LAOS

 Brief History and Facts

- Official name: Lao People's Democratic Republic

- “Laos” originated with the French who coined it in the late 19th century as a
convenient way to collectively refer to the various Lao kingdoms.

- “Lao” is derived from a Chinese word meaning “great” or civilized.”

- The traditional Lao name for the country is Pathet Lao, meaning “the country of the
Lao.”

- U.S. President John F. Kennedy pronounced the name of the country “Louse.” Many
Americans pronounce the name “Lay-os.”

- Sandwiched between the neighboring countries of Vietnam and Thailand, landlocked

- The country is traversed by the Mekong River (a vital transportation route for cargo
and passengers, a source of electricity, water supply for crops, and home to fish for
Lao people) and is known for mountainous terrain, French colonial architecture, hill
tribe settlements, and Buddhist monasteries.

- Capital City: Vientiane (Viangchan, local name), the site of the Pha That Luang
monument, where it is reportedly houses the Buddha’s breastbone, plus the Patuxai
war memorial and Talat Sao (Morning Market), a complex jammed with food, clothes
and craft stalls.

- BRIEF HISTORY

- People have lived in the lower Mekong Basin for at least 10,000 years. The first
settlers were related to the Khmer people who still live in Cambodia. Originally, the
Lao people were a tribe from Yunnan, China, who were pushed south to the border of
the Khmer empire in the 13th century. The first Lao kingdom was called Lan Xang,
also known as “the Kingdom of Million Elephants,” founded by Lao Prince Fa Ngum
in 1353.
 - In 1779, most of Laos was taken over by the Siamese people (Siam is now known as
Thailand). French colonists took control and forced the Siamese to withdraw from
the western part of the Mekong River in 1893, and the country was reunited and
named Laos by the French.

- The French maintained control of Laos until 1945, when the Japanese took over for a
brief period. In 1953, the French made Laos fully independent and eventually French
businesses were forced out.
- At the second Geneva conference in 1961-1962, Laos declared itself neutral in the
hope of avoiding future international conflicts, but this too was not to be. By the
1960s Laos was dragged into the Cold War, mostly because of its geopolitical
position beside Vietnam.

- While the entire world watched the U.S.-Vietnam war, few knew that a “secret war”
was also being waged in Laos—with even more devastating results. Laos suffered the
heaviest bombings of any country in history.

- At the end of the wars, there was an attempt at a coalition government between the
communist Pathet Lao and the royal government, but as soon as Saigon fell in April
1975, the Pathet Lao, backed by North Vietnam, took control of Laos with little
opposition. On December 2, 1975, the king was deposed from Luang Prabang,
Buddhism was removed as the state religion, and the communist Lao People’s
Democratic Republic was established and remains the only party. In the 1990s,
Buddhism was reformed and reinstated to promote Lao nationalism.

 Government

- Laos is a communist country with a political system that remains firmly in the
control of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP) as the only legal party that is
present in the country (similar to China with only one ruling party). Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party (LPRP) monopolizes political power and control of the media,
squashes all dissent, and retains tight fraternal party ties with Vietnam while
deepening economic ties with China (as we can observe the 2 countries in which Laos
is developing connections Vietnam and China, are all communist countries. So we
could conclude that maybe Laos sees them as potential partners because they possess
the same ideology.)
 - History of Government
It was formerly a conservative monarchy, dominated by a small number of powerful
families but in 1975 it was transformed into a communist oligarchy led by Kaysone
Phomuihan, who is the General Secretary of the newly created Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party.

- 3 Branches of the Government:

1. Executive
> President (head of the State);
> Prime minister (Chairman of Council of Ministers and head of government);
> 11-member Politburo;
> 55-member Central Committee.

2. Legislative

National Assembly (132 seats)

3. Judicial

The judiciary is comprised of the Supreme People's Court, provincial and municipal
courts, people's district courts, and military courts.

- Laos Constitution
Laos Constitution: promulgated on August 14, 1991, and amended in 2003. The
Constitution was endorsed by the Supreme People’s Assembly on August 14, 1991.
But before that, the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party operated for 15 years without a
constitution following their transition as a communist state in 1975.

- Administrative Subdivisions
The country has an administrative subdivision of 16 provinces, and a Vientiane
prefecture (Vientiane is the largest city and the capital of Laos. It is situated on a
plain just northeast of the Mekong River)

 Politics

- Laos, being a communist State is known to censor information in and out of their
territory. Somehow it serves their advantage as they can filter out information coming
out from their State yet they can access information from most countries around the
globe. Also, being a communist State, Laos has only one legal political party, the
Laos People`s Revolutionary Party (LPRP). Laos`s ruling party has basically no
established opposition. Reports of the banishment of certain pro-democratic activists
from Laos are reported. Moreover, Laos, being a Soviet ally during the Cold War, did
 not actually thrive and successfully established itself as a socialist State. After the fall
of the USSR, their government opened its market for foreign access not by choice but
by necessity. During the 1990s, their relationship with their fellow communist China
was not so good. Reliance on foreign aid and debt was Laos` way of surviving as a
nation.

 Analysis

- Laos is a landlocked country sandwiched between the capitalist states from its east
section and the communist bloc from the south heading to its northern part.
Geographically, it is characterized by mountain ranges in the northwest down to the
southeast part of the country where land travel and communication is a challenge.
Down the eastern bank of the Mekong River is where most of the population resides.
Laos`s capital Vientiane, lies beside Thailand with the Mekong River in between
them. The education sector of Laos is a challenge, especially for those in the
mountainous areas. Lao children are taught in Buddhist schools. Laos has an
unskilled workforce that mainly relies on fishing and agriculture.

- Effects of the Vietnam War. Laos was a victim of the USA`s wrath during the
Vietnam War, tearing the country as a result of its quest to put an end to communism.
The US dropped in Laos bombs worth more than what they had in Germany and
Japan during WWII, combined. This resulted in deforestation and the destruction of
agricultural lands. The unexploded bombs had either injured or killed many Laotians.
As an effect, these bombs are affecting the development of agricultural lands,
imposing grave threats to the Lao citizens, and making it hard for them to cultivate
their lands. This is a problem for a country whose major economic driving force is
agriculture.

 Modern Development

- Established Alliance with China. During the 90s, Laos and China has no significant
friendship. They were only characterized by their similarities in idealism and
government. However, their similarity in the government type as well as Laos’
strategic location has led China to lend a helping hand. As per reports, Laos is
currently building a series of megaprojects as part of its economic development
programs. Such megaprojects are the dams that maximize Laos` mountainous
landscape and provide hydropower and stable irrigation for their agricultural lands.
Also, Laos is building a Chinese-funded super railway that connects Southwestern
China down to Vientiane. This is a move that Laos` government believes to speed up
the economic development of their country through easier access to their giant
neighbor as well as to improve the skills of their workforce. Easier transportation of
raw materials from Laos and exportation of a wide range of products through this
mega railway project is also one of the ideal objectives of this railway, which is a part
of China`s ambitious trillion-dollar Belt Road Initiative. This program, however, has a
great impact on the future of Laos. China is known for its debt trap which experts
believe is its style of modern imperialism. China has been using its huge financial
surplus to grant humongous amounts of loans that will make it hard for the recipient
to repay. This tactic is prevalent in Africa as China has hundreds of billions of granted
loans in there. China`s debt trap has also significantly affected its Asian neighbors,
especially Sri Lanka. The latter has been swamped with Chinese debt which resulted
in China claiming some of its territories as payment for their debt. As of now, Laos
may have a different case since compared to other Southeast Asian countries, they
have no territorial disputes with China. Moreover, China is ideally trying to gather its
allies in connection with its ambition to dominate the South China Sea.