Vientiane: History

Pre-20th-Century History

Set on a bend in the Mekong River, Vientiane was originally one of the early Lao valley meuang (city-states) that were consolidated around AD 1000. The Lao who settled here did so because the surrounding alluvial plains are incredibly fertile. Early on, the Vientiane meuang prospered and enjoyed a fragile sovereignty.

At various times during the 10 or so centuries of its history, however, Vientiane lost its standing as an independent kingdom and was controlled by the Vietnamese, Burmese, Siamese and Khmers. When the kingdom of Lan Xang was founded in the 14th century by the Khmer supported conqueror Fa Ngum, it was centred in Muang Sawa (Luang Prabang). By the mid-16th century, however, the capital had shifted to Vientiane.

Modern History

When Laos became a French protectorate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vientiane was named as the capital city.

Vientiane escaped a lot of the terror that befell most of Laos as it was drawn into the Vietnam War. US aid to the city coupled with income from servicemen stationed there caused something of a boom until about 1975, with opium dens and the sex industry particularly benefiting.

With the end of the war, aid money dried up and the royal family was overthrown. The government that followed became highly influenced by the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. The Lao government then decided to open up the city to save its economy, though it remains under communist rule to this day.

Recent History

Between March and December 2000 a string of small bombings or attempted bombings occurred in Vientiane and other cities. In 2003, two Lao military officers were arrested in connection with the Vientiane bombings. Observers speculated that the officers were paid to place bombs by an organisation called the Underground Government in Exile, a small group of former Royal Lao aristocrats living in Thailand who wish to discredit the government.

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