By John Murphy BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents

Village headman Kham Muan (right) sees benefit in the new highway

Laos is opening up to the outside world with major new road projects crossing the country - but is the country ready to receive the bad with the good?

"It's hard to say what it's going to be like because we haven't experienced anything like this before," said Kham Muan, village headman of Ban Nam Leu, in the far north of Laos.

He is crouched on a stool, close to the small fire being tended by his wife. His village is along the dusty, pot-holed Route 3 that winds through the mountains from the Chinese border, all the way to the Mekong river, which marks the border with Thailand to the south.

In the rainy season large parts of the road become an impassable mud river, prone to landslides. But that is set to change.

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

Route 3 is about to be upgraded into a highway, known as the north-south economic corridor, built by China, Thailand and Laos, with funding from the Asian Development Bank.

It is part of the Bank's strategy to link up the greater Mekong sub-region of south-east Asia. Another road project, the east-west link from Thailand to Vietnam, also going through Laos, is almost complete.

Ban Nam Leu is a Lantan village. The Lantans are one of the many hill tribes that live in Laos. They wear indigo blue outfits, with lilac and pink tassles for the women, and they always carry a shoulder bag and a machete.

The reason is to be found in a legend. Many years ago a Lantan man and woman went far into the forest and stumbled across some golden bamboo shoots.

Ban Nam Leu village has been isolated from the world for years

When they went to cut them, they realised that they had left their bags behind. But, by the time they returned from the village with their bags, the golden bamboo shoots had gone.

The motto of the story is: "Always be prepared." But are villages like Ban Nam Leu ready for the new highway and all it will bring?

The village is in the isolated Luang Namtha province. Twenty years of war followed by three decades of strict communist rule, kept much of the outside world out of Laos.

"The new road will be good because it will bring more tourists," said Kham Muan. "And it will be easier to get to market."

The government-run Youth Organisation has been to Kham Muan's village to give seminars on the dangers of HIV/Aids. And the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation has set up a school, with Vietnamese tutors, to teach the villagers new agricultural techniques.

There could be disease, but there'll be more good things than bad things Village elder Kham Muan

But just how much of the potential negative impacts of the road villagers have taken on board - including increased disease, trafficking of women, children, drugs, environmental destruction and straightforward exploitation - is difficult to gauge.

Travelling down Route 3, it is pretty clear that many villages will be losing valuable paddy fields, schools and houses, and one villager voiced his concerns about compensation.

The road will undoubtedly open up the south-east Asian market to Chinese goods and the Thais will be able to reach southern China more easily.

But what about Laos, the poorest country in the region?

Somsanouk Mixay, a journalist who worked for the former royalist regime and is now employed by the current communist regime, fears that Laos will not reap the benefits of the highway if it is used merely as a through road to link Thailand and China.

New roads will link up the Mekong region of south-east Asia

"The only way to entice people who are travelling down the road to stop off here in Laos is with girls. Of course, that's a bit dangerous," he said.

It is almost impossible to find anyone who is prepared to voice criticism of the government in Laos.

Sombat Somphone, who runs an independent agency that is trying to prepare people for the changes ahead with training programmes, is one of the few people prepared to voice any kind of dissent.

He says the government is failing to prepare the people, especially young people, for the country opening up.

"They are not ready. If we are going to kill ourselves, why don't we kill ourselves slowly? We should try to learn from the experience of others. Don't repeat the same stupid mistakes over and over again," he said.

But, for Kham Muan, in his remote village, opening up to the outside world is something to look forward to.

He says: "Of course there will be negative impacts. There will be all kinds of people who will be able to come to the village. There'll be good people and there will be bad people. And there could be disease, but there'll be more good things than bad things."

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