Laos is part of the SE Asia tourist trail and as travelers come and go, some will visit Vang Vieng as part of their itinerary.
I have been in Vang Vieng a number of times and over the years, the dynamics of Vang Vieng has changed.
There has been a saying, "If you think Laos is lacking any party places, then you have not been to Vang Vieng". Years ago this was a very true statement, it was a party paradise for western travelers, but with time and events, this has changed in a drastic way.
I can describe the "old" Vang Vieng as a drunkards paradise and the travelers were as wild as I have seen in all of my travels. It was like nothing I had experienced, ever.
Go back in time to about 2010-2011 and there were a number of deaths, mostly related to overly drunk travelers drowning in the river. There were also a lot of near fatal injuries as well.
This was giving Vang Vieng a reputation that the local elders did not want so laws were passed and implemented which basically swept away the party scene of "old" and the elders new vision for tourism centered around the natural wonders which are caves, river and natural pools.
The bars were eliminated except for a few, the riverside bars were all but exterminated, the usually busy streets of the central city core are now quiet and all is peaceful.
Fair enough, fewer deaths, less naked women running about, reduced drug consumption, you get the picture. Click here to read a news article written in 2016.
As these changes took hold, the young, roudy western tourists stopped coming. The village elders in their wisdom came up with a new scheme. This would involve replacing the "drunks" with more respectable tourists.
Their solution, a heavy marketing campaign to the Korean tourists. With this new marketing campaign came the realization that new accommodations for the "New" tourist needed to be constructed. The few hotels and guest houses that existed earlier were not going to be acceptable to the Koreans.
So they built new hotels with many more coming.
Having just visited Vang Vieng in January of 2017, I was amazed at the total difference in tourism and tourist. There were still western tourists, however, the age group had changed from the younger party age to an older group of western tourists. The Korean tourists outnumbered the western tourists by at least 10 to 1.
In conclusion, if you have talked with a traveler who was in Vang Vieng around 2011 and they tell you what a "party place" it was, be forewarned, all of that is now for the history books.
Travel Safe, Travel Happy