Laos Destination Guide

The Lao P.D.R. is located in the heart of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It lies between latitude 14 to 23 degrees North and longitude 100 to 108 degrees East. It is the only Southeast Asian country without direct access to the sea, stretching North to South 1,700 kilometers. Laos encompasses a total of 236,800 square kilometers with the terrain characterized by three distinct regions - mountains, plateaus, and plains. The mountains and plateaus make up three-quarters of the total area.

High mountains rising to an average height of 1,500 meters dominate the Northern region. The three highest mountains in the country are all located in the Phou Ane Plateau in Xieng Khouang Province. They are Phou Bia at 2,820 meters, Phou Xao at 2,690 meters and Phou Xamxum at 2,620 meters. The Phou Luang (Annamite Range) stretches from Southeast on the Phouane Plateau down to the Cambodian border; the others are the Nakai Plateau in Khammouane Province and the Bolaven Plateau in Southern Laos, which is over 1,000 meters above sea level.

The plain region consists of large and small plain areas distributed along the Mekong River. The Vientiane Plain, the largest, is situated on the lower reaches of the Nam Ngum River. The Savannakhet Plain is situated on the lower reaches of the Sebangfai River and Sebanghieng River, while the Champasack Plain on the Mekong River stretches out to the Thai and Cambodian borders. Blessed with rich and fertile soil, these plains represent one quarter of the total area known as the granaries of the country.

The Lao PDR is criss-crossed with a myriad of rivers and streams. The largest is the Mekong River, flowing for 1,898 kilometers from the North to the South, with 919 kilometers of the river forming the major portion of the border with Thailand. It is estimated that some 60% of all the water entering the Mekong River system originates in Laos. These rivers and streams provide great potential for hydropower development with 51% of the power potential in the lower Mekong basin contained within Laos.

PREHISTORIC MAN

Earliest signs of mankind was discovered in Huaphan and Luang Prabang provinces in the form of stone tools. Prehistoric man in the stages of hunter and gatherers roamed over Laos around 40,000 years ago. The mystical Plain of Jars are a testament to an agriculturist society which seemed to appear during the 4th millenia BC.

MIDDLE AGES

Between the fourth and eighth century communities along the Mekong river began to form into townships, called muang. King Fa Ngum (1353-73) was recognised to have unified Laos in 1353 establishing the capital at Luang Prabang and ruled a kingdom called Larn Xang (million elephants ) which covered much of what today is Thailand and Laos. He is also credited with the introduction of Theravada Buddhism and much of Khmer civilization into Laos. Further successors especially King Setthathirat in the 16th century helped establish Buddhism as the predominant religion of the country. The kingdom was further expanded by King Setthathirat who ruled from 1548-1571 who moved the capital to Vientiane and built That Luang Stupa, a venerated religious shrine and a temple to house the Phra Keo (the Emerald Buddha). Settathirat is revered as one of the great Lao kings because he protected the nation from foreign conquest. When he disappeared in 1574 on a military campaign, the kingdom rapidly declined and was subject to Burmese invasion. There was a quick and lackluster succession of kings after Settathirat. In the 17 th century internal fightings for the throne took place leading to the breakup of Larn Xang into three kingdoms- Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Champassak. During the next two centuries, the kingdoms were overrun by the armies of neighbouring countires. Siam established supremacy over most of Laos whilst the Vietnamese were influencing the northwest region. In the 1820s, Vientiane’s King Anou rebelled against Siamese interference and attacked the Thais. The Thai response was to sack Vientiane in 1827, razing most of the city.

COLONIAL AGE

After French explorations in the late 19th century Siam was displaced by the French whom incorporated Laos into the union of Indochina. The king of Siam, seeking to keep Thailand free of foreign domination, ceded a large tract of territory – equivalent of what is now Laos and Cambodia combined – to the French. However the destruction of battle was left behind in the form of a decimated Vientiane. The Siamese took the Emerald Buddha to Bangkok where it remains today at Wat Pra Keo. The Franco-Siamese treaty of 1907 defined the present Lao boundary with Thailand. To recover its full rights and its sovereignty the Lao people started fighting against the French regime.

During the colonial period, administration, health care, and education hardly made any impact or progress at all. There was little interest in developing in Laos due to the country’s geographical nature. It was too mountainous for plantations, there was little in the way of mining, and the Mekong was not suitable for commercial navigation.

After 50 years of French rule the Japanese during WW2, occupied French Indochina including Laos. King Sisavangvong of Luang Prabang was induced to declare independence from France in 1945 by the Japanese just prior to Japan's surrender, despite the King siding with the French. In September 1945 Vientiane and Champassak united with Luang Prabang to form an independent government under the Free Lao (Lao Issara) banner. However in 1946 French troops with the help of King Sisavanvong, reoccupied the country forming a Royal Lao government and the Lao Issara dissolved and a splinter group called the Pathet Lao formed a new resistance group based in the Northeast of Laos. The Pathet Lao were led by Prince Souphanouvong and backed by the Vietminh of North Vietnam who regarded the royalist government as Western-dominated . In 1954 France lost the battle at Dien Bien Phu against the Vietnamese which began the breakup of Indochina. France formally recognized the independence of Laos in 1949 but it wasn’t until 1954 at an International conference, the Geneva Agreement on Indochina was signed establishing the independence of Laos. At this point the US started supplying the Royal Lao Government with arms, seeing the threat of communism spreading.The US-backed Royal Lao Government ruled over a divided country from 1951 to 1954. The Geneva Conference of July 1954 granted full independence to Laos but did not settle the issue of who would rule. In 1957 an agreement was reached between the royal forces and the Pathet Lao, but in 1959 the coalition government collapsed and hostilities were renewed. Fighting broke out between the Royal Lao Army and the Pathet Lao in 1960; in 1961, a neutral independent government was set up under Prince Souvanna Phouma, based in Vientiane. There was a three way struggle for power among among neutralist, rightist, and Communist forces.

VIETNAM WAR

In the same year with Pathet Lao and neutralist forces in control of about half the country, a cease-fire was arranged. A 14-nation conference convened in Geneva, producing (1962) another agreement providing for the neutrality of Laos under a unified government. An attempt to integrate the three military forces failed and the Pathet Lao began moving against neutralist troops. During the the next decade, Laos was engulfed by the actions of war. There was Chinese influence in the North, Vietnamese along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in the east, the Thais and US in the west and Khmer Rouge in the south. The US, launching from Thailand, began bombing the Ho Chi Minh Trail to stop the Vietnamese transports and supplies moving. This lead to more bombs being dropped on Laos than ever and was more than the total bombs dropped over Europe by all sides during WW2. It is estimated that a bomb was dropped every 8 minutes continuously for 9 years. The campaign was shrouded in secrecy due to the Geneva Accord of 1962 stating no foreign personnel were allowed to operate on Laotian territory. So secret was the campaign that pilots were dressed in civilian clothing and were insructed to take suicide pills if they were caught.

In 1972 the Pathet Lao renamed itself the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) which went on to join a new coalition government in Laos. Nonetheless the political struggle between communists, neutralists and rightists continued. After Communist victories in Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975 the LPRP took control, abolished the monarchy established and the communist Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) was established.

The new communist government imposed centralized economic decision-making and broad security measures including control of the media and the arrest and incarceration of many members of the previous government and military in "re-education camps". These policies along with the government’s efforts to enforce political control prompted an exodus of lowland Lao and ethnic Hmong from Laos. Many crossed the Mekong into Thailand or the mountains into Burma. About 10% of the Lao population sought refugee status after 1975 and many now reside in France, the US and Australia.

RECOVERY

Over time the Lao government closed the re-education camps and released most political prisoners. From 1975 to 1996 the U.S. resettled some 250 000 Lao refugees from Thailand including 130 000 Hmong. By the end of 1997 27 600 Hmong and lowland Lao had repatriated to Laos: 3 500 from China the rest from Thailand. Through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and non-governmental organizations the U.S. has supported a variety of reintegration assistance programs throughout Laos. UNHCR monitors returnees and reports no evidence of systemic persecution or discrimination to date. As of August 1998 there were 1 300 Hmong and lowland Lao remaining at Ban Napho camp in Thailand who were being screened by the Thai Government and UNHCR.

In the early 1990s Laos abandoned economic communism for capitalism, but the party retained tight political control, and political dissent was harshly suppressed. Meanwhile, the nation pursued improved relations with such former enemies as China, Thailand, and the United States. Kaysone became president in 1991. He died the following year and was succeeded as president by Nouhak Phoumsavan. Khamtai Siphandon became party leader and, when Nouhak retired in 1998, assumed the job of president as well. Laos was admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997.

Animism

Animism is the belief of spirits within the religion.

Bhuddism

The chief religion followed by Laotians is Theravada Bhuddism, but many also honor spirits, called phi, which guide the individual in daily life. These separate sets of religious beliefs are not necessarily in conflict. Many Laotians feel that Bhuddism looks after the eternal soul, while the practice of honoring spirits - called animism - helps a person with more earthly problems. Animists believe that spirits inhabit rivers, forests, rocks and many other natural features. These spirits may be appeased by the faithful who place small offerings of food, little flags and incense in obvious places.

Bhuddism began in India in the sixth century B.C. The faith traces its origins to Siddhartha Guatama, a prince who went on a prolonged search for the meaning of life.

Laos is ideal for buying handicrafts and souvenirs. Its woven silk and cotton are found in varying designs throughout the country. Each area has its own specific design. Most products eventually find their way to Vientiane, which offers a wide variety of Shopping opportunities. Varieties of handmade product of wood, textile, gold, silver or precious stones are widely sold in department store 'Talat Sao' (Morning Market) – a rainbow of colours of silks and cotton.Gold, silver, gems, antiques, raditional Lao weavings (Lao textile), shawls, bags, wall hangings, etc also can be found in many shops and markets.But shopping is not limited to Vientiane city. All the major provinces are also offered with variety of sopping opportunities.

Every visitor shold remember that it is forbidden to take any antiques or Buddha image ( which are older than 50 years ) out of the country. Therefore such items brought into Laos from other countries have to be decrared at customs.

By Air

By Road
The most important road is route No 13 linking from Pak Mong in the north to Kong in the south through Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Savannakhet, Champasack with 18.153 km of national roads with 2,500 km from China to Cambodia. Two more important roads No1 and No8 linked between Thailand and China by road, No9 linked between Thailand and Vietnam. Domestic bus services (Air-conditioned and regular) reaching in to all corners of Lao PDR every day.
-Vientiane’ Northern/Southern/ all corners of Vientiane Municipality. Bus Terminal at Morning Market (856-21) 215587 -Vientiane’ Northern at Evening Market (Ban Nognduang).

By Land
Entrance to Lao PDR through borders check points, which are open daily from 8:30 am-17: 00pm as below:
1.China
-Via south of China, Muangla to Boten check point in
Luang Namtha Province.
2.Thailand
-Via Nongkai to Vientiane by friendship Bridge
(Shuttle bus)
-Via Chiang khong (Thailand) to Houeixay by crossing
Mekhong River (Boat or Ferryboat).
-Via Mukdahan (Thailand) to Savannakhet
(Boat or Ferry boat)
-Via Chongmek to Pakse in Champasack Province
(Cross/Boat/Ferry boat,bridge & Shuttle bus.)
3. Vietnam
-Via Vinh (Vietnam) to Lak Xao km20, Kham Keuth District,
Borikhamxay Province (Bus/Truck
-Via Lao-Bao to Savannakhet by road No9.