Lao People’s Democratic Republic 6 – 16 August 2019
Intro Laos first emerged in the region as Lan Xang, or the ‘Kingdom of a Million Elephants’, in the 14th century. Despite some bursts of independence, the kingdom generally found itself paying tribute to more powerful neighbours, including the Siamese and Vietnamese. Geography ensured Laos was sucked into the Vietnam War and a lengthy civil war culminated in a communist takeover in 1975. After many years of isolation, Laos began to experiment with economic reforms in the 1990s but political…