Article: Laotians thatch roof to buffer conference venue from earsplitting rain


AP Worldstream
07-24-2005
Dateline: VIENTIANE, Laos
Planners in impoverished Laos needed a fix for the cacophony of rain pelting the metal roof of their conference venue. They resorted to the ancient art of grass thatching.

The building in the Laotian capital looks like a converted airplane hanger with corrugated roofing panels that sizzle like Niagara Falls when the rain pours hard.

To allow VIPs at a six-day Asian security conference through Friday to hear one another, organizers at the Lao ITECC building put clumps of grass on corners of the roof that extend over key meeting rooms _ though they've left the rest unthatched.

"Even if there is a downpour now, it will not disturb the meeting ...

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