Laos is aiming to teach its young population about sexual health and family planning, but too many of the youngsters remain out of reach. They take many to give out to friends at their school too. The clinic is across the road from a busy secondary school and is the only place in the capital offering reproductive health services to young people, including free contraceptives and treatment of sexually transmitted infections STIs , an outreach programme to schools, and a hotline for young people in rural areas. The clinic is a model of what youth family planning services could look like in Laos, but health workers say too many young people remain out of reach. The country also has the highest adolescent birth rates in east Asia and the Pacific — almost one in 10 girls aged 15 to 19 has given birth. Vongruily says attitudes discouraging young people from talking about sex have contributed to silence on the issue, preventing young people from receiving the advice they need.

I met my Lao girlfriend while traveling. I was actually born in Vientiane myself but left when I was one. We usually try to meet every 3 months. My next trip will be to Vientiane. I am concerned about sex. I remember reading that it's against the law for a foreigner to have sex with a Lao national unless they tell married.

Prostitution in Laos is regarded as a criminal activity and can be subject to severe prosecution. It is much less common than in neighbouring Thailand. The visibility of prostitution in Laos belies the practice's illegality. Most prostitutes in Laos are from poor rural Laotian families and the country's ethnic minorities.

BANGKOK - Lao women seeking to escape poverty and poor education are increasingly ending up as sex workers in Laos and neighboring Thailand, mainly to support their families and themselves, experts say. Though many consider it "bad work," they believe prostitution amounts to the best economic opportunity they have, according to a survey of sex workers conducted last year in the country's capital, Vientiane. With an estimated per capita income of U. Classified by the United Nations as a Least Developed Country in , 71 percent of its population live on less than U.