BANGKOK - As I hopped into a cab here one evening years ago to get to a friend’s wedding reception, the driver took one glance at me in the rear-view mirror and seeing me wearing an ‘ao dai’ (the flowing Vietnamese dress), said: “Oh, khon Vietnam, chai mai?” (Oh, you’re Vietnamese, right?)

BANGKOK -- Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. What images might these words conjure up in the minds of international consumers of news? Perhaps war, maybe the Khmer Rouge. Or they might say, ‘Oh, it’s that those countries that had that war some time ago. . . they’re near one another, and they’re all the same’. 

BANGKOK, Mar 4 (IPS) – An opportunity to review the balance sheet of the benefits and burdens of regional integration and opening borders lies ahead, at the Third Mekong Summit to be held in Laos at end-March. 

The leaders of the six Mekong countries are to gather in Vientiane for the Mar. 30-31 summit to “discuss the progress and chart future directions in GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion) cooperation”, according to an announcement by the Asian Development Bank, which is facilitating the summit.