91Èȱ¬

In tonight's programme I travel to Laos in South East Asia. I was there to investigate the supply chain of Mike Ashley's Sports Direct sportswear business.

You can watch it live on 91Èȱ¬1 (North East & Cumbria) at 2225 on Sunday 31 January. UK viewers outside the region can also see it on Sky Channel 975 or via 91Èȱ¬ iPlayer.

The story is also running on the .

As you know I like to bring you extra behind-the-scenes information on the blog so I thought I'd share some background on the trip to Laos - a communist state-controlled country where wages are amongst the lowest in the world.

I, like many people, had no real idea where to find Laos - or more properly the Lao People's Democratic Republic. An atlas reveals it is landlocked between Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, China and Thailand.

I always look at the and pages to see what they say about any less well known country I'm about to go to.

The gist was it is one of the world's least developed countries where three quarters of the population are involved in agriculture, mostly growing rice, and where the one-party state bans any other political groups.

We went in as tourists by crossing the from Thailand and got our visas at the border post. We were amongst a motley crew of travellers.

Apart from us and a few Lao returning home, the only other arrivals were a handful of Ozzie and European expats who had no intention of staying a minute more than they had to. We learned that, although living permanently in Thailand, they don't have the proper paperwork so they regularly flit across the border with Laos and back again to get a new Thai tourist visa. It's almost a trade route in its own right.

As you'll see in tonight's show we were working undercover so I obviously won't say any more about that side of things but I certainly found Laos a country of contradictions.

, sits on the Mekong River. You get beautiful sunsets over this wide expanse of water.

There are temples all over the place and the bright orange garb of the monks makes a colourful splash in an otherwise ordinary urban scene. Old colonial buildings jostle for position with more modern ones.

There are some western tourists around, but not many.

Among the must-see sights, the . It's the Lao equivalent of the which is ironic as it was built to mark independence from the former French colonial rulers.

But you can't help but notice this is a solidly communist state. The red hammer and sickle flags flutter on every street.

Uniformed men and women are also out in numbers, sometimes holding up the traffic as a cortège of smoke-glassed limousines speeds past with motorcycle outriders and even a following ambulance.

From the small flag flapping away on the bonnet I spot it's a Chinese delegation. The party elite and visiting diplomats have unquestioned priority here.

As we reach the city limits it immediately becomes rural. A fisherman casts his net in a roadside pond. Nearby a cow is tethered in a paddy field with farmers tending their rice crops. In its own way it's an idyllic scene of rural life. It's as if a time warp has taken me back centuries, yet there in the distance is a mobile phone mast.

As in other poor countries I've been to, the investment in technology often leapfrogs ahead of investment in other industries on which most people depend, such as agriculture.

Laos is modernising and has opened itself up recently. It's now looking to trade with the rest of the World and can provide a workforce at a price that's hard to beat. The country's own , which works out at £25 per month. Even taking into account the relative cost of living, .

It is out here on the edge of the city amongst the paddy fields that you'll find anonymous factories where workers spend twelve hours a day, six days a week making clothes for export. Nearby there are workers camps with crowded rudimentary facilities.

Campaign groups, such as . It's based in neighbouring Thailand where migrant workers flock, often illegally, to work in very bad conditions. Many come from , but MAP also sees people from Laos.

Getting information on the ground here is much more difficult. Our researcher has to keep his identity secret for fear of reprisals. One evening he confides to me that friends had advised him against helping us in case he's caught. This news makes me even more nervous. Although my producer and I might be thrown out of the country, he would face much greater consequences. Journalists have been locked up here for asking too many questions. .

After our job here is done we prepare to leave the country. It has reminded me of how as a student I travelled extensively behind the . displayed the hammer and sickle flags alongside bold propaganda billboards of workers happily uniting behind the ruling party and the glorious state. The reality of course was very different.

That was twenty-odd years ago and so it's rare to find somewhere still like that. Would I go back as a tourist? Certainly. But, as always, with my eyes open as to what goes on beyond the tourist guidebook.

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