Song pa

Image:  Song pa ສົ່ງພະ is a Lao New Year tradition of bringing out one's Buddha statues for an annual cleaning.  This is done by lay-followers at home but also by the monks at the temples.  This act is considered sacred and an opportunity to make prayer.  In Laos, it's encouraged to visit as many temples as possible to song pa.  

Soma Pau Mae

 

Image:  Soma pau mae ສູມາພໍ່ແມ່ is a Lao New Year tradition of both asking for forgiveness and giving a blessing to one's parents.  The blessing is done by pouring water (hot nam) on them and also tying string around their wrists (mut kaen).  Gifts are also usually given.  This tradition is also extended to any important elders in one's life.

Happy Lao New Year 2567 to everyone!

Image: The sacred Buddha statue of Luangprabang that is brought out to the public during Lao New Year celebrations.  This is a part of the Lao New Year tradition of cleansing and blessing of Buddha statues called song pa.

Saeng's selection of 5 Lao dishes

This is when Saeng did a video for Buzzfeed's Bring Me food channel back in 2020 talking about his selection of five Lao dishes.  Have a look.

Source:  Bring Me (via Youtube, 2020)

The coffee chain taking over Laos

By:  Laoconnection.com, March 1, 2024

If you've visited Laos before you've probably seen and likely visited this store before.

It's lap, not larb

By:  Laoconnection.com, February 20, 2024

Since there is no international set standard of how to write Lao words into English, you'll often see many spelling variations of the same word.  This is often dependent on who's writing and everyone seems to have their own way of writing it out - us included!

How Valentine's Day is celebrated in Laos

By:  Laoconnection.com, February 19, 2024

Like their international counterparts, Lao people will celebrate it on the 14th of February.  However, Valentine's Day is a relatively new celebratory day in Laos in that people have only really taken it on more within the last 5 years or so.