-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Maps of Laos
Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:48:28 +0000
From: obiwon five <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
An update on official mapping of Laos.
Maps of Laos
The Lao government sells maps to the public at its Department/Institute
Geographique National office in Vientiane 200m NW of the Patuxay arc de
triomphe. Vehicle access if from the NWernmost road leading off the
Patuxay roundabout, take the first left after 25m and then first left from
that after 25m too. The dept is 200m away at the end of the lane, on the
left.
Note that the office closes for lunch 11:30-1:30!
Maps can be bought for cash in Lao kip only. US$ and Thai baht are not
accepted.
However, the office seems to sell Arcview data on a 1:100,000 sheet basis
for US$0.50 per theme, but I am not sure how easily this is available to
the
public, or why they charge US$ for it and not kip!
Transactions are easy enough to conduct with no nknowledge of Lao or Thai.
Some staff speak some English, some speak some French.
Items sold include topographic maps compiled at 1:100,000 in the mid 1980s
and from which the following series are derived:
[note: 9700kip = US$1]
1:1M, 5 sheets, 5000 kip each [i.e. ~US$2.50 for the set]
1:500k, 11 sheets, 6000 kip each [i.e. ~US$7]
1:200k,. 51 sheets, 6000 kip each [i.e. ~US$33 for the set]
1:100k 186 sheets, 7000 kip each [i.e. ~US$133 for the set]
there appear to be series at 50k, 25k and 10k but these need letters of
permission to buy. I was unable to determine whether these cover all the
country, or if not, which parts.
All the maps are bilingual in French/ and Lao. Sheets rigidly follow Soviet
mapping sheet lines/numbering, and detail stops at the Lao border, so that
some sheets have a tiny piece of Lao depicted on them in a corner, and are
otherwise blank. But given the prices, one cant be too critical! Where
original sheets have been sold out, colour xeroxes or plots are
available at
the same price.
TPCs, JOGs and old US Army 1:50,000 topos may also be available here, but I
was unable to obtain any information despite samples being shown on the
wall
display of available maps.
Other available items include
-Lao Geographic Atlas, Lao National Geographic Dept., 2000, 2nd edition,
no ISBN, 24pp pb A4-sized colour thematic atlas in English. 50,000kip.
- a large political map of the world in Lao for 15,000 kip; a smaller
version is also available
- a map of Indochina, showing provinces towns and roads/rail in Laos,
Cambodia and Vietnam, in Lao, for 10,000 kip;
- a 3-sheet contoured 1:10,000 street/building plan of Vientiane for
8000kip/sheet. In Lao.
- large colour computer plotted street/building plans of cities:
Luang Prabang, Pakse, Savannakhet and Thakek, 1:10k, 1 sheet each, US$20
each.
Vientiane at 1:20k for US$20/sheet, 1:10k and 1:5k for US$15/sheet. These
are multiple sheet sets.
-a boxed globe, in Lao.
Brendan Whyte
Thailand
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