By January 30, 2016 Advertisement Despite its reputation for placidity, and its popularity as a backpacker tourist destination, Laos remains one of the most repressive and politically opaque countries in the world. It is consistently ranked as “not free” by Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World Index, and unlike neighboring Thailand, Cambodia, or even Myanmar during junta rule, Laos has no organized opposition party. In fact, even small public protests in Laos are quickly suppressed, their leaders going missing for years afterward. The state media is highly uninformative, and there are few other outlets for information. (Radio Free Asia–Laos is an exception.) Strange incidents in Laos often remain unresolved. Last winter, a Canadian traveler was apparently stabbed to death in Vientiane’s international airport; Laos’ government initially insisted he committed suicide, but multiple news reports suggest murder was more likely. The case remains unsolved. In 2007, the co-owner of one of northeast Laos’ best-known guesthouses mysteriously disappeared, an apparent kidnapping. Some aid workers in Laos suggested he had been kidnapped for angering local officials for criticizing their management of land and the environment. His case remains unsolved and he has not returned. Last year, Radio Free Asia reported that several Lao citizens who used social media to document alleged land grabbing and harassment by local officials were detained, sometimes for months at a time.