Hidden Smoke: Air Pollution, Agrarian Change, and Governance Gaps in Luang Prabang, Laos

Air pollution has emerged as a major public health and economic threat in Southeast Asia, yet Laos has received limited attention in scholarly and policy debates despite significant mortality and economic losses. This article analyses the drivers, lived experiences, and governance of air pollution in Luang Prabang, Laos’ premier tourist destination and a UNESCO World Heritage city. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, field observations, and satellite data, our findings challenge dominant policy narratives that attribute haze primarily to traditional swidden cultivation. Instead, commercial agrarian change, particularly cassava expansion, grass cultivation, and cattle pasture expansion linked to regional and Chinese cattle demand and a prolonged urban landfill fire, drove air pollution in 2023. These sources stem from labor shortages, economic insecurity, poor urban waste planning, and a reliance on fire as a low-cost management tool. Despite significant health, livelihood, and tourism impacts, haze remains underappreciated and underfunded. Weak monitoring infrastructure, fragmented institutional responsibilities, and the absence of disaggregated health data render air pollution uncertain and socially normalized. The article argues that air pollution in Luang Prabang represents a form of slow violence, maintained by epistemic gaps and administrative silence within a development model that prioritizes expanded agriculture and tourism over environmental protection.