More than 500 concert-goers were treated to a stellar line-up of songsters performing on a red stage on Friday night, at a concert to launch the Lao branch of discount airline AirAsia.

Under its slogan “Now Everyone Can Fly”, the airline launched its inaugural flight into Vientiane on December 1 last year, and is now selling tickets to the public.

The concert, which included a competition for prizes and free tickets for all concert-goers, was entitled “Painting Vientiane's Skyline Red” and brought with it the hottest artists from Indee Records ...more info and photos >>>


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The event opened with the record company's newest member, solo performer Souk, who performed three rock singles which he promised would be included on his upcoming album.

Pop star Nalin then sang some of her radio favourites, songs such as Vao Bar Bar (Why Do You Say That?).

Bringing the crowd to a standing ovation was girl band Princess, who didn't disappoint, despite a change in line-up since their last shows.

Another energetic songster, Sam, also greeted his fans with some of his well-known singles, including R&B hit Bok Hai Khoy Hou (Let Me Know), featuring a rapper from Lao Original Gangstarz (LOG) Alex.

The concert was held to mark the fact that AirAsia will now be running three direct flights per week to Vientiane from Kuala Lumpur .

The airline was the first low-cost carrier in Malaysia , and has rapidly established itself as the leading and largest budget airline in Asia .

AirAsia offers a simple “no frills” service at fares that are on average significantly lower than those offered by traditional full-service airlines.

The airline now flies to over 85 domestic and international destinations in Malaysia , Thailand , Indonesia , China , Vietnam , Cambodia , Laos , the Philippines , Brunei , Myanmar and Singapore .

It also has successful joint ventures in Thailand and Indonesia with the inception of Thai Airline and Indonesia AirAsia.

By PHOONSAB THEVONGSA
Vientianetimes

A rock rat discovered in Laos in 1998 has turned out to be a "fossil species" - the sole survivor of a family thought to have disappeared 11 million years ago.

The little rodent has the face of a mouse and the furry tail of a squirrel. Watch a video of the Laotian rock rat in action. It was discovered by biologists in markets in Laos 1998, where it was skewered, roasted and sold (see Strange new rodent discovered as Asian snack).

In 2005, researchers at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, suggested that the rodent marked the discovery of a whole new mammalian family and was a relative of guinea pigs, African mole rats and porcupines.

But six months later, other researchers disputed this, suggesting that the Laotian rock rat was not part of a new family but a very old one: the Diatomyidae, which was thought to have gone extinct 11 million years ago. However, that work was based solely on fossil data and so was controversial, according to Dorothee Huchon at Tel Aviv University in Israel.


Photo: The Gundi, of which there are just five known species - all in Africa - are the Laotian rock rat's closest living relative (Image: David Redfield/Uthai Treesucon/Florida State University)...more info and photos

Huchon set about resolving the issue by studying the family tree of the Laotian rock rat, Laonastes aenigmamus, using seven genes. The team compared the genes in the rock rat to those in all major taxonomic groups of living rodents in order to build up a picture of where it fit in the evolutionary tree. "The data we got is really, really strong," she says. "We can rule out that Laonastes is most closely related to guinea pigs."

Huchon says her study strongly supports the theory that Laonastes is the only known survivor of the Diatomyidae family. The team was also able to estimate that the Diatomyidae diverged from their closest living relatives, gundis (see picture, right), 44 million years ago.

Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0701289104)

environment.newscientist.com

The Cells head off to rock Thailand

Popular hard rock band The Cells left Vientiane yesterday to produce a music video in Bangkok , Thailand , and to play concerts in two provinces there.

The band recently signed a contract with GMM Grammy Public Company Limited in Thailand to promote their songs through music videos there... more info

“Prior to signing with GMM, our distributors played our hit single Waan (Sweet) on many radio programmes in Bangkok . The song went to the top of the charts,” the President of Indee Records, Somphathay Southiphong, said.

When GMM Grammy realised how popular the song had become in Thailand , the company offered to sponsor their music video and help promote the band.

“Grammy provided a selection of songs for The Cells to choose from. They then translated the song they chose into Lao. The name of the song they chose is Euay Khou (Teacher), and the company will produce a music video as well,” Indee assistant Mr Toulou said.

The Cells will spend three days making a music video for Waan before taking to the stage in Nakhon Ratchasima and KhonKaen provinces in Thailand on April 9-15.

The Cells are the second Lao band to be supported by a Thai record company; the first was Lao hip hop group LOG.

“I thought I would be celebrating Lao New Year playing water games with my friends, but now we have a mission to do, so we will celebrate with our Thai fans instead,” said the band's guitarist, Radindeuk.

By Souknilundon Southivongnorath

Vientianetimes