All of Khontai's comments are true. I went to Attapeu province and I couldn't believe to what I saw, that's surprise me. Like Khontai said, don't compare Attapeu to New York.
This is just for Lao Nork: If you want to see what's going on over there just make your own plan for your next trip to visit Laos and mark on your calandar to travel down south to Attapeu to see what it changed???