Since 1986 social and economic reform in Lao PDR has created great change in various aspects. Tourism, which has been accepted only recently in Lao PDR, also plays an important role in the economic development of Lao PDR. As a result, tourism is considered a change in the Lao PDR development paradigm. 

The article aims to present a sustainable tourism paradigm, which is an aspect of the development paradigm of Lao PDR since the development of tourism management from 1986. In addition, the sustainable tourism paradigm has influenced different levels of tourism concepts, such as at the Theory and Universal and Regional levels. UNESCO Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, Luang Nam Tha Province, a United Nations development project, is employed as a case study of the sustainable tourism paradigm. 

The results of the study indicate: Firstly, the sustainable tourism paradigm in Lao PRD occurring in the 1980s has emphasized high-value tourism, which consists of culture and tradition protected value; the biodiversity value for providing accommodations for the minority of Lao PDR; an ecotourism network among stakeholders, such as government, entrepreneurs and local communities, participating in activity development; and management tourism as a tool of rural development integration for ecotourism practitioners. Secondly, tourism management is supported by international private development organizations, such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the United Nations, (for instance, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)), thus affecting the compatibility of the sustainable tourism paradigm in Lao PDR at theory level. The results reflect the development paradigm as ideology, which needs to be followed up.