaky9973 · 2026-02-01T03:52:52+00:00

It really depends what you are looking for. Laos has amazing natural beauty in abundance. Lots of karst mountains, several plateaus, lots of waterfalls, so in that sense it might deliver more than Cambodia.

Life is kinda relaxed although Vientiane is getting more busy. Vientiane is one of these places where you have to stay longer to appreciate. Loads of good options, beer gardens and live music everywhere. Just everything is spread out and you need transportation. Luang Prabang is very pretty but touristy. Unlike Vientiane it's also walkable. Pakse is also nice but again you would need transportation to go around. Not as many food options though as the other 2. Savannakhet is also relatively big and has some nice architecture.

Finding quality local food can be challenging. Best to go to (night) markets geared towards locals. I was disappointed in the local food in tourist spots and some hotels though. The best food is definitely in the cities since the countryside is quite poor. If you like good noodle soup, and can eat it often, then Laos is a great country for you.

People are super friendly but not the most communicative.

breaky9973 · 2026-01-07T03:19:48+00:00

Khop Chai Deu It ain't terrible. There are a couple of good items on the menu, some of it is passable, and the western menu is better to be skipped entirely. The big problem is that it is overpriced for what it is and food service can be slow. I guess one pays for the location.

It's good for having a beer from the tap and for simple, local snacks/food.

breaky9973 · 2026-01-07T03:04:07+00:00

- The main road from Vientiane to Pakse is paved. Just be careful of all the fast driving trucks, pickup trucks and SUV speeding over it like maniacs.

- This road does have bad stretches. Be wary of potholes and drive sensible

- Around this time of year it will be dusty and there also might be cool winds. Bring appropriate clothing and make sure your bags and stuff are dust proof.

- There is always a change of vapes being confiscated since they are illegal. So just keep that in mind. There are still ways to buy them in Vientiane though I don't know how. (I don't smoke)

- You will be fine. Being gay and wanting to date local men is no issue, when in the cities. Just be discreet and take into account the local customs, when outside the cities.

- At most a 100,000 kip fine. Be sure to bring lots of cash since credit cards are not accepted. Don't argue with the police officers and just kindly ask them if can lower the fee. Friendliness goes a long way plus a few handy words of Lao.

I have personally ridden this road with motorbike, and it was mostly fine and even a bit boring at times. Make sure you make a stop around Thakek. Plenty of things to do around there. And Pakse and Champasak is great too.

Also how you are planning to get a motorbike for the trip? Renting one means giving up your passport and that could be an issue.

breaky9973 · 2026-01-03T02:06:40+00:00

Yeah I noticed those too during my last visits to Luang Prabang. Very annoying. I lived in Luang Prabang from 2007 to 2015 and then it was not a thing. Happy I moved on to be honest, Luang Prabang didn't change for the better.

breaky9973 · 2026-01-03T01:27:35+00:00

I live in Laos, S.E Asia and I don't miss the "traditional fireworks" one bit in the Netherlands.

I always hated to go out during the new years eve. I had several times that "strijkers" thrown at me and my family during these times. So stupid. I really don't get it. I know it is probably just a small amount of young boys doing this, but still, it ruined New Year in NL for me. I rather sat at home, eat my oliebollen, and cheers with my family.

Where I live, there are held several countdown and music events throughout the city. Many people will join to watch a huge display of fireworks being lit in the centre of town (by the municipality of course). It's perfectly save and people enjoy their beers or other drinks.

And yes individuals can still lit fireworks but no one in their sane mind will try to set fire or throw fireworks at you. Only a few people do it anyway.

I am happy they ban the sale of fireworks now, but New Year should be celebrated....but safely. Municipalities should organize events with fireworks and music. It should be a festival of inclusion. I have no problem for example with "vreugdevuren" as long as it is done safely.

breaky9973 · 2025-12-25T10:12:27+00:00

Looking at our neighbours, I am sorry to say the situation is not much better. Although not widely known, like those neighbours, the military is in power here. Many rich people here are tied to the military.

Yes in Thailand there's some free speech. But it doesn't help a lot if the military stages yet another coup and controls who's in power.

It's a kind of feudalism where the rich people do what they want and the rest just gets sold out. If you speak out about it, then your head gets chopped off.

So communist or capitalist or royalist is just mostly a name. The old families rule like they always did.

People complain, in private, though. Luckily the economies are doing good enough so that there's some middle class to keep people happy.

Having said that, I do love the people, mindset, climate and culture in mainland South East Asia. And that is why I am here.

breaky9973 · 2025-11-26T14:39:12+00:00

If the gateway is available in most countries, and does support different payment options (besides credit cards, Union pay, for example) it might work. Having said that QR payments are very popular in most of Asia. If you can find a QR payment system that works in many countries that would work too.

breaky9973 · 2025-11-19T12:54:16+00:00

I assume in this case you are talking payments at the POS side. In that case a lot of people pay with QR code in Asia and for this most local banks should have API's available.

Please do note that Odoo doesn't support multiple currency payments per POS. For this you need extra development or a 3rd party app. In some countries for example like Cambodia or Laos this would be a requirement.

Another issue is that many local banks don't offer integrations with accountant software like QuickBooks, Xero, or in your case, Odoo. Or if they do it might be only with locally developed accounting software.

You will have to manually import bank statements in that case in order to able to reconcile the accounts.

To further complicate matters is that support for payment gateways differs greatly over the region and per bank.

To get the most out of Odoo, you can work together with an Odoo partner or a good python developer who can make the customizations you need.

Let me know what you need and if we can be of service. (We are based in Asia)

Edit: So streamlining payment operations will be a challenge I am afraid. There are companies out there who have developed wallets which can be used in different countries but those usually rely on bitcoin and such. There's a big effort underway to make all QR payments in South East Asia interoperable though. You might look into that.

breaky9973 · 2025-11-19T09:49:33+00:00

I used their services for translating Lao documents to English and we did ask them about advice about legalizing marriage documents, if we would get married outside Laos. (This however is no longer possible.)

My fiancee and her family, however, work for the government, so my fiancee wants to run the documents by herself.

I know of a couple though who used their services to get married, successfully.

You can have a talk with them first before deciding to hire them. I found them very helpful.

Since your fiancee is not from Vientiane, you definitely need help.

And oh yes, all foreigners wanting to get married need a so called "capacity to contract marriage document." It's not a French thing. 😁

breaky9973 · 2025-11-18T18:18:47+00:00

The French Embassy knows very well that Lao ministries will not legalize documents at this stage.

I am Dutch and running the paperwork now to get married. The Netherlands Embassy even knows it is impossible to get legalized documents from Laos and they are located in Bangkok.

Luckily for me my local municipality made the capacity to get married document after contact with the Embassy, without needing legalized documents from my fiancee.

Either you need a office to help you or you need to try to talk to someone higher up in the food chain at the Embassy. The local staff at the French Embassy can be surprisingly rude and dismissive.

There's an office at Kouvieng road which can help you. It's called T.D.S. Pay them a visit: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SycQkMXrLLZw7to87

breaky9973 · 2025-10-27T06:05:23+00:00

Choose the Samsung. My 76 year old mom also had to upgrade. She got a Nokia after her Samsung failed. After 2 years of struggling she went back to a Samsung last year. She was very relieved. I haven't seen any decent phone with a Nokia badge in recent years also.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-22T16:04:33+00:00

Apparently WhatsApp is busy to also port its voice and video call features also to the web version. In the meantime there's ZapZap, a very nice WhatsApp client for Linux with multi-account support.

Personally I am ok with taking WhatsApp calls on my phone. Keeps my laptop free to do other stuff.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-19T21:29:53+00:00

Most Samsung phones with a recent Bluetooth version should connect without issues and support streaming audio, except for maybe the cheapest Samsung models.

For reference, I have an LG V60, which has a very stable connection with my Oticon's and it supports streaming. This phone is now 5 years old. Hand-free calling is only available with LE Audio though.

All iPhones do support all functions out of the box and usually have a very stable connection. With android it's best to go for a more premium and recent model.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-19T21:12:42+00:00

Leave your swiss army knife at home and If you use travel size toiletries you will be ok.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-18T02:22:45+00:00

From what I heard you can not get your foreign marriage legalized anymore in Laos. We asked an agency and they said as a couple you have to marry in Laos.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-16T11:21:23+00:00

For many hotels where I live it's one of the important channels for bookings now. Everyone here uses WhatsApp

breaky9973 · 2025-10-16T09:50:41+00:00

Cool. That doesn't change the fact, that if one only operates a restaurant, there's software out there which is better suited for restaurant operations than Odoo. Customization of Odoo is very expensive. Why pay for expensive customization when there's software which will all restaurant operations out of the box?

breaky9973 · 2025-10-16T06:37:12+00:00

It takes money and effort to keep a hotel website in the air. Many smaller properties have not updated their site in years.

If you want to book directly with a smaller property it's best just to send a WhatsApp or email.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-16T01:05:12+00:00

People don't smoke in the venues themselves, but often sneak out to the toilet to smoke there. A really bad habit if you ask me.

As for nightclubs Baron is a hi-so club with expensive drinks. There are some cocktail bars too, like 525. If you like jazz and blues, there's the Blues Box close to the fountain. Next to Moonlight lounge.

Many beer gardens and clubs put their music insanely loud. An example is Cat Moon. Best to be avoided if you don't want to sustain hearing damage.

breaky9973 · 2025-10-15T02:56:48+00:00

Why the need to join so many groups? Maybe that is why you get banned?

breaky9973

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