History of Laos

Evidence of modern human presence in

the northern and central highlands of
Indochina, which constitute the territories
of the modern Laotian nation-state, dates
back to the Lower Paleolithic.[1] These
earliest human migrants are Australo-
Melanesians—associated with the
Hoabinhian culture—and have populated
the highlands and the interior, less
accessible regions of Laos and all of
Southeast Asia to this day. The
subsequent Austroasiatic and
Austronesian marine migration waves
affected landlocked Laos only marginally,
and direct Chinese and Indian cultural
contact had a greater impact on the
country.[2][3]

Laos exists in truncated form from the

thirteenth-century Lao kingdom of Lan
Xang, which existed as a unified kingdom
from 1357 to 1707, divided into the three
rival kingdoms of Luang Prabang,
Vientiane, and Champasak, from 1707 to
1779. It fell to Siamese suzerainty from
1779 to 1893 and was reunified under
the French Protectorate of Laos in 1893.
The borders of the modern state of Laos
were established by the French colonial
government in the late 19th and early
20th centuries.[4][5][6] The modern nation-
state of Laos emerged from the French
Colonial Empire as an independent
country in 1953.

Limitations and current

state of research

Archaeological exploration in Laos has

been limited due to rugged and remote
topography, a history of twentieth century
conflicts which have left over two million
tons of unexploded ordnance throughout
the country, and local sensitivities to
history which involve the Communist
government of Laos, village authorities
and rural poverty. The first archaeological
explorations of Laos began with French
explorers acting under the auspices of
the École française d'Extrême-Orient.
However, due to the Lao Civil War it is
only since the 1990s that serious
archaeological efforts have begun in
Laos. Since 2005, one such effort, The
Middle Mekong Archaeological Project
(MMAP) has excavated and surveyed
numerous sites along the Mekong and its
tributaries around Luang Prabang in
northern Laos, with the goal of
investigating early human settlement of
the valleys of the Mekong River and its
tributaries.
Prehistory

Ancient human fossil remains from

Tam Pa Ling cave

Anatomically modern human hunter-

gatherer migration into Southeast Asia
before 50,000 years ago has been
confirmed by the fossil record of the
region.[7] These immigrants might have,
to a certain extent, merged and
reproduced with members of the archaic
population of Homo erectus, as the 2009
fossil discoveries in the Tam Pa Ling
Cave suggest. Dated to between 46,000
and 63,000 years old, it is the oldest
fossil found in the region that bears
modern human morphological
features.[8] Recent research also
supports more accurate understanding
of migration patterns of early humans,
who migrated in successive waves
moving west to east following the
coastlines, but also used river valleys
further inland and further north than
previously theorized.[9]

An early tradition is discernible in the

Hoabinhian, the name given to an
industry and cultural continuity of stone
tools and flaked cobble artifacts that
appears around 10,000 BP in caves and
rock shelters first described in Hòa Bình,
Vietnam and later also in Laos.[10][11]

Neolithic migrations

The earliest inhabitants of Laos—

Australo-Melanesians—were followed by
members of the Austro-Asiatic language
family. These earliest societies
contributed to the ancestral gene pool of
the upland Lao ethnicities known
collectively as "Lao Theung," with the
largest ethnic groups being the Khamu of
northern Laos, and the Brao and Katang
in the south.[12]
Subsequent Neolithic immigration waves
are considered dynamic, very complex
and are intensely debated. Researchers
resort to linguistic terms and
argumentation for group identification
and classification.[12]

Agriculture and bronze production

Wet-rice and millet farming techniques

were introduced from the Yangtze River
valley in southern China since around
2,000 years BC. Hunting and gathering
remained an important aspect of food
provision; particularly in forested and
mountainous inland areas.[13] Earliest
known copper and bronze production in
Southeast Asia has been confirmed at
the site of Ban Chiang in modern north-
east Thailand and among the Phung
Nguyen culture of northern Vietnam
since around 2000 BCE.[14]

Plain of Jars, Xiangkhouang

Plain of Jars

From the 8th century BCE to as late as

the 2nd century CE, an inland trading
society emerged on the Xieng Khouang
Plateau, around the megalithic site called
the Plain of Jars. The plain, nominated as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, is
still being cleared from unexploded
ordnance, since 1998. The jars, stone
sarcophagi dating from the early Iron Age
(500 BCE to 800 CE), contained evidence
of human remains, burial goods, and
ceramics. Some sites contain more than
250 individual jars. The tallest jars are
more than 3 m (9.8 ft) in height. Little is
known about the culture that produced
and used them. The jars and the
existence of iron ore in the region
suggest that the creators of the site
engaged in profitable overland
trade.[15][16]
Early Indianised kingdoms

Historic Indosphere cultural influence zone of

Greater India for transmission of elements of Indian
elements such as the honorific titles, naming of
people, naming of places, mottos of organisations
and educational institutes as well as adoption of
Hinduism, Buddhism, Indian architecture, martial
arts, Indian music and dance, traditional Indian
clothing, and Indian cuisine, a process which has
been also aided by the ongoing historic expansion
of Indian diaspora.[17]

Funan kingdom

The first indigenous kingdom to emerge

in Indochina was referred to in Chinese
histories as the Kingdom of Funan and
encompassed an area of modern
Cambodia, and the coasts of southern
Vietnam and southern Thailand since the
1st century CE. Funan was an Indianised
kingdom, that had incorporated central
aspects of Indian institutions, religion,
statecraft, administration, culture,
epigraphy, writing and architecture and
engaged in profitable Indian Ocean
trade.[18][19]

Champa kingdom

Lower terrace of the Wat Phu

mountain complex, Champasak

By the 2nd century CE, Austronesian

settlers had established an Indianised
kingdom known as Champa along
modern central Vietnam. The Cham
people established the first settlements
near modern Champasak in Laos. Funan
expanded and incorporated the
Champasak region by the sixth century
CE, when it was replaced by its
successor polity Chenla. Chenla
occupied large areas of modern-day Laos
as it accounts for the earliest kingdom
on Laotian soil.[19][20]

Chenla kingdom

The capital of early Chenla was

Shrestapura which was located in the
vicinity of Champasak and the UNESCO
World Heritage Site of Wat Phu. Wat Phu
is a vast temple complex in southern
Laos which combined natural
surroundings with ornate sandstone
structures, which were maintained and
embellished by the Chenla peoples until
900 CE, and were subsequently
rediscovered and embellished by the
Khmer in the 10th century.

By the 8th century CE, Chenla had divided

into "Land Chenla" located in Laos, and
"Water Chenla" founded by
Mahendravarman near Sambor Prei Kuk
in Cambodia. Land Chenla was known to
the Chinese as "Po Lou" or "Wen Dan" and
dispatched a trade mission to the Tang
dynasty court in 717 CE. Water Chenla,
would come under repeated attack from
Champa, the Mataram sea kingdoms in
Indonesia based in Java, and finally
pirates. From the instability the Khmer
emerged.[21]

Dvaravati city-state kingdoms

In the area that is modern northern and

central Laos and northeast Thailand, the
Mon people established their own
kingdoms during the 8th century CE,
outside the reach of the contracting
Chenla kingdoms. By the 6th century in
the Chao Phraya River Valley, Mon
peoples had coalesced to create the
Dvaravati kingdoms. In the north,
Haripunjaya (Lamphun) emerged as a
rival power to the Dvaravati. By the 8th
century the Mon had pushed north to
create city states, known as "muang," in
Fa Daet (northeast Thailand), Sri
Gotapura (Sikhottabong) near modern
Tha Khek, Laos, Muang Sua (Luang
Prabang), and Chantaburi (Vientiane). In
the 8th century CE, Sri Gotapura
(Sikhottabong) was the strongest of
these early city states, and controlled
trade throughout the middle Mekong
region. The city states were loosely
bound politically, but were culturally
similar and introduced Therevada
Buddhism from Sri Lankan missionaries
throughout the region.[15][16]
Tai migrations

Kra-Dai (Tai-Kadai) migration route according to James R.

Chamberlain (2016).[22]

Map showing linguistic family tree overlaid on a geographic

distribution map of Tai-Kadai family. This map only shows
general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes, not
specific routes, which would have snaked along the rivers
and over the lower passes.[23]
 The mainland of Southeast Asia at
the end of the 13th century

There have been many theories

proposing the origin of the Tai peoples—
of which the Lao are a subgroup—
including an association of the Tai
people with the Kingdom of Nanzhao
that has been proven to be invalid.[24] The
Chinese Han dynasty chronicles of the
southern military campaigns provide the
first written accounts of Tai–Kadai
speaking peoples who inhabited the
areas of modern Yunnan China and
Guangxi.

James R. Chamberlain (2016) proposes

that Tai-Kadai (Kra-Dai) language family
was formed as early as the 12th century
BCE in the middle Yangtze basin,
coinciding roughly with the
establishment of the Chu and the
beginning of the Zhou dynasty.[25]
Following the southward migrations of
Kra and Hlai (Rei/Li) peoples around the
8th century BCE, the Be-Tai people
started to break away to the east coast in
the present-day Zhejiang, in the 6th
century BCE, forming the state of Yue.[25]
After the destruction of the state of Yue
by Chu army around 333 BCE, Yue people
(Be-Tai) began to migrate southwards
along the east coast of China to what are
now Guangxi, Guizhou and northern
Vietnam, forming Luo Yue (Central-
Southwestern Tai) and Xi Ou (Northern
Tai).[25] The Tai peoples, from Guangxi
and northern Vietnam began moving
south—and westwards in the first
millennium CE, eventually spreading
across the whole of mainland Southeast
Asia.[26] Based on layers of Chinese
loanwords in proto-Southwestern Tai and
other historical evidence, Pittayawat
Pittayaporn (2014) proposes that the
southwestward migration of Tai-speaking
tribes from the modern Guangxi and
northern Vietnam to the mainland of
Southeast Asia must have taken place
sometime between the 8th and 10th
centuries.[2] Tai speaking tribes migrated
southwestward along the rivers and over
the lower passes into Southeast Asia,
perhaps prompted by the Chinese
expansion and suppression. Chinese
historical texts record that, in 722,
400,000 'Lao'[a] rose in revolt behind a
leader who declared himself the king of
Nanyue in Guangdong.[27][28] After the
722 revolt, some 60,000 were
beheaded.[27] In 726, after the
suppression of a rebellion by a 'Lao'
leader in the present-day Guangxi, over
30,000 rebels were captured and
beheaded.[28] In 756, another revolt
attracted 200,000 followers and lasted
four years.[29] In the 860s, many local
people in what is now north Vietnam
sided with attackers from Nanchao, and
in the aftermath some 30,000 of them
were beheaded.[29][30] In the 1040s, a
powerful matriarch-shamaness by the
name of A Nong, her chiefly husband,
and their son, Nong Zhigao, raised a
revolt, took Nanning, besieged
Guangzhou for fifty seven days, and slew
the commanders of five Chinese armies
sent against them before they were
defeated, and many of their leaders were
killed.[29] As a result of these three
bloody centuries, the Tai began to
migrate southwestward.[29] A 2016
mitochondrial genome mapping of Thai
and Lao populations supports the idea
that both ethnicities originate from the
Tai–Kadai (TK) language family.[31]

The Tai, from their new home in

Southeast Asia, were influenced by the
Khmer and the Mon and most
importantly Buddhist India. The Tai
kingdom of Lanna was founded in 1259
(in the north of modern Thailand). The
Sukhothai Kingdom was founded in 1279
(in modern Thailand) and expanded
eastward to take the city of Chantaburi
and renamed it to Vieng Chan Vieng
Kham (modern Vientiane) and northward
to the city of Muang Sua which was taken
in 1271 and renamed the city to Xieng
Dong Xieng Thong or "City of Flame Trees
beside the River Dong", (modern Luang
Prabang, Laos). The Tai peoples had
firmly established control in areas to the
northeast of the declining Khmer Empire.
Following the death of the Sukhothai king
Ram Khamhaeng, and internal disputes
within the kingdom of Lanna, both Vieng
Chan Vieng Kham (Vientiane) and Xieng
Dong Xieng Thong (Luang Prabang) were
independent city-states until the founding
of the kingdom of Lan Xang in
1354.[15][16][32] The Sukhothai Kingdom
and later the Ayutthaya kingdom were
established and "...conquered the
Khmers of the upper and central Menam
valley and greatly extended their
territory."[33]

The Legend of Khun Borom

The history of the Tai migrations into

Laos were preserved in myth and
legends. The Nithan Khun Borom or "Story
of Khun Borom" recalls the origin myths
of the Lao, and follows the exploits of his
seven sons to found the Tai kingdoms of
Southeast Asia. The myths also recorded
the laws of Khun Borom, which set the
basis of common law and identity among
the Lao. Among the Khamu the exploits
of their folk hero Thao Hung are
recounted in the Thao Hung Thao
Cheuang epic, which dramatizes the
struggles of the indigenous peoples with
the influx of Tai during the migration
period. In later centuries the Lao
themselves would preserve the legend in
written form, becoming one of the great
literary treasures of Laos and one of the
few depictions of life in Southeast Asia
prior to Therevada Buddhism and Tai
cultural influence.[15][16]
Lan Xang (1353–1707)

Lan Xang's zone of influence and

neighbours, c. 1540

Lan Xang (1353–1707) was one of the

largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Also
known as the "Land of a million
elephants under the white parasol" the
kingdom's name alludes to the power of
the kingship and formidable war machine
of the early kingdom. The founding of
Lan Xang was recorded in 1353, after a
series of conquests by Fa Ngum. From
1353 to 1560 the capital of Lan Xang
was Luang Prabang (known alternately
as Muang Sua and Xieng Dong Xieng
Thong). Under successive kings the
kingdom expanded its sphere of
influence over an area that now
incorporates all of modern Laos, the
Sipsong Chu Tai of Vietnam, Sipsong
Panna of Southern China, Khorat Plateau
region of Thailand, and the Stung Treng
region of Northern Cambodia.

Lan Xang existed as a sovereign

kingdom for over 350 years. The first
serious foreign invasion came from the
Dai Viet in 1479, which was defeated,
though leaving the capital of Luang
Prabang largely destroyed. The first half
of the sixteenth century allowed for the
power, prestige and cultural influence of
the kingdom to be restored under a
series of strong kings (see Souvanna
Balang, Vixun, Photisarath). In the 1540s
a series of succession disputes in the
neighboring Kingdom of Lanna, created a
regional rivalry between Burma,
Ayutthaya and Lan Xang. In 1540, Lan
Xang defeated an incursion from
Ayutthaya. By 1545 the Kingdom of
Lanna was attacked by the Burmese and
then Ayutthaya. Lan Xang entered into an
alliance with Lanna, and aided in the
defense of the kingdom. In 1547, the
kingdoms of Lan Xang and Lanna were
briefly unified under Photisarath of Lan
Xang and his son Setthathirath in Lanna.
Setthathirath would go on to become the
king of Lan Xang on the death of his
father, and become one of the greatest
kings of Lan Xang.

The Burmese Toungoo dynasty began a

series of expansions during the late
1550s which culminated under King
Bayinnaung. Setthathirath moved the
capital of Lan Xang from Luang Prabang
to Vientiane in 1560, to better defend
against the threat of Burma and to more
ably administer the central and southern
provinces. Bayinnaung subjugated the
Kingdom of Lanna and went on to
destroy the kingdom and city of
Ayutthaya in 1564. King Setthathirath
fought two successful guerilla
campaigns against the Burmese
invasions, leaving Lan Xang the only
independent Tai kingdom until his death
in 1572, while on campaign against the
Khmer. The Burmese succeeded with the
third invasion of Lan Xang around 1573,
and Lan Xang became a vassal state
until 1591 when the son of Setthathirath,
Nokeo Koumane, was able to
successfully reassert independence.
Lan Xang recovered and reached the
apex of its political and economic power
during the seventeenth century under
King Sourigna Vongsa, who became the
longest reigning of Lan Xang's monarchs
(1637–1694) after defeating four rival
claimants to the throne. Foreign relations
was managed successfully during his
reign and the king was known as a firm
and just ruler. In the 1640s the first
European explorers to leave a detailed
account of the kingdom arrived looking
to establish trade and secure Christian
converts, both were ultimately largely
unsuccessful. However, these European
visitors reported on the capital's
(Vientiane) prosperity and imposing
religious buildings. King Sourigna Vongsa
was known to uphold the law stricty, an
episode exemplified this when he did not
intervene when his son (and successor)
was sentenced to death when it was
found that he seduced the wife of a
senior court official. Upon the death of
Sourigna Vongsa a succession dispute
as well as exploitation by both Ayutthaya
and Dai Viet, led to the kingdom of Lan
Xang being ultimately divided into
constituent kingdoms in 1707.[15][16][34]
Regional kingdoms (1707–
1779)

Southeast Asia in the 18th century

showing the kingdoms of Vientiane,
Luang Prabang, Champasak and the
principality of Phuan (Xieng Khuang)

Beginning in 1707 the Lao kingdom of

Lan Xang was partitioned into regional
kingdoms of Vientiane, Luang Prabang
and later Champasak (1713). The
Kingdom of Vientiane was the strongest
of the three, with Vientiane extending
influence across the Khorat Plateau (now
part of modern Thailand) and conflicting
with the Kingdom of Luang Prabang for
control of the Xieng Khouang Plateau (on
the border of modern Vietnam).

The Kingdom of Luang Prabang was the

first of the regional kingdoms to emerge
in 1707, when King Xai Ong Hue of Lan
Xang was challenged by Kingkitsarat, the
grandson of Sourigna Vongsa. Xai Ong
Hue and his family had sought asylum in
Vietnam when they were exiled during
the reign of Sourigna Vongsa. Xai Ong
Hue gained the support of the
Vietnamese Emperor Le Duy Hiep in
exchange for recognition of Vietnamese
suzerainty over Lan Xang. At the head of
a Vietnamese army Xai Ong Hue
attacked Vientiane and executed King
Nantharat another claimant to the throne.
In response Sourigna Vongsa's grandson
Kingkitsarat rebelled and moved with his
own army from the Sipsong Panna
toward Luang Prabang. Kingkitsarat then
moved south to challenge Xai Ong Hue in
Vientiane. Xai Ong Hue then turned
toward the Kingdom of Ayutthaya for
support, and an army was dispatched
which rather than supporting Xai Ong
Hue arbitrated the division between
Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

In 1713, the southern Lao nobility

continued the rebellion against Xai Ong
Hue under Nokasad, a nephew of
Sourigna Vongsa, and the Kingdom of
Champasak emerged. The Kingdom of
Champasak comprised the area south of
the Xe Bang River as far as Stung Treng
together with the areas of the lower Mun
and Chi rivers on the Khorat Plateau.
Although less populous than either
Luang Prabang or Vientiane, Champasak
occupied an important position for
regional power and international trade via
the Mekong River.

Throughout the 1760s and 1770s the

kingdoms of Siam and Burma competed
against each other in a bitter armed
rivalry, and sought out alliances with the
Lao kingdoms to strengthen their relative
positions by adding to their own forces
and denying them to their enemy. As a
result, the use of competing alliances
would further militarize the conflict
between the northerly Lao kingdoms of
Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Between
the two major Lao kingdoms if an
alliance with one was sought by either
Burma or Siam, the other would tend to
support the remaining side. The network
of alliances shifted with the political and
military landscape throughout the latter
half of the eighteenth century.[15][16]
Siam and suzerainty (1779–
1893)

By 1779, General Taksin had driven the

Burmese from Siam, had overrun the Lao
Kingdoms of Champasak and Vientiane,
and forced Luang Prabang to accept
vassalage (Luang Prabang had aided
Siam during the siege of Vientiane).
Traditional power relationships in
Southeast Asia followed the Mandala
model, warfare was waged to secure
population centers for corvee labor,
control regional trade, and confirm
religious and secular authority by
controlling potent Buddhist symbols
(white elephants, important stupas,
temples, and Buddha images). To
legitimize the Thonburi dynasty, General
Taksin seized the Emerald Buddha and
Phra Bang images from Vientiane. Taksin
also demanded that the ruling elites of
the Lao kingdoms and their royal families
pledge vassalage to Siam in order to
retain their regional autonomy in
accordance with the Mandala model. In
the traditional Mandala model, vassal
kings retained their power to raise tax,
discipline their own vassals, inflict capital
punishment, and appoint their own
officials. Only matters of war, and
succession required approval from the
suzerain. Vassals were also expected to
provide annual tribute of gold and silver
(traditionally modeled into trees), provide
tax and tax in-kind, raise support armies
in time of war, and provide corvee labor
for state projects.

Emerald Buddha

However, by 1782 Taksin had been

deposed and Rama I was king of Siam,
and began a series of reforms which
fundamentally altered the traditional
Mandala. Many of the reforms took place
to more closely administer and
assimilate the Khorat Plateau (or Isan)
which was traditionally and culturally part
of the Lao kingdoms’ tributary networks.
In 1778, only Nakhon Ratchasima was a
tributary of Siam, yet by the end of the
reign of Rama I Sisaket, Ubon, Roi Et,
Yasothon, Khon Khaen, and Kalasin paid
tribute directly to Bangkok. According to
Thai records, by 1826 (less than fifty
years) the number of towns and cities in
Isan had grown from 13 to 35. Forced
population transfers from Lao areas were
further reinforced by corvee labor
projects and increased taxes. Siam
required labor to help rebuild from
repeated Burmese invasions, and
growing sea trade. Increasing the
productivity and population living on the
Khorat Plateau provided the labor and
material access to strengthen Siam.

Siribunnyasan the last independent king

of Vientiane had died by 1780, and his
sons Nanthasen, Inthavong, and
Anouvong had been taken to Bangkok as
prisoners during the sack of Vientiane in
1779. The sons would become
successive kings of Vientiane (under
Siamese suzerainty), beginning with
Nanthasen in 1781. Nanthasen was
allowed to return to Vientiane with the
Phra Bang, the palladium of Lan Xang,
the Emerald Buddha remained in
Bangkok and became an important
symbol to the Lao of their captivity. One
of Nanthasen's first acts was to seize
Chao Somphu a Phuan prince from Xieng
Khouang who had entered into a tributary
relationship with Vietnam, and released
him only when it was agreed that Xieng
Khouang would also acknowledge
Vientiane as suzerain. In 1791, Anuruttha
was confirmed by Rama I as king of
Luang Prabang. By 1792 Nanthasen had
convinced Rama I that Anuruttha was
secretly dealing with the Burmese, and
Siam allowed Nanthasen to lead an army
and besiege and capture Luang Prabang.
Anuruttha was sent to Bangkok as a
prisoner, and only through diplomatic
exchanges facilitated by China, was
Anuruttha released in 1795. Soon after
Anuruttha's release it was alleged that
Nanthasen had been plotting with the
governor of Nakhon Phanom to rebel
against Siam. Rama I ordered the
immediate arrest of Nanthasen, and soon
after he died in captivity. Inthavong
(1795–1804) became the next king of
Vientiane, and dispatched armies to aide
Siam against Burmese invasions in 1797
and 1802, and to capture the Sipsong
Chau Tai (with his brother Anouvong as
general).[15][16]
Anouvong's and Lao nationalism

Anouvong is a symbolic and

controversial figure even today, his short
lived rebellion against Siam from 1826 to
1829 ultimately proved futile and led to
the total annihilation of Vientiane as a
kingdom and a city, yet among the Lao he
remains a potent symbol of unyielding
defiance and national identity. Thai and
Vietnamese histories record that
Anouvong rebelled as the result of
personal insult suffered at the funeral of
Rama II in Bangkok. Yet, the Anouvong's
rebellion lasted three years and engulfed
the whole of the Khorat Plateau for more
complex reasons.
The history of forced population
transfers, corvee labor projects, loss of
national symbols and prestige (most
notably the Emerald Buddha) formed the
backdrop to specific actions taken by
Rama III to directly annex the Isan region.
In 1812, Siam and Vietnam were at odds
over the succession of the Cambodian
king, the Vietnamese gained the upper
hand with their chosen successor and
Siam compensated itself by annexing
territory on the Dangrek Mountains and
along the Mekong River in Stung Treng.
As a result, Lao international trade along
the Mekong was effectively blockaded,
and heavy duties were imposed on Lao
merchants who were viewed suspiciously
by Siam for their trade with both the
Cambodians and Vietnamese.

In 1819, a rebellion in Champasak

provided Anouvong with opportunity, and
he dispatched an army under his son Nyo
who managed to suppress the conflict. In
exchange Anouvong successfully made
the case that his son be crowned as king
in Champasak, which was confirmed by
Bangkok. Anouvong had successfully
expanded his influence throughout
Vientiane, Isan, Xieng Khouang and now
Champasak. Anouvong dispatched a
number of diplomatic missions to Luang
Prabang, which were viewed suspiciously
in light of his growing regional influence.
By 1825 Rama II had died, and Rama III
was consolidating his position against
prince Mongkut (Rama IV). In the ensuing
power struggle before the accession of
Rama III one of Anouvong's grandsons
was killed. When Anouvong arrived for
the funerary services, he made several
requests of the king Rama III which were
dismissed including the return of his
sister who had been captured in 1779,
and Lao families which had been
relocated to Saraburi near Bangkok.
Before returning to Vientiane, Anouvong's
son Ngau, the crown prince, was forced
to perform manual labor during which he
was beaten.
Early in his reign, Rama III ordered a
census of all peoples on the Khorat
Plateau, the census involved the forced
tattooing of each villager's census
number and name of their village. The
aim of the policy was to more tightly
administer Lao territories from Bangkok
and was facilitated by the nobility Siam
had installed in the newly created cities
throughout the region. Popular
resentment against the forced tattooing
and increased taxes became casus belli
for rebellion.

Toward the end of 1826 Anouvong was

making military preparations for armed
rebellion. Anouvong's strategy involved
three objectives, first was to repatriate all
ethnic Lao living in Siam to the right bank
of the Mekong and execute any Siamese
engaged in the tattooing of Lao, the
second objective was to consolidate Lao
power by forging an alliance with Chiang
Mai and Luang Prabang, the third and
final goal was to gain international
support from either the Vietnamese,
Chinese, Burmese or British. In January
hostilities commenced, and the Lao
armies were sent from Vientiane to
capture Nakhon Ratchasima, Kalasin,
and Lomsak. From Champasak forces
rushed to take Ubon and Suvannaphum,
while pursuing a scorched-earth policy
ensuring the Lao time to retreat.
Anouvong's forces pushed south
eventually to Saraburi to free the Lao
there, but the flood of refugees pushing
north slowed the armies’ retreat.
Anouvong also severely underestimated
the Siamese arms stockpile, which under
the terms of Burney Treaty had provided
Siam with weaponry from the Napoleonic
Wars in Europe. A Lao defense was
staged at Nong Bua Lamphu the
traditional Lao stronghold in the Isan, but
the Siamese emerged victorious and
leveled the city. The Siamese pushed
north to take Vientiane and Anouvong
fled southeast to the border with
Vietnam. By 1828 Anouvong had been
captured, tortured and sent to Bangkok
with his family to die in a cage. Rama III
ordered Chao Bodin to return and level
the city of Vientiane, and forcibly move
the entire population of the former Lao
capital to the Isan region.[15][16]

Aftermath and Vietnamese

intervention

Following the Anouvong's rebellion Siam

and Vietnam were increasingly at odds
over control of the Indochinese
Peninsula. In 1831, Emperor Minh Mang
sent Vietnamese troops to seize Xieng
Khouang and annexed the area as the
province of Tran Ninh. Also in 1831 and
again in 1833 King Mantha Tourath sent
a tributary mission to the Vietnamese,
which were quietly ignored so as not to
antagonize the Siamese further. In 1893,
these tributary missions from Luang
Prabang were used by the French as part
of a legal argument for all the territories
on the east bank of the Mekong. In late
1831 Siam and Vietnam had a series of
wars (Siamese-Vietnamese War 1831–
1834, and Siamese-Vietnamese War
1841–1845) over control of Xieng
Khouang and Cambodia.

In the aftermath of Vientiane's

destruction the Siamese divided the Lao
lands into three administrative regions. In
the north, the king of Luang Prabang and
a small Siamese garrison controlled
Luang Prabang, the Sipsong Panna, and
Sipsong Chao Tai. The central region was
administered from Nong Khai and
extended to the borders of Tran Ninh
(Xieng Khouang) and south to
Champasak. The southern regions were
controlled from Champasak and
extended to areas bordering Cochin
China and Cambodia. From the 1830s
through the 1860s small rebellions took
place across Lao lands and the Khorat
Plateau, but they lacked both the scale
and coordination of the Anouvong
Rebellion. Importantly, at the end of each
rebellion Siamese troops would return to
their administrative centers, and no Lao
region was allowed to have a buildup of
force which could have been used in
rebellion.[15][16]

Population transfers and slavery

Ruins in Vientiane, depicted by Louis

Delaporte during the Mekong
Expedition led by Francis Garnier (c.
1867)

Population transfers of ethnic Lao to

Siam began in 1779 with Siamese
suzerainty. Artisans and members of the
court were forcibly moved to Saraburi
near Bangkok, and several thousand
farmers and peasant who were
transported throughout Siam to
Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi, and Nakhon
Chaisi in the southwest and to
Prachinburi and Chanthaburi in the
southeast. However, massive
deportations estimated between 100,000
and 300,000 people began following the
defeat of King Anouvong in 1828, and
would continue until the 1870s. From
1828 to 1830, over 66,000 people were
forcibly relocated from Vientiane. In
1834, the first of several relocations of
the Phuan areas of Xieng Khouang
began, transferring more than 6,000
people. Most of those relocated were
settled in the Isan region and were
considered that cha loei or "war slaves"
who were to serve as serfs in
underpopulated areas for the Thai elite.
The result changed the demographics
and cultural traditions of Thailand and
Laos and continues today with a five-fold
disparity between the ethnic Lao living on
the West Bank of the Mekong and those
left in the East in what is today Laos.

Although slavery existed in Lao areas

before the rebellion in 1828, the defeat
and subsequent removal of most ethnic
Lao left a depopulated and vulnerable
position for the remaining people of the
East Bank of the Mekong. Lao Theung hill
tribes which had little involvement in the
1828 rebellion bore the brunt of
organized slave raids into Laos and
became known collectively and
pejoratively in Thai and Lao as kha or
"slaves." Lao Theung were hunted or sold
into slavery frequent organized raiding
parties from Vietnam, Cambodia, Siam,
Laos and China. Larger tribes of Lao
Theung, such as the Brao, would conduct
slave raids against weaker tribes. The
raids continued throughout the
remainder of the nineteenth century, a
Siamese military campaign in Laos in
1876 was described by a British observer
as having been "transformed into slave-
hunting raids on a large scale".
The population transfers and slave raids
ameliorated toward the end of the
nineteenth century when European
observers and anti-slavery groups made
their presence increasingly difficult for
the Bangkok elite. In 1880, both slave
raiding and trading became illegal,
although debt slavery would persist until
1905 by decree of King Chulalongkorn.
The French would use the existence of
slavery in Siam as one of the major
professed motivations for establishing a
Protectorate of Laos during the 1880s
and 1890s.[15][16]
Haw Wars

A soldier of the Black Flag

Army, 1885

In the 1840s, sporadic rebellions, slave

raids, and movement of refugees
throughout the areas that would become
modern Laos left whole regions
politically and militarily weak. In China
the Qing dynasty was pushing south to
incorporate hill peoples into the central
administration, at first floods of refugees
and later bands of rebels from the
Taiping Rebellion pushed into Lao lands.
The rebel groups became known by their
banners and included the Yellow (or
Striped) Flags, Red Flags and the Black
Flags. The bandit groups rampaged
throughout the countryside, with little
response from Siam.

During the early and mid-nineteenth

century the first Lao Sung including the
Hmong, Mien, Yao and other Sino-Tibetan
groups began settling in the higher
elevations of Phongsali province and
northeast Laos. The influx of immigration
was facilitated by the same political
weakness which had given shelter to the
Haw bandits and left large depopulated
areas throughout Laos.

By the 1860s, the first French explorers

were pushing north charting the path of
the Mekong River, with hope of a
navigable waterway to southern China.
Among the early French explorers was an
expedition led by Francis Garnier, who
was killed during an expedition by Haw
rebels in Tonkin. The French would
increasingly conduct military campaigns
against the Haw in both Laos and
Vietnam (Tonkin) until the 1880s.[15][16]
Colonial period

Auguste Pavie, First Governor-

General of the French
Protectorate of Laos

Origins of French colonialism in

Laos

French colonial interests in Laos began

with the exploratory missions of Doudart
de Lagree and Francis Garnier during the
1860s. France hoped to utilize the
Mekong River as a route to southern
China. Although the Mekong is
unnavigable due to a number of rapids,
the hope was that the river might be
tamed with the help of French
engineering and a combination of
railways. In 1886, Britain secured the
right to appoint a representative in
Chiang Mai, in northern Siam. To counter
British control in Burma and growing
influence in Siam, that same year France
sought to establish representation in
Luang Prabang, and dispatched Auguste
Pavie to secure French interests.

Pavie and French auxiliaries arrived in

Luang Prabang in 1887 in time to witness
an attack on Luang Prabang by Chinese
and Tai bandits who hoped to liberate the
brothers of their leader Đèo Văn Trị, who
were being held prisoner by the Siamese.
Pavie prevented the capture of the ailing
King Oun Kham by ferrying him away
from the burning city to safety. The
incident won the gratitude of the king,
provided an opportunity for France to
gain control of the Sipsong Chu Thai as
part of Tonkin in French Indochina, and
demonstrated the weakness of the
Siamese in Laos. In 1892, Pavie became
Resident Minister in Bangkok, where he
encouraged a French policy which first
sought to deny or ignore Siamese
sovereignty over Lao territories on the
east bank of the Mekong, and secondly
to suppress the slavery of upland Lao
Theung and population transfers of Lao
Loum by the Siamese as a prelude to
establishing a protectorate in Laos. Siam
reacted by denying French trading
interests, which by 1893 had increasingly
involved military posturing and gunboat
diplomacy. France and Siam would
position troops to deny each other's
interests, resulting in a Siamese siege of
Khong Island in the south and a series of
attacks on French garrisons in the north.
The result was the Paknam Incident of 13
July 1893, the Franco-Siamese crisis and
the ultimate recognition of French
territorial claims in Laos.
 French warships bombarding the
Siamese fort at Paknam

Territories abandoned by Siam in the

late 19th and early 20th centuries,
depicted as a map of Thailand's
territorial losses. The Franco-Siamese
crisis resulted in the cession of Laos
to France in 1893.

The French were aware that the east-

bank territories of the Mekong were "a
depopulated, devastated country"—the
Siamese forced population transfers
following the Anouvong Rebellion had
left only a fifth of the original population
on the east bank, the majority of Lao
Loum and Phuan peoples had been
resettled to the areas around the Khorat
Plateau. Territorial gains in 1893 were
only a springboard to secure French
control of the Mekong, to deny Siam as
much territorial control as possible by
acquiring the Mekong's west-bank
territories including the Khorat Plateau,
and by negotiating stable borders with
British Burma along the former territories
which paid tribute to the Kingdom of
Luang Prabang. France settled a treaty
with China in 1895, gaining control of
Luang Namtha and Phongsali. British
control of the Shan States and French
control of the upper Mekong increased
tensions between the colonial rivals. A
joint commission completed its work in
1896 and the city of Muang Sing was
gained by France; in exchange France
recognized Siamese sovereignty over the
areas of the Chaophraya River basin.
However, the issue of Siamese control
over the Khorat Plateau, which was
ethnically and historically Lao, was left
open for the French, as was Siamese
control over the Malay Peninsula which
favored British interests. Political events
in Europe would shape French
Indochinese policy however, and between
1896 and 1904 a new political party took
power in Paris which viewed Britain
much more as an ally than as a colonial
rival. In 1904, Britain and France signed
the Entente Cordiale, which developed
ultimately into part of the alliance against
Germany and Austria-Hungary that
fought the First World War in 1914–1918.
The Entente Cordiale agreement
established respective spheres of
influence in Southeast Asia, although
French territorial demands would
continue until 1907 in Cambodia.
1893–1939

The French Protectorate of Laos

established two (and at times three)
administrative regions governed from
Vietnam in 1893. It was not until 1899
that Laos became centrally administered
by a single Resident Superieur based in
Savannakhet, and later in Vientiane. The
French chose to establish Vientiane as
the colonial capital for two reasons,
firstly it was more centrally located
between the central provinces and Luang
Prabang, and secondly the French were
aware of the symbolic importance of
rebuilding the former capital of the Lan
Xang Kingdom which the Siamese had
destroyed.

As part of French Indochina both Laos

and Cambodia were seen as a source of
raw materials and labor for the more
important holdings in Vietnam. French
colonial presence in Laos was light; the
Resident Superieur was responsible for
all colonial administration from taxation
to justice and public works. The French
maintained a military presence in the
colonial capital under the Garde Indigene
made up of Vietnamese soldiers under a
French commander. In important
provincial cities like Luang Prabang,
Savannakhet, and Pakse there would be
an assistant resident, police, paymaster,
postmaster, schoolteacher and a doctor.
Vietnamese filled most upper level and
mid-level positions within the
bureaucracy, with Lao being employed as
junior clerks, translators, kitchen staff
and general laborers. Villages remained
under the traditional authority of the local
headmen or chao muang. Throughout the
colonial administration in Laos the
French presence never amounted to
more than a few thousand Europeans.
The French concentrated on the
development of infrastructure, the
abolition of slavery and indentured
servitude (although corvee labor was still
in effect), trade including opium
production, and most importantly the
collection of taxes.

Under French rule, the Vietnamese were

encouraged to migrate to Laos, which
was seen by the French colonists as a
rational solution to a practical problem
within the confines of an Indochina-wide
colonial space.[35] By 1943, the
Vietnamese population stood at nearly
40,000, forming the majority in the
largest cities of Laos and enjoying the
right to elect their own leaders.[36] As a
result, 53% of the population of Vientiane,
85% of Thakhek and 62% of Pakse were
Vietnamese, with only an exception of
Luang Phrabang where the population
was predominantly Lao.[36] As late as
1945, the French even drew up an
ambitious plan to move massive
Vietnamese population to three key
areas, i.e. the Vientiane Plain,
Savannakhet region, Bolaven Plateau,
which was only discarded by Japanese
invasion of Indochina.[36] Otherwise,
according to Martin Stuart-Fox, the Lao
might well have lost control over their
own country.[36]

The Lao response to French colonialism

was mixed, although the French were
viewed as preferable to the Siamese by
the nobility, the majority of Lao Loum,
Lao Theung, and Lao Sung were
burdened by regressive taxes and
demands for corvee labor to establish
colonial outposts. The first serious
resistance to the French colonial
presence began in southern Laos, as the
Holy Man's Rebellion led by Ong Keo, and
would last until 1910. The rebellion
began in 1901 when a French
commissioner in Salavan was attempting
to pacify Lao Theung tribes for taxation
and corvee labor, Ong Keo provoked anti-
French sentiment and in response the
French burned a local temple. The
commissioner and his troops were
massacred and a general uprising began
throughout the Bolaven Plateau. Ong Keo
would be killed by French forces, but for
several years his harassment and
protests gained popularity in the
southern Laos. It was not until the
movement spread to the Khorat Plateau
and threatened to become an
international incident involving Siam that
several French columns of the Garde
Indigene converged to put down the
rebellion. In the north Tai Lu groups from
the areas around Phongsali and Muang
Sing also began to rebel against French
attempts at taxation and corvee labor.

Market in Luang Prabang, c. 1900 CE

In 1914, the Tai Lu king had fled to the
Chinese portions of the Sipsong Panna,
where he began a two-year guerilla
campaign against the French in northern
Laos, which required three military
expeditions to suppress and resulted in
direct French control of Muang Sing. In
northeast Laos, Chinese and Lao Theung
rebelled against French attempts to tax
the opium trade which resulted in
another rebellion from 1914 to 1917. By
1915 most of northeast Laos was
controlled by Chinese and Lao Theung
rebels. The French dispatched the largest
military presence yet to Laos which
included 160 French officers and 2500
Vietnamese troops divided in two
columns. The French drove the Chinese
led rebels across the Chinese border and
placed Phongsali under direct colonial
control. Yet northeastern Laos was still
not entirely pacified and a Hmong
shaman named Pa Chay Vue attempted
to establish a Hmong homeland through
a rebellion (pejoratively termed the
Madman's War) which lasted from 1919
to 1921.

By 1920, the majority of French Laos was

at peace and colonial order had been
established. In 1928, the first school for
the training of Lao civil servants was
established, and allowed for the upward
mobility of Lao to fill positions occupied
by the Vietnamese. Throughout the
1920s and 1930s France attempted to
implement Western, particularly French,
education, modern healthcare and
medicine, and public works with mixed
success. The budget for colonial Laos
was secondary to Hanoi, and the
worldwide Great Depression further
restricted funds. It was also in the 1920s
and 1930s that the first strings of Lao
nationalist identity emerged due to the
work of Prince Phetsarath
Rattanavongsa and the French Ecole
Francaise d’Extreme Orient to restore
ancient monuments, temples, and
conduct general research into Lao
history, literature, art and architecture.
French interest in indigenous history
served a dual purpose in Laos it
reinforced the image of the colonial
mission as protection against Siamese
domination, and was also a legitimate
route for scholarship.[15][16]

World War II

Developing Lao national identity gained

importance in 1938 with the rise of the
ultranationalist prime minister
Phibunsongkhram in Bangkok.
Phibunsongkhram renamed Siam to
Thailand, a name change which was part
of a larger political movement to unify all
Tai peoples under the central Thai of
Bangkok. The French viewed these
developments with alarm, but the Vichy
government was diverted by events in
Europe and World War II. Despite a non-
aggression treaty signed in June 1940,
Thailand took advantage of the French
position and initiated the Franco-Thai
War. The war concluded unfavorably for
Lao interests with the Treaty of Tokyo,
and the loss of trans-Mekong territories
of Xainyaburi and part of Champasak.
The result was Lao distrust of the French
and the first overtly national cultural
movement in Laos, which was in the odd
position of having limited French
support. Charles Rochet the French
Director of Public Education in Vientiane,
and Lao intellectuals led by Nyuy Aphai
and Katay Don Sasorith began the
Movement for National Renovation.

Yet the wider impact of World War II had

little effect on Laos until February 1945,
when a detachment from the Japanese
Imperial Army moved into Xieng
Khouang. The Japanese preempted that
the Vichy administration of French
Indochina under Admiral Decoux would
be replaced by a representative of the
Free French loyal to Charles DeGaulle
and initiated Operation Meigo ("bright
moon"). The Japanese succeeded in the
internment of the French living in
Vietnam and Cambodia, but in the
remote areas of Laos the French were
able with the help of the Lao and Garde
Indigene to establish jungle bases which
were supplied by British airdrops from
Burma. However, French control in Laos
had been sidelined.[16]

Lao Issara and independence

1945 was a watershed year in the history

of Laos. Under Japanese pressure, King
Sisavangvong declared independence in
April. The move allowed the various
independence movements in Laos
including the Lao Seri and Lao Pen Lao to
coalesce into the Lao Issara or "Free Lao"
movement which was led by Prince
Phetsarath and opposed the return of
Laos to the French. The Japanese
surrender on 15 August 1945
emboldened pro-French factions and
Prince Phetsarath was dismissed by King
Sisavangvong. Undeterred Prince
Phetsarath staged a coup in September
and placed the royal family in Luang
Prabang under house arrest. On 12
October 1945 the Lao Issara government
was declared under the civil
administration of Prince Phetsarath. In
the next six months the French rallied
against the Lao Issara and were able to
reassert control over Indochina in April
1946. The Lao Issara government fled to
Thailand, where they maintained
opposition to the French until 1949, when
the group split over questions regarding
relations with the Vietminh and the
communist Pathet Lao was formed. With
the Lao Issara in exile, in August 1946
France instituted a constitutional
monarchy in Laos headed by King
Sisavangvong, and Thailand agreed to
return territories seized during the
Franco-Thai War in exchange for a
representation at the United Nations. The
Franco-Lao General Convention of 1949
provided most members of the Lao
Issara with a negotiated amnesty and
sought appeasement by establishing the
Kingdom of Laos a quasi-independent
constitutional monarchy within the
French Union. In 1950, additional powers
were granted to the Royal Lao
Government including training and
assistance for a national army. On 22
October 1953, the Franco–Lao Treaty of
Amity and Association transferred
remaining French powers to the
independent Royal Lao Government. By
1954 the defeat at Dien Bien Phu brought
eight years of fighting with the Vietminh,
during the First Indochinese War, to an
end and France abandoned all claims to
the colonies of Indochina.[16]
Kingdom of Laos and the
Lao Civil War (1953–1975)

Elections were held in 1955, and the first

coalition government, led by Prince
Souvanna Phouma, was formed in 1957.
The coalition government collapsed in
1958. In 1960, Captain Kong Le staged a
coup when the cabinet was away at the
royal capital of Luang Prabang and
demanded reformation of a neutralist
government. The second coalition
government, once again led by Souvanna
Phouma, was not successful in holding
power. Rightist forces under General
Phoumi Nosavan drove out the neutralist
government from power later that same
year. The North Vietnamese invaded
Laos between 1958 and 1959 to create
the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

A second Geneva conference, held in

1961–62, provided for the independence
and neutrality of Laos, but the agreement
meant little in reality and the war soon
resumed. Growing North Vietnamese
military presence in the country
increasingly drew Laos into the Second
Indochina War (1954–1975). As a result,
for nearly a decade, eastern Laos was
subjected to some of the heaviest
bombing in the history of warfare,[37] as
the U.S. sought to destroy the Ho Chi
Minh Trail that passed through Laos and
defeat the Communist forces. The North
Vietnamese also heavily backed the
Pathet Lao and repeatedly invaded Laos.
The government and army of Laos were
backed by the USA during the conflict.
The United States trained both regular
Royal Lao forces and irregular forces
among whom many were the Hmong and
other ethnic minorities.

Shortly after the Paris Peace Accords led

to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from
Vietnam, a ceasefire between the Pathet
Lao and the government led to a new
coalition government. However, North
Vietnam never withdrew from Laos and
the Pathet Lao remained little more than
a proxy army for Vietnamese interests.
After the fall of South Vietnam to
communist forces in April 1975, the
Pathet Lao with the backing of North
Vietnam were able to take total power
with little resistance. On 2 December
1975, the king was forced to abdicate his
throne and the Lao People's Democratic
Republic was established. Around
300,000 people out of a total population
of three million left Laos by crossing the
border into Thailand following the end of
the civil war.[38][16]
Lao People's Democratic
Republic (1975–present)

The new communist government led by

Kaysone Phomvihane imposed
centralized economic decision-making
and incarcerated many members of the
previous government and military in "re-
education camps" which also included
the Hmong. While nominally
independent, the communist government
was for many years effectively little more
than a puppet regime run from Vietnam.

The government's policies prompted

about 10 percent of the Lao population to
leave the country. Laos depended heavily
on Soviet aid channeled through Vietnam
up until the Soviet collapse in 1991. In
the 1990s the communist party gave up
centralised management of the economy
but still has a monopoly of political
power.[16][39]

Explanatory notes

a. The term "Lao" used in this context refers

to Tai-Kadai speaking peoples resided in
what are now Guangdong, Guangxi, and
northern Vietnam in general. It is
unnecessarily applied solely to the
ancestor of the Lao.
References

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Works cited

Baker Chris; Phongpaichit Pasuk (2017) A

Baker, Chris; Phongpaichit, Pasuk (2017), A
History of Ayutthaya (https://books.goog
le.com/books?id=GHiuDgAAQBAJ&pg=
PA26) , Cambridge University Press,
ISBN 978-1-107-19076-4
Baker, Chris (2002), "From Yue To Tai" (htt
p://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/2
001/JSS_090_0b_Baker_YueToThai.pd
f) (PDF), Journal of the Siam Society, 90
(1–2): 1–26
Taylor, Keith W. (1991), The Birth of Vietnam
(https://books.google.com/books?id=rC
l_02LnNVIC&pg=PA18) , University of
California Press, ISBN 978-0-520-07417-
0
Further reading

Conboy, K. The War in Laos 1960–75

(Osprey, 1989)
Dommen, A. J. Conflict in Laos
(Praeger, 1964)
Gunn, G. Rebellion in Laos: Peasant and
Politics in a Colonial Backwater
(Westview, 1990)
Kremmer, C. Bamboo Palace:
Discovering the Lost Dynasty of Laos
(HarperCollins, 2003)
Pholsena, Vatthana. Post-war Laos: The
politics of culture, history and identity
(Institute of Southeast Asian Studies,
2006).
 Stuart-Fox, Martin. "The French in Laos,
1887–1945." Modern Asian Studies
(1995) 29#1 pp: 111–139.
Stuart-Fox, Martin. A history of Laos
(Cambridge University Press, 1997)
Stuart-Fox, M. (ed.). Contemporary
Laos (U of Queensland Press, 1982)

External links

Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts – an

online library of historical Lao
manuscripts and related background
information (http://www.laomanuscript
s.net)
Laos Travel Guide History of Laos (http
s://web.archive.org/web/20110505152
 530/http://www.laos-travel-guide.com/
history-of-laos.html)
Andrea Matles Savada, ed. (1994).
"Laos: A Country Study" (http://country
studies.us/laos) . Library of Congress
Country Studies. GPO for the Library of
Congress. Retrieved 8 August 2011.

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