Radio Free Asia reports the salaries for Lao’s 150,000 civil servants will remain unchanged for next year. With the rising cost of living, stagnate wages cannot provide the same quality of life year after year.

“Three meals per day cost 50,000 kip (U.S. $6.14) each, so in total they cost 1.5 million kip (U.S. $184) per month, not including other expenses, while my salary is only 1.2 million kip (U.S. $147),” he said.

As an example of the rising cost of living, he said a bowl of noodle soup now costs 25,000 kip (U.S. $3) compared to 20,000 kip (U.S. $2.45) last year.

This makes civil servants’ lives more difficult because their current salaries are not enough to meet their daily expenses, he said.

“To resolve the money problems, I need to earn additional income by raising ducks and chickens in the house and growing vegetables for family consumption,” the government worker said.

Some civil servants must borrow money from individuals and pay 10-percent interest to make ends meet, he said.