A Brief History of Lao People's Democratic Republic

The laws of Khun Borom, also spelled “Khun Bulom”, are the earliest Lao legal document and the earliest sociological evidence about the existence of the Lao people. It is still preserved in manuscript form. Most of Lao people considered Borom as a subject of mythology only but Western scholars regard it as an historical figure.

The first recorded history of the Lao is conventionally traced to the establishment of the kingdom of Lan Xang by Fa Ngum in 1353. King Fa Ngum established his capital at Luang Prabang and ruled a kingdom called Lan Xang, literally million elephants, which covered much of what today as Laos and Thailand. In the 16th century, his successors especially King Setthathirat helped establish Buddhism as the predominant religion of the country. In the 18th century, Lan Xang entered a period of decline caused by dynastic struggle and conflicts with Burma, Siam (now Thailand), Vietnam, and the Khmer Kingdom.

The Japanese occupied French Indochina including Laos during the World War II. When Japan surrendered, Lao nationalists declared Laos independent, but by early 1946, French troops reoccupied the country and conferred limited autonomy on Laos following elections for a constituent assembly. France formally recognized the independence of Laos within the French Union in 1949 and Laos remained a member of the Union until 1953. In 1960, Captain Kong Lae staged a coup when the cabinet was away at the royal capital of Luang Prabang and demand formation of a neutralist government to end the fighting. The second coalition led by Souvanna Phouma was not successful.

In 1961 to 1962, a second Geneva conference was held and provided for the independence and neutrality of Laos but it was brought down by the United States and North Vietnam and the war soon resumed. The country was in the middle of the war that resulted Vietnam conquering some lands in the country. The country was subjected to heaviest bombing in the history of warfare. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic was established when the king was forced to abdicate his throne on December 2, 1975.