This is one thing I don't like about some travelers sometimes, why do they always expect that people should be friendly to them, just because they heard the land of smiles or something.

It's not so much expecting people to be friendly. It's knowing, for a fact, that there are 3 countries right next door that are substantially more friendly. I choose to invest my time and money in places that are friendly. Other people may be turned off by too much cheerfulness or false friendliness, Laos could be a great match for them. It wasn't a great match for me.

I understand that a lot of my post is nit-picky. If I had only gone to Laos, I wouldn't have posted this. If I had the same bad experiences all over SEA, I wouldn't have posted this because it would be evidence that I'm just being an entitled little bitch. But that's not what happened. I had great times in 3 of the 4 SEAsian countries that I went to. I understood what the local definitions of "customer service" were and accepted them. Even in Laos. I get it, you have to get up to pay your bill, no biggie.

I wasn't expecting everyone to cater to me or treat me like royalty. I didn't go to any of those countries hoping for a miniature America or luxury accommodations. I simply prefer spending my money on businesses where people are happy that I've come, instead of looking put-off because I interrupted whatever they were doing on their phone. Too many places in Laos treated me like they were doing me a favor by selling me a meal. It was all teeth sucking and sighing because my patronage meant getting back to work.

Laos was just 1 country out of 26 that I visited on my 2-year trip. Maybe Laos was the only country that wouldn't put up with my demanding, snooty, luxurious and extravagant backpacker way of traveling. I'm good with that.

For me, the world is too full of amazing places to waste time and money in places that I don't enjoy. For my personality type and travel style, I found Laos to be less enjoyable than its neighbors.

When I was in Laos, I got the strong impression that the Laotians didn't want me in their country. I'm happy to oblige them.

Sorry about my comment, I hope you won't take it personally lol.

Not at all :) I wanted an excuse to try and explain why I think I'm not being a whiny little bitch right now. But I'm probably just making myself look whinier than ever :D