ROWS of shiny metal stand out among street food and colourful textile designs at the night market in Luang Prabang, Laos.
These keychains, jewellery and cutlery are more than meets the eye — they are made of metal scraps from unexploded bombs dropped during the Vietnam War half a century ago, stall owners said.
Locals selling these shiny souvenirs see this as a means to escape from the poverty cycle caused by the war. Signs written in English are used by them to urge tourists to purchase these souvenirs.
Like many tourists drawn to these shiny metals, tourists Paige Sinclair and Kiana Simeon, both 15, bought several keychains to bring back home for family and friends in New Zealand.
While the source of these metals cannot be verified, they are not bothered by the possibility of fakes in the market.
“It’s cool that they are making things out of something bad and turning it into something good,” Sinclair quipped.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Scotlander Baran Karakus said that he bought the war souvenirs because of its backstory: “It made me a bit more aware of the history of Laos. I’d be annoyed (if they were fakes), but I wouldn’t be too surprised”.
WATCH: In a video recorded discreetly, a stall vendor at the night market was asked about the origins of the souvenirs she was selling. The metal was found in the city and had the souvenirs handmade by her friend, she said.
She is one of the many Laotians who come from rural areas to make a living by producing and selling war souvenirs.
Managing the UXO problem
Some 260 million American bombs wrecked Laos between 1964 and 1973, making Laos the most bombed country per capita in the world.
A third of the bombs dropped failed to detonate instantly and remains underground in Laos today — known as unexploded ordnance (UXO).
These UXOs pose death risks or injury to Laotians who are often caught unawares.
While it is expected to take at least another century to remove the remaining UXOs with Laos’ current resources and UXO removal programmes, the sale of authentic yet illegally-obtained UXO metal is less common today.
This is due to stringent rules enforced by the government, as well as better educational levels of villagers in the most affected areas, said Deputy Provincial Coordinator of UXO Laos in Luang Prabang, Mr Santi Khotisen.
UXO Visitors Centre: Authentic war souvenirs
Although Luang Prabang was not severely affected by the bombing, it opened the UXO Visitors Centre some 13 years later to leverage on the city’s tourism boom. The launch of the centre also helped to educate tourists and local students about the history of the UXOs.
“Some students in Laos cannot read English, so there’s a special programme that translates all the information about UXOs into the Lao language to reach more students,” said Mr Khotisen.
Furthemore, the centre houses a collection of authentic metal souvenirs, similar to those found at the night market. However, the ones found at the centre are made by villages from Ban Ha Hine, a village well-known for its blacksmiths.
Proceeds from the sales are then used to raise funds for the organisation and centre.
Mr Khotisen said: "I’m not sure if the products sold in night markets are made completely out of UXO metal, but those sold in the museum are 100 per cent made of UXO metal.
“In the future, we want to make different souvenirs to differentiate ourselves from the fake ones.” ∎
Wee Kim Wee School