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     Laotian history consists of several Lao Kingdoms making war with the Kingdom of Siam.  At different points in time Laos occupied Siam, and Siam occupied Laos, resulting in their languages being very similar.  Language-wise you could compare them to Americans and Canadians.

     Even so, this all changed in 1893 when the French arrived and colonized Laos into a “French Protectorate,” consequently setting up the borders of the modern state.  Afterward, in 1954, Laos gained its independence as a “Constitutional Monarchy.” 

     Only after the U.S. conducted its “Secret War” in support of the Royalist Lao Government against the Communist Pathet Lao forces, and lost, did the Commies oust the Lao King in 1975, and install the current “People’s Democratic Republic,” of Laos (Lao PDR) .

     During my 7-month sojourn in Laos, dear reader, I received a painful education regarding the U.S. Government’s penchant for utterly wasting war materials and human lives during its war in Viet Nam.

     Unfortunately the Ho Chi Minh Trail, supplying the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, ran almost the whole length of the Laotian eastern border.  Laos was supposed to be neutral, except this didn’t stop either the Vietnamese or Americans from violating its neutrality; hence the so called “Secret War.”

     Thus Laos won the distinction of becoming the most heavily bombed country in history.  The U.S. ran 580,000 bombing missions from 1964 to 1973.  This worked out to an average of bomb payloads being dropped every eight minutes, 24/7, for nine years!  Resulting in 2.5 million tons of munitions being dropped; more than all the bombs dropped by all sides in World War II! 

     Enter the “cluster bomb,” a large bomb casing carrying hundreds of baseball-sized “bomb-lets.”  Before impact the casing opens up, indiscriminately dispersing destruction over a wider area than a single bomb.  260 million of these “cluster bombs” were dropped on Laos alone; although 30% of their “bomb-lets” failed to detonate.

     Decades later it’s estimated that 100 million of these “bomb-lets” are “live,” and waiting to be disturbed; time and weather making them highly unstable.  Since the end of the Vietnam War, over 350,000 Laotians have been killed or maimed by them.  Roughly half of which have been children, who play “catch” with the “Bombies,” or collect them to be sold as scrap metal.

     This is also why villagers fear the yearly monsoon, which brings the “bomb-lets” to the surface, and makes each rice paddy a potential mine field.  Engaging in agriculture or raising livestock in Laos, can at times be a dangerous proposition. 

     Laotian men, women and children are still being killed or maimed daily by this leftover American trash.  I’m greatly ashamed, dear reader, by this sad fact.

     Even though Vientiane (City of Sandalwood) is the capitol of landlocked Laos, as I wandered out of the hotel in the evening looking for a place to dine, I was always struck by the fact its dusty, narrow lanes had the feel of a small town resting on the east bank of the Mekong River.  Basically it was a sleepy capitol with unpaved roads, where the locals claimed the Lao PDR stood for “Please Don’t Rush.”

     And as I worked my way towards the river, I’d pass shop-house after shop-house containing a repetition of the same scene.  Its Lao family would be squatting on the first floor, having dinner, while intently watching a 14-inch, black & white TV with rabbit ears.  What held their rapt attention wasn’t any station the government provided; rather the rabbit ears intercepted forbidden signals from Thailand, broadcasting Thai soap operas.  Wherein the Laotians got involved with the dramas of Thais driving expensive cars, and living in expensive homes, having expensive, forbidden love affairs, with all the drama and excitement a democratic free market society can provide.  In future, if ever communism is destroyed in Laos, I suspect historians will trace the cause of its demise to Thai soap operas.

     So tell me, dear reader, wouldn’t it have been far more detrimental to communism if the U.S. had dropped tons of 14-inch, Japanese TVs on the Laotians, instead of cluster bombs?

     As for dining, it was always a treat to locate a mom & pop restaurant, made out of drift wood, dangling precariously over the edge of the Mekong, having a freshly-caught catfish and icy Lao beer while enjoying a spectacular sunset on the river.

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