A Master Plan as an instrument for reterritorialization for the outskirts of Laos: The example of land and natural resource development in Luang Namtha province.
In a context of openness and regional integration, Luang Namtha province is the epitome of the challenges Laos faces today. For the past ten years or so, the region has been experiencing major changes in connection with the opening of the North-South corridor between China and Thailand. The Master Plan promoted by the ADB constitutes the cornerstone of the economic Quadrangle, the cross border growth area. The Lao government’s goal is, on the one hand, to turn the country’s mountainous outskirts into large free-trade areas and, on the other, to strengthen the emergence of the modern nation-state by transferring the mountain populations of Laos to the plains so as to better control the land and its resources. Essentially, the economic corridor provides a new major access route for the Lao and foreign investors looking to farm new lands, mine ore and produce hydroelectricity. The territory comprising Luang Namtha province, together with its local populations, have been forced to adapt to radical changes resulting from the central government’s new strategy, and are undergoing in-depth transformations that result in conflicts around social and environmental issues.