1.
Districts of Laos
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Laos is divided into 16 provinces and 1 prefecture plus capital city municipality. Furthermore,1 so-called special administrative zone existed between 1994 and 2006, when it was re-merged into its surrounding provinces, Each province is subdivided into districts and then subdivided into villages. Note — Each district has a code in parentheses displaying the first two digits as the province and the last two as the district representing that province, laos Ministry of Education district maps
2.
Laos
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Present day Laos traces its historic and cultural identity to the kingdom of Lan Xang Hom Khao, which existed for four centuries as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. Due to Lan Xangs central geographical location in Southeast Asia, the kingdom was able to become a hub for overland trade. After a period of conflict, Lan Xang broke off into three separate kingdoms— Luang Phabang, Vientiane and Champasak. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three territories uniting to form what is now known as the country of Laos and it briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a civil war ended the monarchy. Laos is a one-party socialist republic and it espouses Marxism and is governed by the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, in which the party leadership is dominated by military figures. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnam Peoples Army continue to have significant influence in Laos, other large cities include Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. Laos is a country with the politically and culturally dominant Lao people making up approximately 60 percent of the population. Mon-Khmer groups, the Hmong, and other hill tribes, accounting for 40 percent of the population, live in the foothills. It is a member of the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, Laos applied for membership of the World Trade Organization in 1997, on 2 February 2013, it was granted full membership. According to the anti-corruption non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Laos remains one of the most corrupt countries in the world and this has deterred foreign investment and created major problems with the rule of law, including the nations ability to enforce contract and business regulation. This has contributed to a third of the population of Laos currently living below the poverty line. Laos has an economy, with one of the lowest annual incomes in the world. In 2014, the country ranked 141st on the Human Development Index, according to the Global Hunger Index, Laos ranks as the 29th hungriest nation in the world out of the list of the 52 nations with the worst hunger situation. Laos has also had a human rights record. In the Lao language, the name is Muang Lao or Pathet Lao. Stone artefacts including Hoabinhian types have been found at sites dating to the Late Pleistocene in northern Laos, archaeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennium BC
3.
Sainyabuli Province
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Sainyabuli is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. Sainyabuli Province covers an area of 16,389 square kilometres, the province borders Bokeo Province and Oudomxai Province to the north, Luang Prabang Province and Vientiane Province to the east, and the Thai provinces Loei, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Nan and Phayao. Sainyabuli is the only Laotian province that is completely to the west of the Mekong River, the province is quite mountainous with the Luang Prabang Range running roughly in a north-south direction and forming a natural border with the Thai highlands. Sainyabuli town is the capital of the province, Sainyabuli has the largest concentration of elephants in Laos. The province is rich in timber and lignite, and is considered the rice basket of northern Laos, other important crops include maize, oranges, cotton, peanuts, sesame, sugarcane and vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage, and beans. The name is derived from the Sanskrit words Sena and Puri, in 1904, Siam was forced to cede the area of the province to the French Indochina colony. In 1941, it was annexed by Thailand under the name Lan Chang Province, the area is allegedly a heartland for the Laotian militarys involvement in the illegal timber trade. Since the Mekong isolated Sainuyabuli from other Laotian provinces with Hmong villages, most Hmong villages in Sainyabuli did not see any fighting. Houaysouy was a Hmong village in Sainyabuli and it had no fighting during the Quiet War, and Vang Pao did not recruit any of its men. After the war, Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the occupying Vietnamese soldiers regarded the residents of the village as traitors and for this reason the Vietnamese soldiers persecuted them. In 1979 around 400 members of the Lee, Vang, Xiong, the family of Lia Lee, the subject of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, originated from Houaysouy. Sainyabuli Province, one of the provinces of Laos, is in the shape of an upside-down-L and it covers an area of 16,389 square kilometres. The province is located in the northwest of the country, the province borders Bokeo Province and Oudomxai Provinceto the north, Luang Prabang Province and Vientiane Province to the east, and the Thai provinces Loei, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Nan and Phayao. The province is mountainous with the Luang Prabang Range running roughly in a north-south direction. The flattest and most tropical Laotian area is the floodplain which stretches between the provinces of Sainyabuli and Champasak, there are many mountain peaks with more than 1.000 meters elevation. Other features include the Pak Kimin ridge near the Nam Heung stream, the Sainyabuli province is home to Laos’ majority of domesticated Asian elephants. Approximately 75% of the nations 560 domesticated elephants work in Sainyabuli and their main work duties are within the logging industry, which causes a loss in both wild and domestic elephant habitat. The area is little patrolled, which makes the enforcement of conservation measures difficult, the Sainyabuli province is also home to the annual Elephant Festival, organised in Hongsa by the Lao National Tourism Authority in partnership with Elefantasia, provincial and district authorities
4.
Route 13 (Laos)
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Route 13 is the most important highway in the country of Laos. It begins at Boten in the North of Laos at the Chinese border and it connects the city of Vientiane to Luang Prabang in the north and roughly follows the line of the Mekong River down to the border with Cambodia. The road then continues at National Highway 7 in Cambodia, also this national highway leads past all three international airports in Laos Vientiane Airport, Luang Prabang Airport and Pakse Airport. Between Boten and Nateuy the Route 13 is at a length of 20 km part of the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway, from Nateuy to Vientiane, the Route 13 is part of the AH12 and from Vientiane to the border of Cambodia AH11. Route 13 passes through the cities of Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang, the road is mostly paved, though the pavement is in poor condition at places. It is also narrow, with sharp curves. There are no markings or lighting on the road, several daily buses run from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, taking 8-10 hours
5.
Luang Prabang
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The centre of the city consists of four main roads and is located on a peninsula at the confluence of the Nam Khan and Mekong River. Luang Prabang is well known for its numerous Buddhist temples and monasteries, every morning, hundreds of monks from the various monasteries walk through the streets collecting alms. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name and it had also been known by the ancient name of Chiang Thong. It was the capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos. The city is part of Luang Prabang District of Luang Prabang Province and is the capital and it lies approximately 300 km north of the capital Vientiane. Currently, the population of the city as a whole is roughly 56,000 inhabitants with the UNESCO protected site being inhabited by around 24,000, Muang Sua was the old name of Luang Prabang following its conquest in 698 CE by a Tai prince, Khun Lo. Khun Lo had been awarded the town by his father, Khun Borom, who is associated with the Lao legend of the creation of the world, Khun Lo established a dynasty whose fifteen rulers reigned over an independent Muang Sua for nearly a century. In the second half of the 8th century, Nan-chao intervened frequently in the affairs of the principalities of the middle Mekong Valley, Nan-chao princes or administrators replaced the aristocracy of Tai overlords. In the meantime, the Khmers founded an outpost at Xay Fong near Vientiane, chanthaphanit, the local ruler of Xay Fong, moved north to Muang Sua and was accepted peacefully as ruler after the departure of the Nan-chao administrators. Chanthaphanit and his son had long reigns, during which the became known by the Tai name Xieng Dong Xieng Thong. The dynasty eventually became involved in the squabbles of a number of principalities, Khun Chuang, a warlike ruler who may have been a Kammu tribesman, extended his territory as a result of the warring of these principalities and ruled from 1128 to 1170. Khun Chuang, a single family ruled over a far-flung territory, at some point, Theravada Buddhism was subsumed by Mahayana Buddhism. Xieng Dong Xieng Thong experienced a period of Khmer suzerainty under Jayavarman VII from 1185 to 1191. By 1180 the Sipsong Panna had regained their independence from the Khmers, however, Xieng Dong Xieng Thong in 1353 became the capital of the Lan Xang kingdom. The capital name was changed to Luangphabang, where it was kept, the capital was moved in 1560 by King Setthathirath I to Vientiane, which remains the capital today. In 1707, Lan Xang fell apart because of a dynastic struggle, when France annexed Laos, the French recognised Luang Prabang as the royal residence of Laos. Eventually, the ruler of Luang Prabang became synonymous with the figurehead of Laos, when Laos achieved independence, the king of Luang Prabang, Sisavang Vong, became the head of state of the Kingdom of Laos. The town was the scene of events during and in the aftermath of World War II
6.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
7.
Luang Prabang Range
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The Luang Prabang Range, named after Luang Prabang, is a mountain range straddling northwestern Laos and Northern Thailand. Most of the range is located in Sainyabuli Province, as well as Nan and Uttaradit Provinces, with parts in Phitsanulok. Several rivers such as the Nan, Pua and Wa river, have their source in this range, Phu Fa waterfall, the biggest and the tallest waterfall in Nan Province, is also located in these mountains. This range is part of the Luang Prabang montane rain forests ecoregion, geologically its composition is similar to that of the parallel Khun Tan Range and the Phi Pan Nam Range, both located further west. The Luang Prabang mountains are the easternmost range of the Thai highlands, the range runs roughly in a North/South direction between the Mekong and the Nan River. The highest point of the range is 2,120 m high Phu Soi Dao, many of the important peaks are located at the border. Like in most ranges of the area, a proportion of the original forest cover has disappeared owing to shifting agricultural practices. The area is allegedly a heartland for military involvement in timber trade, in 1904 the Laotian area of the range was ceded from Siam to the French Indochina colony. Following the Franco-Thai War in 1941 it was annexed by Thailand again under the name Lan Chang Province, certain Hill tribe communities live in the range, like the Khmu and the Hmong, whose tribal villages are located on both sides of the mountain range. Most Hmong villages in Sainyabuli Province did not see any fighting, however, later they were persecuted all the same by the Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao soldiers, who regarded them as traitors, thus many fled across the border. There are refugee camps on the Thai side of the range, the southern part of the range saw some confrontation between December 1987 and February 1988 when Thai and Laotian forces engaged in cross-border fighting. Known as Thai–Laotian Border War, this conflict was caused by a dispute involving the map made by French surveyors in 1907 to mark the borders between Siam and French Indochina. The Thai-Lao Joint Boundary Commission was established in 1996 to clarify the 1, 810-kilometre boundary, Border demarcation is still going on. Yetis are said to have spotted in the remote Mae Charim area of the range. Presently on the Thai side of the Luang Prabang Range some of the Hmong communities are regularly visited by organized tourist groups, River Wa is a popular river for white water rafting between July and December. There are large swathes of protected areas on the Thai side of the Luang Prabang Range, on the Lao side there is only one. The Nam Phouy National Biodiversity Conservation Area, a protected area in Laos home to many wild elephants, is located in a forested sector close to the Thai border. The projected reservoir of Lower Nam Phoun dam, however, is partly within the Nam Phouy NBCA, Phu Miang-Phu Thong Wildlife Sanctuary is another protected area on the Thai side
Laos
Sayabouly travel guide from Wikivoyage