Timeline Laos
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Lan Xang, the Land of a Million Elephants, was
the old name of Laos. The capital is Vientiane.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 3/29/98, p.T4)
Lan Xang, the Land of a Million Elephants, was the old
name of Laos. The capital is Vientiane.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 3/29/98, p.T4)
500BC-800CE The bulk of the
material at the Plain of Jars in northern Laos dated to this period.
Jars up to 9 feet tall were later found to contain tools and human
remains.
(AM, 7/05, p.31)
c0AD Stone jars at the Plain of
Jars that measured on average 10-feet high and 9-feet wide are believed
to be 2,000 years old and to have been used for burials. Only 300 jars
are intact due to the bombing during the 1960s Vietnam War.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
200-300AD Evidence has indicated the presence of a
Hindu Shrine at Wat Phu with prehistoric levels below.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
500-600AD A local legend describes a military
celebration for which the stone jars of the Plain of Jars were created
to ferment and store alcohol.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
c800-1200 Wat Phu (mountain temple) in southern Laos
was a religious complex dedicated to Siva and patronized by the Khmer
of Cambodia.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.A)
889-1324 The Khmer Empire‘s dominions roughly
correspond to present-day Laos and Cambodia and reached its height
during the Angkor period (889-1434 AD). The kingdom flourished from the
6th to 15th centuries AD and then declined with invasions from
neighboring Thailand.
(HNQ, 8/7/00)
1000-1100 Wat Phu was last renovated by King
Suryavarnam I.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
1353 King Fangum is believed
to have established the Kingdom of Lan Xang (Million Elephants), the
forerunner of the modern Laos state that was abolished during the
communist revolution of 1975.
(AP, 1/6/03)
1353 Luang Prabang was founded. It
was the royal capital of the kingdom of Laos and a center of Laotian
Buddhism and court arts.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
1641 Gerritt van Wuysthoff, a
Dutchman, struggled up the Mekong River through Cambodia and reached
Vientiane, Laos.
(Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1828 Siamese [Thailand] forces
invaded Laos. Vat Sisaket, a temple in Vientiane, survived the
invasion.
(SFEC, 8/28/98, p.T4)
1893 French colonialists seized
control of Laos and tried to turn the Mekong River into a thoroughfare
linking their Indochina colonies.
(Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1920s Music played on the khaen, a
giant mouth organ containing 16 reed pipes was recorded. It is part of
the assembled music of the CD series "The Secret Museum of Mankind -
Ethnic Music Classics: 1925-1948," by Pat Conte on the Yazoo label.
(NH, 6/97, p.66)
1945 At the end of World War II
Thailand was compelled to return territory it had seized from Laos,
Cambodia and Malaya. The exiled King Ananda returned.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1243059.stm)
1950 Dec 30, Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia became independent states in a French Union.
(MC, 12/30/01)
1953 Apr 14, Viet Minh invaded
Laos with 40,00 troops.
(HN, 4/14/98)
1953 Apr 28, French troops
evacuated northern Laos.
(HN, 4/28/98)
1953 Oct 22, Laos gained full
independence from France. [see Oct 23]
(MC, 10/22/01)
1953 Oct 23, France granted
sovereignty to Laos. [see Oct 22]
(MC, 10/23/01)
1954 Sep 8, SEATO (Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization), a sister organization to NATO, was created under
the Manila Pact by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, to
stop communist spread in Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).
The United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand signed the mutual defense treaty.
SEATO dissolved in 1977.
(HNQ, 4/2/01)(http://tinyurl.com/hpawj)
1957 May 29, Laos Government of
prince Suvanna Phuma resigned.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1957 Aug 25, Prince Suvanna Phuma
formed a government in LAOS with the Pathet Lao.
(MC, 8/25/02)
1960 Dec 9, The Laos government
fled to Cambodia as the capital city of Vientiane was engulfed in war.
(HN, 12/9/98)
1960 Dec 18, A rightist government
was installed under Prince Boun Oum in Laos as U.S. resumed arms
shipments.
(HN, 12/18/98)
1961 Mar 17, The U.S. increased
military aid and technicians to Laos.
(HN, 3/17/98)
1961 Mar 26, John F. Kennedy met
with British Premier Macmillan, in Washington to discuss increased
Communist involvement in Laos.
(HN, 3/25/98)
1961 The US CIA began enlisting
mountain tribes as guerrillas during the Vietnam War.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.A15)
1961-1973 The CIA backed a secret army in Laos to
help fight the communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese. An estimated
50,000 Hmong civilians died over this period. CIA director William
Colby acknowledged the US and Hmong alliance in 1994.
(SFC, 6/14/04, p.A1)
1962 Jan 12, The United States
resumed aid to the Laotian regime.
(HN, 1/12/99)
1962 May 6, Pathet Lao broke cease
fire and conquered Nam Tha Laos.
(MC, 5/6/02)
1962 May 15, US marines "arrived"
in Laos.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1962 Jul 23, The Geneva Conference
on Laos forbade the United States to invade eastern Laos, site of the
Ho Chi Minh Trail.
(HN, 7/23/98)
1963-1974 Dr. Charles Weldon served in Laos as the
chief medical officer for USAID. In 1999 Weldon authored "Tragedy in
Paradise: A Country doctor at War in Laos."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.A23)
1964 Apr 19, There was a rightist
coup in Laos. Suvanna Phuma remained premier.
(MC, 4/19/02)
1964-1973 US warplanes carried out 580,000 bombing
missions over Laos and dropped an estimated 2.3 million tons of bombs.
In the years that followed over 200 people per year died from bombs
that had initially failed to explode. In 2001 filmmaker Jack Silverman
produced "Bombies," a documentary on the effect of cluster bombs on
civilians [see 1973-1997].
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.A22)(SSFC, 3/30/03, p.D1)(AM, 7/05,
p.31)
1965 Jan 13, Two U.S. planes were
shot down in Laos while on a combat mission.
(HN, 1/13/99)
1965 May 11, The US 10th fighter
Bomber F105D was shot down at Xien Khouong, Laos.
(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.D6)
1967 Feb 23, American troops began
the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian border. In order
to deny the Vietcong cover, and allow men to see through the dense
vegetation, herbicides were dumped on the forests near the South
Vietnamese borders as well as Cambodia and Laos.
(HN, 2/23/98)
1968 Jan 13, The U.S. reported
shifting most air targets from North Vietnam to Laos.
(HN, 1/13/99)
1968 Mar 10-1968 Mar 11, The ultra
secret facility Lima Site 85 in Phou Phathi, Laos, was manned by USAF
personnel and 11 were KIA or MIA as it was overran. The event has been
characterized as the largest single day ground loss for the USAF.
(www.cia.gov/csi/studies/95unclass/Linder.html)(http://limasite85.us/)
1968 King Savanna Vatthana honored
Dr. Charles Weldon (d.2002 at 82) for his work among the Hmong people:
"Chevalier in the Order of the Million Elephants and the White parasol."
(SFC, 11/30/02, p.A23)
1970 Mar 8, The Nixon
administration disclosed the deaths of 27 Americans in Laos.
(HN, 3/8/98)
1970 Jul 24, Capt. Donald
Bloodworth and his pilot were lost on a night reconnaissance mission in
a F-4D fighter-bomber. Bloodworth’s remains were returned to the US in
1998.
(SFEC, 2/1/98, p.A14)
1970 Sep 11, In Laos the US
Operation Tailwind began with the objectives of reconnaissance,
intelligence collection, and a diversion for a larger operation to the
north. In 1998 it was reported that the secret raid called Operation
Tailwind by a Special Forces unit called the Studies and Observations
Group (SOG) used the nerve gas sarin in Laos to kill American armed
service members who had defected. A report in 1998 allegedly confirmed
that over 100 people were killed including up to 20 American military
defectors. Adm. Thomas Moorer (1912-2004), the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff at the time (1970-1974), confirmed in 1998 that nerve
gas was used. CNN and Time magazine later recanted the story due to
insufficient evidence.
(www.scarface-usmc.org/tailwind.htm)(SFC, 6/8/98,
p.A3)(WSJ, 6/26/98, p.W13)(SFC, 7/3/98, p.A1)(SFC, 2/7/04, p.A21)
1970 In Laos the introduction of
Soviet-made long-range 130mm artillery pieces onto the battlefield
allowed the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese to neutralize to some
extent the Royal Lao Army's advantage of air superiority.
(www.onwar.com/aced/data/lima/laos1962.htm)
1971 Feb 8, South Vietnamese
ground forces, backed by American air power, began Operation Lam Son
719, a 17,000 man incursion into Laos that ended three weeks later in a
disaster.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Lam_Son_719)
1971 Feb 10, Larry Burrows
(b.1926), English war photographer, was killed over Laos. Combat
photographers Henri Huet of AP, Kent Potter of UPI, Larry Burrows
(b.1926) of Life Magazine and Keisaburo Shimamato of Newsweek were
killed in a helicopter crash over Laos. In 2003 Richard Pyle and Horst
Faas authored "Lost Over Laos: A True Story of Tragedy, Mystery and
Friendship."
(WSJ, 5/22/98,
p.W12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Burrows)(SSFC, 3/23/03, p.M5)
1971 Mar 18, U.S. helicopters
airlifted 1,000 South Vietnamese soldiers out of Laos.
(HN, 3/18/98)
1971 Mar 21, In Laos South
Vietnamese Marines at FSB Delta, south of Route 9, came under intense
ground and artillery attacks. During an attempted extraction of the
force, seven helicopters were shot down and another 50 were damaged,
ending the evacuation attempt.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Lam_Son_719)
1971 Dec 18, North Vietnamese
troops captured the Plain of Jars in Laos. Throughout the Vietnam War,
the Plain of Jars was a contested area between Lao tribesmen and
Vietnam's communist allies, the Pathet Lao. The area was long
controlled by the Pathet Lao and a continual effort had been made by
the secret CIA-directed force of some 30,000 indigenous tribesmen to
strengthen anti-communist strongholds there. The US committed hundreds
of millions of dollars to the war effort in Laos. Details of this
secret operation were not released until August 1971.
(WUD, 1994, p.
1688)(www.arlingtoncemetery.net/aircrew-04191971.htm)
1973-1975 Alan Davidson served as the British
ambassador to Laos.
(WSJ, 11/12/99, p.W13)
1973-1997 Some 11,000 Laotians were killed or wounded
during this period by left over American bombs.
(SFEC,11/2/97, p.A19)
1974 Jun 3, The last Air America
aircraft crossed the border from Laos into Thailand. American forces
left Laos and abandoned some 36,000 Laotians hired to battle North
Vietnamese troops. The Hmong and Iu Mien were 2 hill tribes hired by
the Americans to break codes and rescue downed pilots. Many of the
soldiers fled to Thailand where they lived in refugee camps. Some
35,000 Iu Mien later moved to the US.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 1/24/99,
p.A8)(http://tinyurl.com/3mzgcy)
1974 Sep 5, Charles Dean (23),
brother of 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean, was captured by
Pathet Lao. He was executed on or about December 14, 1974. In 2003 his
remains were reported found along with Australian companion Neil
Sharman.
(SFC, 11/19/03,
p.A3)(www.crocuta.net/Dean/Charlie_Dean.htm)
1975 Mar 27, In Laos Communist
Pathet Lao launched an attack against Hmong defenders.
(http://countrystudies.us/laos/39.htm)
1975 Aug 23, In Laos Communists
took over the administration of Vientiane city.
(http://countrystudies.us/laos/39.htm)
1975 Dec 3, King Savang Vatthana
of Laos abdicated his throne and the communist Lao People's Democratic
Republic (LPDR) was established.
(www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2770.htm)
1975 About a third of the Hmong
people fled Laos.
(SFC, 6/14/04, p.A8)
1975-1980 A third of the Hmong people were killed
during this period after the US withdrew from Laos.
{Laos, USA}
(SFC, 6/9/96, DB p.2)
1975-1986 Souphanouvong (d.1995), a member of the
royal family, served as president.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.D6)
1978 Jan 3, Vietnamese troops
were reported to be occupying 400 square miles in Cambodia. North
Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops were using Laos and Cambodia as staging
areas for attacks against allied forces.
(HN, 1/3/02)
1982 Jan 24, A draft of Air Force
history reported that the U.S. secretly sprayed herbicides on Laos
during the Vietnam War.
(HN, 1/24/99)
1989 Laos opened to foreign
tourists for the first time since 1975.
(SFEC, 3/29/98, p.T4)
1992 The Asian Development Bank
began building and improving transport and telecom links between China,
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
(Econ, 11/8/03, p.42)
1994 The lower Mekong River was
spanned for the first time with a bridge between Nong Khai, Thailand
and Vientiane, Laos.
(SFC, 5/14/97, p.A22)(Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1994 Laos signed a bilateral
Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Vietnam.
(AFP, 10/10/06)
1996 Khamsay Souphanouvong was
dropped from the Communist Party’s 49-member central committee.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.D6)
1996 The town of Luang Prabang
with its dozens of temples was declared a World Heritage Site.
(SFEC, 3/29/98, p.T5)
1997 Mar 10, The first Laos Int’l.
Juggling Festival was held in Vientiane before a crowd of 40,000 as
part of the annual That Luang Festival.
(WSJ, 3/11/97, p.A20)
1997 May 31, The 7-member ASEAN
alliance, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met in Kuala Lumpur
and agreed to allow Burma to become a member in July. Laos and Cambodia
were also admitted. The members were Thailand, Singapore, the
Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
(SFEC, 6/1/97, p.D3)
1997 Jul 23, The ASEAN trade bloc
admitted Laos and Burma but barred Cambodia.
(SFC, 7/24/97, p.A12)
1997 Aug 12, It was reported that
Laos was promoting the development of the $1.44 billion Nam Theun Two
Dam. It would alter 2 major tributaries of the Mekong River and flood
an area the size of Singapore. The World Bank contributed $130 million
to the project, which was expected to begin generating power in 2009.
Environmentalists feared severe impact to the Nakai Plateau and some
120,000 people downstream as one river dries up and another swells.
(WSJ, 8/12/97, p.A1)(SFC, 12/17/07, p.A15)
1997 Dec 27, The kip plunged to
about half its value since July when the Thai baht was devalued.
(SFC,12/27/97, p.A15)
1997 Per capita income was $400.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A16)
1999 Apr 19, Michael Vang of
Fresno, Ca., and Houa Ly of Appleton, Wi., crossed the Mekong River
from Thailand to Laos and have not been seen since.
(SFC, 8/5/00, p.C1)
1999 The US estimated that Laos
cultivated 154 tons of opium poppy this year.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A16)
2000 Jan, Charlie Vang (45), a
Hmong of Minneapolis, disappeared after attempting to cross the Mekong
River into Laos.
(SFC, 8/5/00, p.C1)
2000 Mar 30, The Thankyou Very
Much restaurant was bombed in Vientiane and 13 people were injured.
(SFEC, 4/9/00, p.T15)
2000 Apr 4, It was reported that
the Hmong population in Minnesota reached an estimated 60,000, the
largest concentration of Hmong outside Southeast Asia.
(WSJ, 4/4/00, p.B1)
2000 Jul, Some 60 Laotians
launched an ill-fated attack at the Chong Mek border post and hoisted
the royal flag in hopes of a popular uprising.
(SFC, 12/27/00, p.C4)
2000 Nov 9, A homemade bomb
exploded in Vientiane and at least 3 people were injured. Recent
bombings and the defection of former finance minister Khamsay
Souphanouvong indicated cracks in the communist regime.
(SFC, 11/10/00, p.D6)
2001 Mar 27, Bounnyang Vorachit,
the finance minister, was named prime minister as part of a Cabinet
shuffle endorsed by parliament.
(SFC, 3/28/01, p.D4)
2002 Aug 30, Floodwaters along the
lower stretches of the Mekong have wreaked havoc in Laos, Cambodia
(18), Thailand (12) and Vietnam (25), claiming at least 55 lives and
leaving thousands homeless across the region.
(AP, 8/30/02)
2003 Jan 5, The Laos government
declared this day a national holiday in honor of King Fangum, "the
father of Lao unity" and the 650th anniversary of the founding of Lan
Xang in1353.
(AP, 1/6/03)
2003 Feb 6, In northern Laos 10
people died in an attack on a main highway.
(AP, 6/27/03)
2003 Apr 20, In northern Laos
gunmen opened fire at a bus, killing at least 12 people and injuring 30
others, in an attack officials with the communist government blamed on
Hmong rebels.
(AP, 4/21/03)
2003 Jun 4, In Laos 2 European
journalists and an American were arrested on murder charges. Belgian
photojournalist Thierry Falise and French cameraman Vincent Reynaud
were arrested with an American of Hmong origin for allegedly helping
"bandits" kill a security official in the remote northeastern village
of Khai.
(AP, 6/11/03)
2003 Jun 7, In northern Laos
suspected insurgents ambushed a bus, killing six people and wounding 10.
(AP, 6/27/03)
2003 Jun 30, A Laotian court
sentenced two European journalists and an American pastor to 15 years
in jail for the slaying of a village security official. They were
released Jul 9.
(AP, 6/30/03)(AP, 7/9/03)
2003 Oct 16, Laos and Thailand
signed a pact aimed at stamping out border attacks by unknown militants.
(ST, 10/17/03, p.A13)
2003 The Laotian government
promised the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) to
eliminate opium poppy cultivation by 2006.
(SFC, 6/27/00, p.A12)(Econ, 5/1/04, p.44)
2004 Jun 14, It was reported that
Hmong commanders in Laos acknowledged 21 rebel groups with about 17,000
fighters and family members.
(SFC, 6/14/04, p.A8)
2004 Sep 16, It was reported that
mining companies had begun investing into gold and copper operations
along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
(WSJ, 9/16/04, p.C1)
2004 Nov 29, The annual ASEAN
summit opened in Vientiane, Laos.
(Econ, 11/27/04, p.43)(Econ, 12/4/04, p.42)
2004 Dec 3, US Pres. George W.
Bush signed a law extending normal trade relations to Laos.
(AFP, 12/8/04)
2005 Mar 31, The World Bank
approved financing support for the controversial $1.2 billion Nam Theun
2 dam in Laos.
(WSJ, 4/1/05, p.A8)
2005 Jun 4, In Laos after decades
on the run, 170 women, children and old men of the Hmong ethnic
minority, once part of a U.S.-backed secret army fighting communists,
emerged from their jungle hideouts to surrender to the government.
(AP, 6/4/05)
2005 Jun 18, The beheaded bodies
of a Laotian couple were found in southern Thailand over the weekend
and were believed to be the latest victims of Muslim separatist
violence.
(AP, 6/19/05)
2005 Jul 5, Thousands of poor
ethnic Hmong refugees from Laos were living without shelter in northern
Thailand, forced from their homes under a Thai campaign to pressure
them to return to their native land. Landlords said the government had
set a July 4 deadline for them to evict the some 6,500 refugees from
their bamboo shelters.
(AP, 7/6/05)
2005 Jul 29, The ASEAN summit
concluded in Vientiane, Laos. Australia agreed to sign a non-aggression
pact with the group in exchange for an invitation to another summit,
where ASEAN hopes to start work on an East Asian free-trade area.
(Econ, 7/30/05, p.39)
2005 Oct 28, It was reported that
the poppy crop in Laos has been reduced 73% over the last 5 years and
that the number of opium addicts has shrunk from 63,000 in 1998 to
21,000. The UN drug office said yaaba, an amphetamine produced in
illegal factories in Burma, was becoming the drug of choice for young
people.
(SFC, 10/28/05, p.A11)
2006 Jan 18, An American couple
claiming to be of Lao royal descent were shot dead in northeastern
Thailand. Anouwong Sethathirath IV (49) and Oulayvanh Sethathirath (38)
were killed at a Buddhist monastery in Nong Khai. The next day Thai
police said they might have been targeted by Laos' government on
suspicions that they were working against the communist regime.
(AP, 1/19/06)
2006 Apr 6, An attack in Laos
killed 26 Hmong civilians, mainly unarmed women and children. In June
the US called on communist-ruled Laos to investigate the murder of the
Hmong civilians amid allegations that Lao military forces had killed
the group.
(AFP, 6/2/06)
2006 Apr 30, Laotians voted for a
new parliament in a largely symbolic exercise since all the candidates
belonged to the communist party. But in an effort to bring in fresh
faces, only about a quarter were incumbents.
(AP, 4/30/06)
2006 Jul 28, The Laos government
and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said an outbreak of the
H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 2,000 chicken on a poultry
farm. The Xaythani district farm found 155 dead chickens on July 14,
and about 2,000 dead birds the following day.
(AFP, 7/28/06)
2006 Oct 10, Vietnam's communist
party chief Nong Duc Manh arrived in Laos at the start of a four-day
visit in a country where Vietnam still exerts considerable influence.
(AFP, 10/10/06)
2006 Oct 14, Thailand's
military-installed premier Surayud Chulanont visited Vientiane on the
first stop of a weekend tour aimed at reassuring neighbors Laos and
Cambodia that Bangkok won't pull any more surprises.
(AFP, 10/14/06)
2006 Nov 10, Asian nations reached
their first international agreement to implement what has been dubbed
the "Iron Silk Road." Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and seven other
nations agreed to meet at least every two years to identify vital rail
routes, coordinate standards and financing and plan upgrades and
expansions, among other measures. The UN first conceived the
Trans-Asian Railway Network in 1960.
(AP, 11/10/06)
2006 Dec 13, In Laos more than 400
members of the Hmong hill tribe minority, on the run for decades from
the communist government, surrendered to the authorities there.
(AP, 12/13/06)
2006 Dec 13, Two Laotian-American
men were shot to death at a bus station in northeastern Thailand after
returning from a trip to Laos. Thai police said they suspect a
political connection to the killings.
(AP, 12/14/06)
2007 Mar 16, Laos confirmed its
second human death from bird flu, a woman who died earlier this month,
after results from a lab used by the World Health Organization (WHO).
(AP, 3/16/07)
2007 May 16, Japanese officials
said the landlocked nation of Laos has agreed to join the International
Whaling Commission at Japan's request and is highly likely to support
Tokyo's high-profile pro-whaling campaign.
(AP, 5/16/07)
2007 Jun 4, In California 9 Hmong
leaders, Gen. Vang Pao, a former Laotian military general, and Harrison
Jack, a former officer in the California National Guard, were arrested
during a sweep by more than 200 federal, state and local agents for
their alleged plot, hatched last winter, to overthrow the communist
government of Laos. They were charged with violating the US federal
Neutrality Act.
(AP, 6/5/07)(SFC, 5/12/09, p.A5)
2007 Jun 9, The Philippines and
Laos, during a visit of Laotian PM Bouasone Bouphavanh, signed an
agreement hoping to boost the minuscule trade between them and
encourage their first investment links.
(AFP, 6/9/07)
2007 Jun 9, Thailand deported 163
ethnic Hmong asylum-seekers to Laos who authorities said had entered
the country illegally in recent years trying to reach a large refugee
camp.
(AP, 6/9/07)
2007 Aug 6, PM Surayud Chulanont
said Thailand will return some 8,000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos
despite their claims that they face persecution in their homeland.
(AP, 8/6/07)
2007 Transparency Int’l. ranked
Laos, population around 6 million, as one of the most corrupt countries
in the world ranking it 168 out of 179 surveyed nations, with No. 1
being the least corrupt.
(SFC, 12/17/07, p.A15)
2008 Aug, Samantha Orobator (20),
a British citizen, was arrested in Laos and charged with trying to
smuggle 1.5 pounds (680 grams) of heroin in her luggage. In 2009 a
government spokesman said she will not face the death penalty because
the law bans executing expectant convicts.
(AP, 5/5/09)
2009 Jun 3, A court in Laos found
Samantha Orobator (20), a pregnant British woman, guilty of trafficking
heroin and sentenced her to life in prison. Under a pact signed last
month by Laos and Britain that still needs ratification, Orobator could
be extradited to serve her time in Britain. On Aug 6 Orobator returned
to Britain to serve the remainder of her sentence, just weeks before
she was due to give birth.
(AP, 6/3/09)(AP, 8/6/09)
2009 Jun 18, A study by an
environmental group said pollution in the Mekong River is putting the
rare Irrawaddy dolphin in danger of disappearing from Cambodia and Laos.
(AP, 6/18/09)
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Subject = Laos
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