Globalization is in the process of transforming Laos's relations with the world at large. The most immediate and visible effects of this are regional, and the geopolitical and economic realities in play since the 1980s have caused economic and cultural contacts with Thailand to flourish. Thailand's economic influence over Laos is partly the outcome of the country's rapid growth during the halcyon days of the Asian boom, while Laos was still "building socialism' This has led to concern in Lao circles about Thai 'economic domination and, yoked to the demands of nationalism, has diverted discussion from exploring the possibility of more formal economic cooperation between the two countries, Some arrangement along the lines of some kind of economic union sometime in the future seems unavoidable, however.