Laos - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 341

5

Luang Prabang is renamed after it. Burmese warrior-kings
reduce the kingdom of Lane Xang to vassalage.
1637-94 The reign of Sourinyavongsa, and the Golden
Age of Lane Xang. After his death the region divides into
three principalities.
1778 The kingdom of Siam takes Vientiane, capturing the
precious Pha Bang statue. Over the next century, Siam and
Vietnam compete to control fragmented Lao principalities.
1893 The French vice-consul in Luang Prabang persuades
the northern kingdom to pay tribute to France. For half a
century, Laos is a French colony, and the country's present-
day borders take shape.
World War II The Japanese occupy Laos.
1945 Prince Phetsarath deposes the pro-French king and
forms the Lao Issara, or “Free Laos” government.
March 1946 French reoccupation forces take Vientiane
and Luang Prabang. Thousands of Lao Issara supporters
flee to Thailand, where Phetsarath establishes a
government-in-exile.
1947 The Kingdom of Laos - under French control - is
unified under the royal house of Luang Prabang. The Lao
Issara, supported by Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh, launch
guerrilla raids on French convoys and garrisons.
July 1949 France concedes greater independence to the
Vientiane government. The Lao Issara disbands and moderate
members join the new Royal Lao Government (RLG).
1950 Souphanouvong (Phetsarath's younger brother)
founds the resistance group Pathet Lao (“the Land of the
Lao”), calling for an independent Laos and cooperation with
the Vietnamese and Khmer against the French.
1953 The Viet Minh seize parts of Laos for the Pathet
Lao. Laos gains independence in October, but control of
the country is divided between Pathet Lao and the Royal
Lao Government.
May 1954 The Geneva conference rea rms Lao indepen-
dence under the Royal Lao Government; the Pathet Lao are
allotted the provinces of Phongsali and Houa Phan.
1955-60 The US supports the Royal Lao Army against the
Pathet Lao. The US and Soviet Union arm opposing sides,
and the country becomes increasingly unstable.
1961 At a second Geneva conference a coalition government
is formed and all foreign military agree to leave Laos; while
publicly supporting this, all sides ignore it, keeping Laos at war.
1964-73 Prime minister Souvannaphouma, dependent on
the US, permits “armed reconnaissance” flights over Laos
against the North Vietnamese, who are using the Ho Chi
Minh Trail in Laos to infiltrate South Vietnam. During this
secret war the US drops 2,093,100 tonnes of bombs on Laos.
April 1974 Following the Paris Peace Accords, a coalition
government is formed in Laos, including both Souvanna-
phouma and Souphanouvong.
1975 After communist victories in Phnom Penh and
Saigon, Pathet Lao forces take Vientiane in a bloodless coup
on August 23, and the Lao People's Democratic Republic

(PDR) is proclaimed on December 2. A rigid, socialist regime
is established and up to fifty thousand royalists are sent to
malaria-ridden labour camps.
1977 The royal family are arrested and exiled to Houa
Phan province, ending the centuries-old Lao monarchy.
1986 Prime minister Kaysone Phomvihane implements the
New Economic Mechanism, essentially a market economy,
though there are no political reforms and dissenters are
still arrested.
1992 Diplomatic relations are re-established with the US.
1997 Laos becomes a member of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) but the Asian economic
crisis is a major setback.
2007 In the US, ten members of the Hmong minority - many
of whom had fought with the US against the communists
and then emigrated - are arrested and accused of trying to
overthrow the Lao government.
2009 Around four thousand Hmong are deported back to
Laos from refugee camps in northern Thailand; reports
follow of retribution for their involvement in the second
Indochina War.
2011 Two tropical storms cause severe flooding, killing at
least 27 people and washing away roads and villages.
2012 Prominent community development worker Sombath
Somphone is abducted in Vientiane. At the time of writing,
he was still missing.

ARRIVAL
Travelling to Laos by air from Europe, the
US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand
usually involves flying first to Bangkok,
and then catching a connecting flight on
to Vientiane's Wattay International
Airport or Luang Prabang Airport with
hai Airways, Lao Airlines, Bangkok
Airways or hai Smile.
here are flights to Vientiane and Luang
Prabang, as well as smaller cities in Laos,
from: Bangkok and Chiang Mai in
hailand; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
in Vietnam; Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia;
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia;
and Kunming and Jinghong in China.
Budget airlines include AirAsia, Bangkok
Airways, Lao Airlines, hai Airways and
Vietnam Airlines. Laos has borders with
hailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and
Burma, though foreigners cannot cross the
border from Burma.

OVERLAND FROM CAMBODIA
he Dom-Kralor-Veun Kham crossing is
currently the only point at which you can