Mark Meek's Ideas: Laos

Laos is the small country in southeast Asia, between Vietnam, China, Cambodia and, Thailand. The Plain of Jars is a well-known Iron Age historical site, with burials around large jar-shaped stones.

Lan Xang was a kingdom in what is now Laos that was founded in the Fourteenth Century. It was often invaded by neighbors. The capital was moved to Vientiane, which is the present capital city, in 1520.

Lan Xang eventually split into smaller kingdoms but, during the colonial era, it was put back together by the French. Laos was recolonized by the French after the Second World War.

The country gained autonomy in 1949 and independence in 1953. It became a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong.

The former flag of Laos had three elephants on it. It had been known as the "Land of a Million Elephants".

The monarchy ended in 1975 when the Communist Pathet Lao came to power. Communist governments had just gained power in neighboring Vietnam and Cambodia.

King Savang Vatthana would die in a reeducation camp.

The Pathet Lao had begun during the French colonial period. America's Vietnam War spilled over into Laos, as it did into Cambodia. The Pathet Lao was matched against the Laotian Army. Communist North Vietnam assisted the Pathet Lao.

Ethnically, the Lao people make up just over half the population of the country. There are other tribes, such as the Hmong. The U.S. supported the Hmong, and others, against the Pathet Lao, then took in a quarter million refugees when the Communists came to power.

The Pathet Lao government has remained close to Vietnam. But Communism came to power in Laos with much less violence than in Vietnam, and certainly Cambodia.

The campaign in Laos was referred to as America's "Secret War". But it was no secret that an incredible volume of bombs was dropped on Communist positions in the country. In fact, it is reputed to be the most-bombed country in the world, considering the tonnage of bombs dropped relative to it's population. Not all of the bombs exploded when dropped and many people are killed and injured when undiscovered bombs periodically explode.

The grandson of the last Laotian king lives in exile in Paris. In the opinion of many people Laos, like neighboring Vietnam, remains Communist in name only as private enterprise thrives.

Hinduism came before Buddhism. Vat Phou is an old Hindu temple in Laos that was later converted to Buddhist use. The first five images of Vat Phou are from Google Street View.

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This is a Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang, which was the royal capital before it was moved to Vientiane in the Sixteenth Century. The first four images are from Google Street View.