Many boys in Laos are educated in monasteries

BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents was broadcast on Thursday, 11 December, at 1100 GMT.

Listen to the programme

Julian Pettifer returns to Laos, from where he reported during the Vietnam war, to see how this secretive country is trying to balance the need to open up to the world, while keeping a tight grip on its people and its politics.

LAOS: OPENING BORDERS A glimpse inside Laos as it prepares to open up to the world In pictures

During the Vietnam war, Laos became the most bombed country in history. More explosives fell on this tiny mountain kingdom than on the whole of Germany during the Second World War.

And as the Communists took over, Laos became a forgotten corner of Asia. Three decades later it is still governed by an authoritarian regime, wary of Western interference.

But it is now reaching out to its South East Asian neighbours, hoping to cash in on their economic growth.

Producer: John Murphy
Presenter: Julian Pettifer
Editor: Hugh Levinson