Luang Prabang Shopping Options
Daniel Allen
Luang Prabang, in Laos, is an excellent destination for anyone interested in picking up elaborate handicrafts. Hill-tribe silk, arts, crafts, home-furnishings, jewelry and couture-quality textiles dominate the market.
Although many of these products are available in Thailand, others are unique to Luang Prabang and its various hill tribes. In buying traditional crafts such as silks and carvings, tourists are invariably helping to support a young and fragile local economy.
The numerous gift shops around the town are good for picking up couture-style textiles and quaint household objects.
For fresh produce like meat, vegetables and herbs, drop into the Thalat Naviengkham Market. The market culture of Laos, unlike more raucous Thailand, is devoid of hard selling so don't expect badgering and bartering of the same degree.
Luang Prabang Night Market
The Night Market is a nightly event that takes place between 5 and 11pm near Wat Mai along Phothisarat Road at the town center. The street is closed off to vehicles and the hill-tribe traders emerge with their various apparels, ceramics, bamboo, lamps, blankets, handicrafts and silk scarves.
An Interview with Fabrice Munio, owner of Naga Creations
Having lived in Luang Prabang since 2002, Frenchman Fabrice Munio has watched the rising tide of progress wash over this tiny city. As passionate about Lao as he is about work, his shop Naga Creations constantly wins rave reviews for its innovative and beautiful Lao-style jewelry.
"Before I came here I was always looking for a dream place to settle down, but I never really expected to find one," he explains. "When I arrived in Laos in 2001 I was really surprised to discover a country so genuinely charming. I remember telling my friends and family that Luang Prabang was the only city on Earth truly suitable for humans recent developments haven't changed the way I feel."
Despite Lao's late arrival on the south-east Asian tourist scene, the same charm that attracted Fabrice is now attracting a growing number of visitors every year. In Luang Prabang the rising influx of tourist dollars has the potential to improve people's lives, but also to destroy the very culture that people came to see in the first place.
"It's a delicate balance," agrees Fabrice. "A friend of mine working for UNESCO once told me you have to choose between preserving the architecture of a city or its way or life, you can't save both. Preserving buildings and restricting new construction inevitably changes the whole socio-economic dynamic. We should go for the middle path: choosing the boutique way, preferring quality to quantity, raising prices but keeping a laid-back attitude about it. Like, sorry we have to charge this, but we'll take time to tell you why, and look what you get for this extra fee!"
Quality over quantity is clearly Fabrice's personal work ethic. "We'll never be competitive in terms of productivity, so we focus on creativity and diversity. We want to respect the scarcity of local product, and the work and time of our craftsmen. For me, designing fashion jewelry is a form of optimization - it's about giving added value, making things precious by respecting the material and the time of people who put them together."
Employing five people in his shop and another twelve working from home, Fabrice's respect for his workers is evident. "Our duty is to sustain traditional skills, not to exploit with low salaries," he says. "People must be well-off to have choices, and it all starts with giving confidence, pride, and on top of anything else, a reasonable income. If they can't earn decent money nobody can blame locals for switching to another activity."
So how does Fabrice choose his employees? "I let the people come to me," he explains. "Their personality and mood are more important than education or class. We do a fun job, so we must keep a fun attitude. I really believe that if our jewelry is made by happy people in a nice atmosphere, with a good intent, it will somehow look and feel more beautiful."
As another stunning necklace rolls off the Naga Creations production line, it's pretty clear this feel-good philosophy is Fabrice's real jewel in the crown.
Contact Info
Naga Creations
Ban Xieng Mouane
Luang Prabang
Tel: +856 (0)71 212775
Review of Pathana Boupha
Installed on the second floor of a quintessential, slowly decaying French colonial mansion (now a hotel), Luang Prabang's Pathana Boupha Antique House is a popular shopping haunt for both tourists and Laotians. In addition to its role as a private museum, this mecca for antique lovers offers some exquisite statues, jewelry and silverwork (the silver betel-nut sets are a particular favorite), as well as Royal Lao government currency, black and white photography, and a range of reasonably priced antique handicrafts and textiles.
Contact Info
Pathana Boupha Antique House
29/4 Ban Visoun (south-east of Mount Phou Si, close to Wat Aham)
Luang Prabang
Tel: +856 71 212262
Open 8.30 am - 5.00 pm
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Boten-Vientiane Railway
The Boten-Vientiane railway (aka the China-Laos railway or Laos-China railway) runs 414 kilometres between the capital Vientiane and the town of Boten on the border with Yunnan, China. The line officially opened on 3 December 2021. From Vientiane there are stops at Muang Phôn-Hông, Vang Vieng, Mueang Kasi, Luang Prabang, Mueang Nga, Muang Xay, Na Moh, Nateuy and Boten.
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