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In-Depth Information
popular legitimacy for the government, but candidates were approved by the party prior to
polls. And although the re-education camps were wound down, the government continued to
deal strictly with
dissent
.
Discontent was eased when the economy opened up, raising living standards and making
material goods more abundant. Government intrusion into people's lives was also reduced,
and by the late 1980s, the Mekong was again a two-way street. Lao refugees were invited to
return, and Western tourists began to visit the country.
In 1991, the Fifth Party Congress endorsed the long-awaited
Constitution
, which guaran-
teed basic freedoms and the right to private ownership of property. The congress served to
indicate that the party was no longer above the law when one member of the politburo was
demoted for corruption. Economic reform also received an endorsement, with the party repla-
cing the communist red star in the national crest with the That Luang stupa and eliminating
the word “socialism” from the national motto.
The 1992
death of Kaysone
, who had led the communist movement since the inception of
the Lao People's Party in 1955, presented a serious challenge to the regime, but a smooth
transition, resulting in the appointment of
Nouhak Phoumsavanh
as state president and
Khamtay Siphandone
, the prime minister, as president of the party, ensured the govern-
ment's political stability.
Regional integration
As communism began to collapse in Eastern Europe and Vietnam began to withdraw its
forces from Laos, the government strengthened ties with Thailand and with other capitalist
countries, notably Japan, Australia and Sweden. Cooperation with the US in the search for
missing US servicemen on Lao soil and control of the opium trade improved the relationship
with the US, culminating in the re-establishment of full ambassadorial relations in 1992. With
the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Laos also began to smooth over difficulties with
China which had arisen as a result of Vientiane's alliance with the USSR and Vietnam. Ch-
ina has in fact emerged as Laos's most important foreign military ally, as well as a powerful
economic force on Laos's northern border. Thus, by the early 1990s, Laos enjoyed relatively
good relations with all its border countries, allowing it to slip back into its familiar role of a
crossroads between contending regional powers.
The Australian-financed
FriendshipBridge
to Thailand - opened in 1994 outside Vientiane
- as well as membership in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
in July 1997 were
two important signs that Laos had finally begun to shake off decades of isolation. But for
the
Sixth Party Congress
, the Friendship Bridge to Thailand symbolized the way in which
the New Thinking was being corrupted, as economic reforms brought a host of new prob-
lems, including corruption, gambling dens, brothels and increased crime. The conservative
policies introduced by the congress indicated the party intended to slow the pace of reforms
