Background: Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.
May 7th 2008Asia » Laos » West » Ban Houayxay i am now in the Laos town of hoay xai, in the banks of the mekong river, opposite chiang khong in Thailand, to where i shall be taking the cross river ferry to tommorrow.
since my last blog, i spe ... 19 photos[full story]
April 29th 2008Asia » Laos » West » Ban Houayxay Day 12
After a fairly boring couple of days we were pumped for the Gibbon experience! A rarely advertised three day trek aimed at preserving the jungle but allowing high paying tourists to visit it w ... 12 photos[full story]
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