A mahout removes the prosthetic from Motala, age 50, at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) elephant hospital in the Mae Yao National Reserve August 29, 2011 Lampang,Thailand. Motala lost a foot many years back after stepping on a land mine and now is on her third prosthetic, as they need to be changed according to the weight of the elephant. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Tanbo Art is the strategic planting of four varieties of rice which have different colored leaves in order to create a giant image in the rice paddy. This type of aesthetic planting began in the Japanese village of Inakadate in 1993 in order to celebrate the village’s over 2000 year history of rice farming. The practice has spread to other rice cultivating communities in Japan and even other countries such as Thailand and South Korea.

Yingluck Shinawatra reaches out to shakes hands with supporters after speaking at a rally during her election campaign June 29, 2011 in Burirum, Thailand. Thais go to the polls on July 3 to vote in a tight race between Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats and the red shirt followers of fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be around 6.5 million in 2012. A third (33%) of the country's population lives below the international poverty line which means living on less than U.S. $1.25 per day.

“Harisu (하리수 or 河莉秀) is the stage name of Lee Kyung-eun originally Lee Kyung-yeop (born February 17, 1975), a transsexual pop singer, model and actress from South Korea. Born biologically male, Harisu identified as female from early childhood, and underwent s*x reassignment surgery in the 1990s. She is noted for being South Korea's first transgender entertainer, and in 2002 became only the second person in Korea to legally change their gender. Her stage name is an adaptation of the English phrase «hot issue»”.

Photo: South Korean transsexual singer and actress Harisu (R) poses for pictures with a fan who played the role of groom during a simulated Chinese wedding at a fan club activity on August 5, 2006 in Changchun of Jilin Province, China. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

In this December 29, 2004 file photo, Kusol Wetchakul offers prayers for the soul of his sister, at dawn along the beach near Khao Lak, Thailand. Wetchakul's sister was swept out to sea and believed drowned as she sold goods to tourists on the popular tourist beach just north of Phuket. Friday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the deadliest natural disasters in world history: a tsunami, triggered by a massive earthquake off the Indonesian coast, leaving more than 230,000 people dead in 14 countries and causing about $10 billion in damage. (Photo by David Longstreath/AP Photo)

Among the fish populations that could be harmed by the Xayaburi dam in Laos is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the world’s largest freshwater fish. The fish, which grows to 650 pounds and about 10 feet long, is only found in the Mekong River. It is migratory, moving between downstream habitats in Cambodia upstream to northern Thailand and Laos each year to spawn. Some experts fear the Xayaburi dam could block the migration and drive the giant catfish to extinction. (Photo by Courtesy of Zeb Hogan/University of Nevada, Reno)

Elephants are paraded in front of the Grand Palace to pay respects to the late Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Bangkok on October 8, 2016. Thailand' s King Bhumibol Adulyadej died at the age of 88 on October 13 after years of ill health, ending a seven- decade reign and leaving the politically divided nation without its key pillar of unity. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP Photo)