Laos is on the move - some say in the middle of a boom - and your chance to see the pre-change Laos could slip by if you do not get in soon.

It seems hardly possible to go anywhere in Laos without the sound of building work ringing out - new homes, lots of new businesses, new roads, new civic projects like bus stations and markets and new hotels and guesthouses.

Tourism is booming, with more than 1.6m visitors in 2007. This is small compared with the UK, which is a similar size and recorded nearly 33m visitors in the same time ... but for Laos, with its six million population and limited infrastructure, it is a fantastic development achieved in a few years.

And the latest boom industry is agriculture, with other countries wanting land or shared production. In Thailand, Laos is seen as becoming Asean's orchard in a couple of years.

The poor are still there, of course, especially in rural areas where most people live. A report by the UN World Food Programme said in November 2007 that half the children under five were chronically malnourished - not entirely surprising when 71% of the 5.6million population still live on $2 a day and even that is mostly produced by their own subsistence farming.

Every week brings new accords and deals between Laos and its richer neighbours - China, Thailand and Vietnam - and regional cooperations with the rtegion's poor countries of Cambodia and Burma (Myanmar).

The expansion is not uncontroversial. Wildlife, the environment and the way of life of tens of thousands of people - ultimately maybe hundreds of thousands - are all under threat from a series of hydro-electric projects around the country and internationally through the Mekong region.

Wetlands near Vientiane could vanish under a Chinese-built factory project and everywhere there are building projects, from huge trans-region road and rail links to much-needed community renewal and expansion.

Almost everywhere, wherever there are people in a community, there are signs of economic conditions picking up. You have a role in that with your tourist cash and, to help people the most and have a good time, use small local businesses and take a look at the eco-tours now being offered.

Economic growth, according to the World Bank, increased from 5.9% in 2002 to 7.5% in 2006 ... and the rate appears to be holding or even increasing with expansions, including tourism and turning Laos into a major electricity supplier to its power-hungry neighbours.

A big change, in the eyes of visitors at least, is the way that many Lao women are turning into very efficient entrepreneurs - often running gangs of male workers in tough environments like fast boat charters and shifting goods around the country.

A lot of change has already been accomplished. Around the turn of the century, there was an old hospital in Vang Vieng. Today it is a smart new building, hopefully equipped to meet its district needs.

Five years ago, the streets of Luang Prabang needed repair and there were derelict sites throughout ... now, all the sites have been built on and the streets are in better condition than many European cities as the City of Temples welcomes visitors growing in number and the amount of cash they are willing to spend.

Transport, too, has gone in just a few years from battered old buses to sleeker, newer buses with company and individual names emblazoned on their paintwork. King of Bus is one, with a few Laotians as well as falangs taking the VIP services that include an armed guard.

In the wats, there are sounds and sights of renewing, expansion and even whole new temples - the picture above shows a temple near Hongsa, northern Laos, once remote and now about to become easily accessible with a new crossing being opened with Thailand.

The Buddhist expansion shows a healthy optimism for the nation's spiritual future as television and video images are beamed and trucked in ... with all the worldly temptations used to keep viewers and get them to buy the goods of advertisers.

Even at a personal level, many more people exhibit prosperity. Motorcycle ownership, albeit mostly cheaply-produced Chinese machines, is growing fast and the number of big 4WD vehicles is noticeable - the leader seems to be Toyota and, when you hit country where you need a 4WD, you can feel why.

The country is being laced with new roads connecting with the economic powerhouses of China, Thailand and Vietnam. There is a scheme, already partly built, to link southern China with Singapore via Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.

New air services have opened between Lao and other tourist or feeder areas including southern China, Vietnam and Russia - you can now fly direct between Luang Prabang and Hanoi, for example.

And - a big issue getting a lot of government attention - there is a growing provision of border crossings along with the softening of the rules for using them to encourage economic prosperity.

It is easier for local people but, also, it is better for foreigners wanting to cross. You can get a 30-day visa on demand at Huay Xai now, whereas a few years ago the Lao government was trying to restrict that way into the country.

A second Friendship Bridge over the Mekong has been opened between Mukdahan, north-east Thailand, and Savannakhet, southern Laos. It provides a direct route from Thailand to central Vietnam at a time when the movement of industrialised output is increasing.

It was only a few years ago that the route was a nightmare for those of us who wanted to get from Hue in Vietnam to Savan ... and UXO people were telling, for some amusement, how a mechanical compactor had been used as the road was being built and it set off the mechanism of an unexploded 15,000lb US bomb buried deep below - it apparently took a little time to fill the hole.

Not all the developments work immediately. The modern world can hit previously isolated areas with a thump that rocks them to their roots. And that kind of fast change can break communities as easily as they can build prosperity and security.

Hardly a week goes by without another agreement between Laos and one of its neighbours, especially China and Vietnam, for more cooperation in economies, transport, security or politics. Take a look at our News digest: it isn't comprehensive but it gives an idea.

Commercially, the situation in Laos has changed beyong recognition with expansion and diversification in a land traditionally agricultural. At times it is difficult to tell at a glance whether you are in Laos or industrialised Thailand.

At the bottom end of the scale, take T-shirts as an example. In 2000, maybe even later, you struggled to find one as a souvenir of Laos - today, you can choose between scores of designs and colours in good-quality cotton for two or three US dollars each.

In areas developing to cater for the tourist trade, there are endless operators setting up everything a vsitior could want. Luang Prabang, for example, has a mile-long night market whereas a few years ago it was a smallish corner with a few people selling hilltribe-type goods.

In Vang Vieng, once the domain of the backpacker, enormous and stylish hotels and guesthouses are being built ... the backpackers are still the backbone of the trade but even they seem to be a lot more upmarket than in 2000.

Chains of businesses are now developing - one of the most noticeable and welcome is Nazim's Indian restaurants. You can eat their delicious and unbelievably cheap southern Indian meals all the way down the Mekong ... Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane, Pakse.

Nearer the top end the market, ecological tourism is setting a good pace - with some offering luxury and others going for a cheaper market of people concerned about their impact on the land, animals and people.

Some of the gain is spinning off to the rural villages, the wildlife and former working elephants (no longer employed in the timber business) and ecology.

The influx of curious outsiders has meant that any area with an attraction can turn it into a way of earning some ready cash - always a problem in rural Laos, where rice can be grown but people cannot get money for such essentials a medicines, cooking oil, transport and school books.

A typical operation being quoted now would involve a village with little but its agriculture benefitting because tourists want to visit the nearby lake, cave or forest ... the villagers act as guides and maybe develop some accommodation or sales business.

Right at the top of the scale are the luxury tours ... the convoys of 4WDs leaving you choking in a cloud of dust as they hurry on to their next luxury hotel.

But it is not all like that. True, the intrepid travellers have largely moved on and the new travellers are soft adventurers, families and package tourists ... but, all the same, if you try hard enough you can still find the excitement of the wild.

When you see the change, see also a nation on the move ... and your own role in change and prosperity in one of the world's poorest nations.

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