A stream of officials exiting Vat Ong Tu after participating in the oath taking ceremony. Their white shoes match their official white dress (wearing shoes then was a sign of urban dress and having white shoes to wear was for the privileged few). The sampot which these men are wearing was part of the official Lao dress worn on ceremonial occasions. In the former colonial areas of Southeast Asia, official dress often combines some element of traditional clothing with a modern military dress uniform.