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Laos Information

  Laos traces its history to the kingdom of Lan Xang, founded in the fourteenth century by Fa Ngum, himself descended   from a long line of Lao kings, tracking back to Khoun Boulom. Lan-Xang  prospered until the eighteenth century, when   the kingdom was divided into three principalities,  which eventually came under  Siamese suzerainty. In the 19th century,   Luang Prabang was incorporated into the 'Protectorate' of French Indochina, and shortly thereafter, the Kingdom of   Champasak and the territory of Vientiane were also added to the protectorate. Under the French, Vientiane once again   became the capital of aunified Lao state. Following a brief Japanese occupation during World War II, the country   declared its   independence in 1945, but the French under De Gaulle re-asserted their control and only in 1950 was Laos granted semi-autonomy as an "associated state" within the French Union. Moreover, the French remained in de facto control until 1954, when Laos gained full independence as a constitutional monarchy. Under a special exemption to the Geneva Convention, a French military training mission continued to support the Royal Laos Army. In 1955, the U.S. Department of Defense created a special Programs Evaluation Office to replace French support of the Royal Lao Army against the communist Pathet Lao as part of the U.S. containment policy.

Laos was dragged into the Vietnam War, and the eastern parts of the country were invaded and occupied by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), which used Laotian territory as a staging ground and supply route for its war against the South. In response, the United States initiated a bombing campaign against the North Vietnamese, supported regular and irregular anticommunist forces in Laos and supported a South Vietnamese invasion of Laos. The result of these actions were a series of coups and, ultimately, the Laotian Civil War between the Royal Laotian government and the communist Pathet Lao.

In the Civil War, the NVA, with its heavy artillery and tanks, was the real power behind the Pathet Lao insurgency. In 1968, the North Vietnamese Army launched a multi-division attack against the Royal Lao Army. The attack resulted in the army largely demobilizing and leaving the conflict to irregular forces raised by the United States and Thailand. Massive aerial bombardment by the United States followed as it attempted to eliminate North Vietnamese bases in Laos in order to disrupt supply lines on the Ho Chi Minh trail.


Pha That Luang in Vientiane, the national symbol of Laos.In 1975, the communist Pathet Lao, backed by the Soviet Union and the North Vietnamese Army (justified by the communist ideology of "proletarian internationalism"), overthrew the royalist government, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate on December 2, 1975. He later died in captivity.

After taking control of the country, Pathet Lao's government renamed the country as the "Lao People's Democratic Republic" and signed agreements giving Vietnam the right to station military forces and to appoint advisers to assist in overseeing the country. Laos was ordered in the late 1970s by Vietnam to end relations with the People's Republic of China which cut the country off from trade with any country but Vietnam. Control by Vietnam and socialization were slowly replaced by a relaxation of economic restrictions in the 1980s and admission into ASEAN in 1997.

In 2005, the United States established Normal Trade Relations with Laos, ending a protracted period of punitive import taxes.

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Historical Background         

Human beings began living in the present territory of Laos more than 10,000 years ago. Stone tool implements and skulls discovered in Huaphan and Luang Prabang provinces certify the existence of such settlements. The giant jars in Xieng Khouang province and stone columns in Huaphan province date from the Neolithic period. As clearly as the last century B.C. humans in Laos used iron to forge their tools.

The rural community grouping of people slowly formed into muang (townships) between fourth and eight century on both sides of the Mekong River and along its tributaries.

In 1349-1357, a movement emerged under the command of King Fa Ngoum, a national hero, to group the muang into a unified Lan Xang Kingdom, the capital of which stood at Xiengdong Xiengthong, now known as Luang Prabang.

From then on, the Kingdom of Lan xang entered into an era of national defense and construction under King Fa Ngoum who first introduced Hinayana Buddhism from the Khmer Kingdom into Laos, which is still the religion professed by the majority of Lao people.

From 1479 to 1570, the Lao people were forced to defend the country against foreign aggressors.

Under the rule of King Setthathirath, the capital was moved from Xiengdong Xiengthong to Vientiane in 1560. A moated rampart was built to protect the new capital whose name means the rampart if sandalwood. King Setthathirath built a shrine to house the Phra Kaeo, the Emerald Buddha. He also erected the That Luang Stupa, a venerated religious shrine which is now the symbol of the Lao nation.

In the seventeenth century, under the reign of King Souliyavongsa, the Kingdom entered its most brilliant era. It was respected by neighboring countries and was reputed in many countries of the world. in 1694, a Dutch merchant of the East Indian Company, Geritt Van Wuysthoff, and later, two Italian missionaries, Leria and Marini, visited the Kingdom of Lan Xang. They wrote awed reports on the rich and beautiful palaces and temples, and the splendid religious ceremonies, saying Vientiane was the most magnificent city in South East Asia.

At the end of the reign of King Souliyavongsa, the feudal lords of Lan Xang became contenders for the throne which led to the division of the country into three Kingdoms in 1713: Luang Prabang, Vientiane, and Champassak. The division created opportunities for new foreign aggressors. The Lao people fought relentlessly to recover their national independence, and the most fierce but unsuccessful struggle (1827-1828) in the Kingdom of Vientiane was led by King Anouvong, now a National Hero. Vientiane was ransacked completely destroyed by the Siames, with the exception of That Luang and vat Sisaket. The Emerald Buddha was taken to Bangkok.

In 1893, Laos became a French colony. The Lao people of different ethnic groups under the leadership of the Communist Party of Indochina, founded in 1930, continued to struggle for the self determination and independence of Laos as well as that of Vietnam and Cambodia. Lao independence was recognized by the Geneva Agreement on Indochina in 1954.

Despite the agreement, neo-colonialist stepped into Laos to replace the old. During this time, the ethnic Lao people suffered enormously. The pain of the people and the destruction of land and property was beyond physical measure.
Because of the perseverance and struggle of the Lao people, victory after victory was scored until the people was able to seize power throughout the country, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic was established on December 2, 1975.

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