A Short History of Laos, the Land in Between
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National Geographic Traveler
an APPETITE for LAOS The complexity, grace, and taste of Luang Prabang unfurl one delicious bite at a time The Nam Ou river was once a major transport route, bringing people and produce from northern Laos to Luang Prabang. By Andrew Nelson Photographs by Ewen Bell 54 NATGEOTRAVEL.COM SOMETIMES Raise a spoonful of tom kha kai, a traditional Laotian coconut chicken A PORTAL soup, to your lips, and a tantalizing perfume of lemongrass, lime, and galangal wafts upward. Its scent is ISN’T A DOOR. sublime and earthy, hot and sour. The fragrant plume comes with a peppery kick. The sensation is vivid, somehow poignant, and utterly transporting. IT’S A BOWL The memory brings a smile as I stand in a line of passengers at Luang Prabang airport, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. I’ve traveled OF SOUP. 9,000 miles to Southeast Asia inspired by Van Nolintha, a charismatic 32-year- old Laotian-American restaurateur in Raleigh, North Carolina, whose inventive renditions of his child- hood dishes from his native land have earned the acclaim of diners and food critics alike. Now I’ve come for a taste of the real thing. Upon leaving the airport, my first views of Laos are the Phou Thao and Phou Nang mountain ranges, which surround the ancient royal city of Luang Prabang like an embrace. The slopes are lush with trees that comb and catch the low-lying clouds. As I enter the city, a cluster of motorbikes overtakes my taxi, trailing fumes and impatience. A teenage girl, sitting sidesaddle in a Laotian silk tube skirt called a sinh, flashes past. -
The People's Highway: Past, Present and Future Transport on the Mekong River System
THE PEOPLE'S HIGHWAY: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE TRANSPORT ON THE MEKONG RIVER SYSTEM Mekong Development Series No. 3 April 2004 Published in Phnom Penh in April 2004 by the Mekong River Commission This document should be cited as Peter Starr, 2003. The People's Highway: Past, Present and Future Transport on the Mekong River System. Mekong Development Series No. 3. Mekong River Commission, Phnom Penh, 44 pages. c Mekong River Commission Secretariat P.0. Box 6101, 184 Fa Ngoum Road, Unit 18, Ban Sithane Neua, Sikhottabong District, Vientiane 01000 Lao P.D.R E-mail: [email protected] Editors: Lieven Geerinck and Delia Paul Series editor: Delia Paul Pictures: Jim Holmes, Mikkel Ostergaard, Chhoy Pisei, Lieven Geerinck, White Lotus, Independent Journalism Foundation (IJF), The pictures on page 15 are from a Chinese publication, " A Golden Waterway to the Asian and Pacific Area ", published by Sun Sai Kei, Kunming 1993. Design and layout: Sawaddh So The opinions and interpretations expressed within are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mekong River Commission. Foreword The Mekong was always an international river, in the sense that foreigners were always interested in it. Since ancient times, people and goods have moved along this wide brown highway that preceded roads, railways and modern freight containers. As described in many historical accounts, it also provided access to the interior of the Mekong region to generations of conquerors, explorers and traders. The years of turmoil in the Mekong region account for much of the neglect of this major inland waterway in the latter part of the 20th century. -
Country Profile Laos
Country profile Laos GEOGRAPHY Laos is located in southeast Asia and is approximately the same size as Victoria. It is one of the few landlocked countries in Asia with a landscape dominated by rivers and mountains. The Mekong River runs the entire length of the country and forms the national border with Thailand. The climate is tropical, with high temperature and humidity levels. The rainy season is from May to November. The tropical forests which cover much of the country are rapidly being logged. PEOPLE The official language is Lao, but French, English and other languages are also spoken. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion, although animist beliefs are also common, especially in the mountainous areas. The population of Laos consists of approximately 130 different ethnic groups and 80 percent of the population live in rural areas. HISTORY Laos has its origins in the ancient Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, established in the 14th century. For 300 years this kingdom Map courtesy of The General Libraries, included parts of modern-day Cambodia and Thailand, as well The University of Texas at Austin as all of what is now Laos. From the late 18th century, Laos came under the control of Siam (now Thailand) before coming under the control of France in the late 19th century. policy, but has struggled to find its position within a changing political and economic landscape. Despite tentative reforms, In 1975, communist forces ended the monarchy in Laos and Laos remains poor and dependent on international donations. ruled with a regime closely aligned to Vietnam and the Soviet It became a member of ASEAN in 1997. -
Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia
Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia Geographically, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are situated in the fastest growing region in the world, positioned alongside the dynamic economies of neighboring China and Thailand. Revolution, Reform and Regionalism in Southeast Asia compares the postwar political economies of these three countries in the context of their individual and collective impact on recent efforts at regional integration. Based on research carried out over three decades, Ronald Bruce St John highlights the different paths to reform taken by these countries and the effect this has had on regional plans for economic development. Through its comparative analysis of the reforms implemented by Cam- bodia, Laos and Vietnam over the last 30 years, the book draws attention to parallel themes of continuity and change. St John discusses how these countries have demonstrated related characteristics whilst at the same time making different modifications in order to exploit the strengths of their individual cultures. The book contributes to the contemporary debate over the role of democratic reform in promoting economic devel- opment and provides academics with a unique insight into the political economies of three countries at the heart of Southeast Asia. Ronald Bruce St John earned a Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of Denver before serving as a military intelligence officer in Vietnam. He is now an independent scholar and has published more than 300 books, articles and reviews with a focus on Southeast Asia, -
Chinese Agriculture in Southeast Asia: Investment, Aid and Trade in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
Chinese Agriculture in Southeast Asia: Investment, Aid and Trade in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar Mark Grimsditch June 2017 Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Part I: China’s Overseas Agriculture Activities ................................................................................. 12 The Development of China‟s Engagement in Overseas Agriculture .................................................. 12 China‟s Overseas Agriculture Aid ...................................................................................................... 12 Overseas Agriculture Investment ...................................................................................................... 16 Motivations and Drivers of China‟s Overseas Agriculture .................................................................. 18 Actors Involved in Overseas Investment ........................................................................................... 21 Regulation of Overseas Investment .................................................................................................. 24 Social and Environmental Guidelines for Overseas Investment .................................................... 24 Regulation of State-owned Enterprises ........................................................................................ -
A New Method of Classification for Tai Textiles
A New Method of Classification for Tai Textiles Patricia Cheesman Textiles, as part of Southeast Asian traditional clothing and material culture, feature as ethnic identification markers in anthropological studies. Textile scholars struggle with the extremely complex variety of textiles of the Tai peoples and presume that each Tai ethnic group has its own unique dress and textile style. This method of classification assumes what Leach calls “an academic fiction … that in a normal ethnographic situation one ordinarily finds distinct tribes distributed about the map in an orderly fashion with clear-cut boundaries between them” (Leach 1964: 290). Instead, we find different ethnic Tai groups living in the same region wearing the same clothing and the same ethnic group in different regions wearing different clothing. For example: the textiles of the Tai Phuan peoples in Vientiane are different to those of the Tai Phuan in Xiang Khoang or Nam Nguem or Sukhothai. At the same time, the Lao and Tai Lue living in the same region in northern Vietnam weave and wear the same textiles. Some may try to explain the phenomena by calling it “stylistic influence”, but the reality is much more profound. The complete repertoire of a people’s style of dress can be exchanged for another and the common element is geography, not ethnicity. The subject of this paper is to bring to light forty years of in-depth research on Tai textiles and clothing in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), Thailand and Vietnam to demonstrate that clothing and the historical transformation of practices of social production of textiles are best classified not by ethnicity, but by geographical provenance. -
Iron Man of Laos Prince Phetsarath Ratanavongsa the Cornell University Southeast Asia Program
* fll!!I ''{f'':" ' J.,, .,.,Pc, IRON MAN OF LAOS PRINCE PHETSARATH RATANAVONGSA THE CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM The Southeast Asia Program was organized at Cornell University in the Department of Far Eastern Studies in 1950. It is a teaching and research program of interdisciplinary studies in the humanities, social sciences, and some natural sciences. It deals with Southeast Asia as a region, and with the individual countries of the area: Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The activities of the Program are carried on both at Cornell and in Southeast Asia. They include an undergraduate and graduate curriculum at Cornell which provides instruction by specialists in Southeast Asian cultural history and present-day affairs and offers intensive training in each of the major languages of the area. The Program sponsors group research projects on Thailand, on Indonesia, on the Philippines, and on linguistic studies of the languages of the area. At the same time, individual staff and students of the Program have done field research in every Southeast Asian country. A list of publications relating to Southeast Asia which may be obtained on prepaid order directly from the Program is given at the end of this volume. Information on Program staff, fellowships, requirements for degrees, and current course offerings is obtainable· from the Director, Southeast Asia Program, 120 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. 11 IRON MAN OF LAOS PRINCE PHETSARATH RATANAVONGSA by "3349" Trc1nslated by .John B. �1urdoch F.di ted by · David K. \-vyatt Data Paper: Number 110 -Southeast Asia Program Department of Asian Studies Cornell University, Ithaca, New York .November 197·8 Price: $5.00 111 CORNELL UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST ASIA PROGRAM 1978 International Standard Book Number 0-87727-110-0 iv C.ONTENTS FOREWORD • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . -
Basic Design Study Report on the Project of Preparation for Conservation of Vat Phou Archaeological Site in Lao People’S Democratic Republic
NO BASIC DESIGN STUDY REPORT ON THE PROJECT OF PREPARATION FOR CONSERVATION OF VAT PHOU ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC DECEMBER 2001 JAPAN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AGENCY KOKUSAI KOGYO CO., LTD. GR2 CR(1) 01-210 Preface In response to a request from the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Government of Japan decided to conduct a basic design study on The Project of Preparation for Conservation of Vat Phou Archaeological Site and entrusted the study to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICA sent a study team to Laos from the 4th of June to the 16th of July, 2001. The team held discussions with the officials concerned from the Government of Laos, and conducted a field study at the study area. After the team returned to Japan, further studies were made. Then, a mission was sent to Laos in order to discuss a basic design, and as a result, the present report was finalized. I hope that this report will contribute to the promotion of the project and to the enhancement of friendly relations between our two countries. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the officials concerned from the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic for their close cooperation extended to the teams. December 2001 Takao Kawakami President Japan International Cooperation Agency List of figures & Tables Figure 2-1 Present Rainwater Flowing Routes...................................................................2-4 Figure 2-2 Location Map of Candidate Sites for Repository ...............................................2-9 -
The Kinship Relations of Thai-Lao Communities Along Mekong River Banks: a Case of Mukdahan-Savannakhet Community and Recommendations for Improving Thai-Lao Relations*
Research Articles The kinship relations of Thai-Lao communities along Mekong River banks: a case of Mukdahan-Savannakhet community and recommendations for improving Thai-Lao Relations* Watunyu Jaiborisudhi1*, Wichian Intasi1 and Ampa Kaewkumkong1 1Institute of East Asian Studies, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, 12121, Thailand. Abstract Background: The bilateral relations between Thailand and Laos were initially based on a good perception for a long time. It can be said that Thai policy towards relations with Laos was adhered to the old discourse, which believed that Thailand and Laos are Sister Countries, and thus presumed the close tie between them. While Thai myth believed that they were strong bilateral relations, Lao people, on the contrary, believed that the aforementioned discourse implied an insult of Thai people towards Laotian. Objective: 1. To study the cause of the problems concerning the bilateral relations between Thailand and Laos. 2. To study the relative advantage of the bilateral relations between Thailand and Laos. Results: The study of the comparison of the advantage and disadvantage between Thailand and Vietnam on the relationship with Lao showed that Thailand was relatively disadvantaged in comparison to Vietnam in all aspects. However, the Researcher has proposed the advantage that Thailand possesses over the bilateral relations between Thailand and Laos, namely, the kinship relations of the communities along both Mekong River banks included Mukdahan-Savannakhet community which was closely sustained. Discussion: This research is to study the causes of the bilateral relations problem, and to present the advantages over the improving of the bilateral relations between Thailand and Laos under the historical research and the concept of National interest. -
Epr Atlas 1080
Laos Ethnicity in Laos Group selection Laos is a multi-ethnic country officially encompassing 49 ethnic groups (2910), which have been grouped primarily by language and 2910 [National Statistics Center of the Lao PDR, 2006] location into one of three categories: the Lao Loum (Lowland Lao), and the hill tribes constituting of the Lao Theung (Upper Lao) and the Lao Sung (Highland Lao) (2911; 2912, 247-248). Based on this 2911 [National Statistics Center of the Lao PDR, 2006] classification and linguistic considerations, we identify the following 2912 [Levinson, 1998] politically relevant groups: • The Lao (incl. Phuan) make up just over half of the total population according to the 2015 census and tend to be con- centrated in the flatlands and valleys (2913). They speak Lao, a 2913 [Minority Rights Group International, 2018a] Tai-language, and are the largest and most important Lao Loum group (2914, 247). Most people from this group are Theravada 2914 [Levinson, 1998] Buddhists (2915). 2915 [Minority Rights Group International, 2018a] • The remaining Lao Tai speakers include the lowland Phu Tai and several tribes who live in the higher valleys and on the middle slopes of the mountains in northern Laos. The tribes are usually categorized according to their traditional costumes, e.g. the Tai Dam (Black Tai). They are regarded as inferior by lowland Lao, and Tai, in turn, look down on lowland Lao for having failed to maintain Tai tradition and culture (2916). 2916 [Minority Rights Group International, 2018b] • The Lao Theung, sometimes called Lao Thoeng tend to inhabit mid-level slopes and speak numerous Mon-Khmer languages. -
DEVELOPMENT in LAO PDR: the Food Security Paradox
DEVELOPMENT IN LAO PDR: The Food Security Paradox by David Fullbrook Working Paper Series Schweizerische Eidgenossenscahft Mekong Region Confédération suisse Confederazione Svizzera Confederazium svizra Lao PDR Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC SWISS AGENCY FOR DEVELOPMENT & COOPERATION The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) a division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), is responsible for Switzerland’s international cooperation and development program. The most important areas of work for the SDC are as follows: - Bilateral and multilateral cooperation - Humanitarian aid, through the Humanitarian Aid Department and the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (HA/SHA) - Cooperation with Eastern Europe and the CIS www.sdc.admin.ch SDC IN THE MEKONG REGION - LAO PDR Working Paper Series No. 1 Development in Lao PDR: The Food Security Paradox Swiss Cooperation in the Mekong Region: Working Paper Series SDC in the Mekong region commissions independent research to examine matters of current interest to national governments, their development partners, and international institutions. Working papers are intended to contribute to on-going discussions and debates. They are not position papers and their findings may be tentative. By David Fullbrook www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/mekong PREFACE This working paper was conceived as a meta-study to provide a strategic view of the situation in the Lao PDR drawing on data and findings from dozens of field studies, which were subsequently analyzed in the light of local and global trends and developments to synthesize fresh insights and an assessment of the outlook for food security plus scenarios and options. Boundaries drawn up for the study precluded consideration of the complexities of climate change. -
Singing the Lives of the Buddha: Lao Folk Opera As an Educational Medium
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 368 224 FL 800 756 AUTHOR Bernard-Johnston, Jean TITLE Singing the Lives of the Buddha: Lao Folk Opera as an Educational Medium. PUB DATE May 93 NOTE 351p.; Doctoral Dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. PUB TYPE Dissertations/Theses Doctoral Dissertations (041) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Acculturation; Buddhism; Culture Conflict; English (Second Language); Epistemology; *Folk Culture; *Land Settlement; *Lao; Native Language Instruction; *Opera; Refugees; *Teaching Methods; Uncommonly Taught Languages ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the role of Lao folk opera as a medium for constructively addressing problems of cultural conflict and acculturative stress that have risen among lowland Lao refugees and their children in urban America. The central focus of the inquiry is on the ways Lao folk opera currently functions as a learning medium in the resettlement context. The need for validation of such locally produced endogenous media has become increasingly apparent as long term resettlement issues continue to emerge as threats to linguistic and cultural diversity. The review of literature encompasses the role of oral specialists in traditional societies, Buddhist epistemology in the Theravada tradition, and community education in rural Lao culture. These sources provide the background necessary to an understanding of the medium's capacity for encapsulating culture and teaching ethical values in ways that connect past to present, distant to near. (Author) ***********************************************************************