1.
GV EXTERIOR: House of Dolls
0.05

2.
GV: women selling cloth to European tourists
0.11

3.
SV: woven cloth being displayed on ground (2 shots)
0.18

4.
SV: women sewing embroidery
0.24

5.
GV: women working on loom
0.32

6.
SV: women working on loom
0.35

7.
SV: woman working on loom (2 shots)
0.45

8.
GV: woman preparing wool on rack outside (2 shots)
0.54

9.
GV: woman embroidering (3 shots)
1.12

10.
SV: girl sewing
1.18

11.
GV: women with cloth display
1.25



Initials



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Since the kingdom of Laos was converted into a People's Democratic Republic last December, there has been a noticeable return to tradition. One of the ares influenced is handicrafts.

SYNOPSIS: The selection of handicrafts is varied. At the House of Dolls in Vientiane, all types are on display. This is a small business that was started by a woman form Thailand. Trade with European tourists is brisk.

Here all types of La, Mao, Mon and Tai styles of cloth are made from raw materials. Local women dye the materials themselves then looming and spinning it and finally making it into cloth.

The women produce a wide range of clothing and household fabrics in their cottage industry styled concerns. In one of the main streets in Vientiane several Meo women sit on the sidewalks daily making patchwork cloth pieces. These are sewn into such things as bedspreads and table napkins. The local population has resumed wearing traditional dress, spurred on by the pro-Communist government. Youngster have long been officially discouraged from wearing flared jeans and other Western-style dress.