The Lao government is afraid of cultural erosion – and with good reason.

Only a small percentage of the world is free to travel internationally and chooses to do so, but these tourists have a massive impact in countries like Laos because of the disparity in wealth.

Most people in Laos survive on less than US$1 a day. I make US$8 an hour at my petty sandwich shop job in the United States of America. My parents make US$20 dollars every six minutes working as lawyers.

The difference in wealth is so great that I wonder if we or the Laotians can even really comprehend it.

Needless to say, there is great temptation for Laotians to pander to these filthy rich foreigners.

At the night market, I searched for Lao art, but only found the different stalls all retailing the same three images – monks in orange carrying umbrellas, Buddha, and a generic scenic view. There were piles of these hand-painted images and I wondered, why could they have not painted something else?

I attribute this to Lao mass production -copying the same thing over and over, by hand, so that it can be sold in the night market to tourists for much-needed foreign money.

Perhaps if the Laotians were not so preoccupied with getting the tourist dollar, they might produce more "authentic" paintings. However, it would be an oversimplification to say that tourism destroys Laos' "authenticity" because the Laotians also complicit in selectively participating in profit-churning activities.

I encountered some backpackers who were whining about how the city we were visiting was being taken over by tourists. This was ruining their travel experience, they said. They wanted something really authentic, but the huge flux of backpackers was obscuring the native culture, threatening it, eroding it.

Real Laos would be soon be dead, they mourned.

This anti-tourism attitude is not uncommon, but what these backpackers failed to realize was that like any society, Laos is evolving.

Many of the current local customs were actually introduced by the French colonists and simply integrated and “Laotianized.” This is embodied in French baguettes, which are used to make the delicious Lao sandwich.

Essentially, tourism does not corrupt or erode Lao society. Rather, when an outside influence like tourism presents itself, Laos adapts, just like it adapted to colonialism, international trade and the demands of its climate.

However, there is a definite responsibility that should come with being an international traveler.

In the interests of global diversity, you should spend your money carefully and follow local customs. Refrain from deluding yourself that you have the power to destroy or manipulate Laos' culture.