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Laos was occupied during the fourth and fifth centuries AD by Chinese people from the north. It was subject to strong Indian
influence from the eighth century onwards and adopted Buddhism. For 200 years from the early 11th century, Laos was part of
the Khmer Angkor Empire. It was during this period that the Lao people, who originated in Thailand, invaded the area and displaced
the previously dominant Chinese. However, there is some evidence that the Mongol empire had some influence over events in
the region in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, probably in alliance with the Angkor kingdom. Following the collapse
of the Khmer empire, the independent kingdom of Lan Xang, which dates back to 1349, was established as a single entity bounded
by Siam (Thailand), China to the north, Vietnam and the Mekong river, occupying roughly the same territory as modern-day Laos.
Populated by a mixture of ethnic Laos, Thais and various hill tribes, the Lan Xang empire lasted for three centuries while
fighting off successive invasions from Vietnam, Siam (Thailand) and Burma. Internal power struggles in the 18th century were
exploited by its neighbours, notably Siam which finally conquered Vientiane in 1779. The city was later destroyed by the Siamese
and the remains of Lan Xang absorbed into Siam. The 19th century was a period of political turmoil in which rival powers with
shifting alliances fought for control of the territory. The Siamese were the dominant power until the arrival of the French,
who had already established a firm grip in neighbouring Vietnam, in the 1870s. Laos then became part of French Indo-China,
which lasted until the 1950s, with the exception of a brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II.
Full independence was achieved in 1953 under the rule of King Sisavang Vong. The monarchy was opposed by former nationalist
guerrillas organised into the Laotian Patriotic Front (LPF) whose fighters, the Pathet Lao, formed an alliance with the Viet
Minh (later Viet Cong) nationalists in neighbouring Vietnam to expel the residual French, and later to counter US influence
in the region and the regimes supported by them. Despite repeated efforts, both before and after the communist takeover in
1975, the Chinese failed to exert any significant influence over the country. Indeed, after 1975, Laos became dependent on
military and economic assistance from Vietnam, China’s enemy. In the late 1980s, however, tension between China and Laos at
last began to ease: diplomatic relations (which had been severed in the late 1970s) were restored in December 1987, and cultural
and bilateral trade agreements signed.
A steady improvement has been maintained since then. Relations with Thailand and with the West have followed a similar pattern.
Since 1988, there has been greatly expanded commercial contact between Thailand and Laos and the political relationship has
improved. The dominant political figures in Laos since independence have been the veteran General Secretary of the Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party (the LPRP, whose armed wing is the Pathet Lao), Kaysone Phomvihane, and Prince Souphanouvong (the ‘Red
Prince’). The activities of the country’s main opposition movements, the right-wing pro-royalist United Lao National Liberation
Front and the United Front for the National Liberation of the Lao People, have been confined to minor armed rebellions from
bases among the northern hill tribes (the cause of a series of minor bomb attacks in Vientiane during 2000 has yet to be discovered).
Souphanouvong retired from all his posts in March 1991, heralding a period of major political and economic reform. A new constitution
was adopted in August 1991, under which elections for a new National Assembly took place in December 1992. A period of economic
reform began as Laos sought to emulate the changes effected by its larger neighbours. The country’s relative isolation and
lack of resources has made this difficult. Several regional economic co-operation agreements have been reached with Thailand,
Cambodia and Vietnam, and Laos has been admitted to the Association of South East Asian Nations, the former anti-communist
regional bloc which has since reinvented itself as an economic organisation. In 1995, the Americans relaxed their aid embargo
which dated back to the 1975 revolution. These developments were unfortunately offset by the 1997 Asian financial crisis which
brought about a collapse in the value of the kip.
But Laos has seen little political evolution and the LPRP retains tight control. In 1998, changes in the upper echelons of
the regime promoted Khamtay Siphandone, one of the few remaining veterans of the original Pathet Lao leadership, to the position
of president and head of the LPRP politburo in place of the retiring Phoumsavanh. Elections to the National Assembly were
held in February 2002: all candidates belonged to the LPRP, bar one (who was, nonetheless, government-approved). This did
nothing to help the government’s major internal problem: the growing insurgency by the Hmong people, a neglected ethnic minority
located in the north of the country. A steady stream of violent attacks have been launched by the Hmong during past years.
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Overview 
