by Jim Goodman
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| the port at Thakhek |
Along the portion of the
Mekong River that runs alongside the western border of Laos lie several
towns. Most travelers, however,
confine their exploration to just two of them: Vientiane, the capital, and Luang Phabang, the former royal
capital and World Heritage site.
If they venture south of the capital, to Thakhek, Savannakhet, Pakse or
Champassak, they usually stay just long enough to catch a ride to somewhere
beyond.
From Thakhek they head for the
caves east of the town or rent motorbikes for the three-day ride in a loop
through the craggy limestone mountains past the caves. From Savannakhet they take a bus to
central Vietnam. From Pakse they
either go east to the Bolavens Plateau in southeast Laos or south to the
ancient Khmer ruins of Wat Phu or to the Four Thousand Islands, perhaps without
even stopping in Champassak town.
While none of the four towns can arouse as much interest as Vientiane or
Luang Phabang, they all have their own intrinsic attractions, individual
histories and special roles played in the development of Lao history.
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| Sikhot Stupa |
Thakhek, a town of about
26,000, six hours drive south of Vientiane, lies opposite the much larger
Nakhon Phanom in Thailand. The town’s name means “Visitors’ Landing” and its
founding dates to the 8th century. At that time it was the capital of a state called
Sikhottabong, named after its founder King Sikhot, said to have superhuman
strength from eating rice with dirty, but magical chopsticks.
To the north lay another
state, around present-day Vientiane, troubled by rampaging elephants that were
driving people off the land and taking over villages. Its king offered half his realm and his daughter in marriage
to whoever could rid the land of its pachyderm plague. Sikhot took up the challenge and
successfully expelled the marauding elephants. The king kept his promise, turned over half his kingdom and
gave his daughter to Sikhot to wed.
He was not happy about the
deal, though, but what to do about a man that seemed to be invulnerable? His daughter remained loyal to him
rather than her new husband and together they plotted Sikhot’s downfall. By one means or another she wheedled
out of him his secret—that he could only be killed through his anus. When she conveyed this information to
her father, the king ordered an archer to be placed in the pit of Sikhot’s
latrine. When Sikhot came to
relieve his bowels in the morning, the archer shot him with an arrow through his
anus and killed him.
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| colonial era shop houses o Chao Anou Street |
Sikhot’s ashes were eventually
interred in the Sikhottabong Stupa about six km south of Thakhek and the town’s
most important religious monument.
Standing 29 meters tall, it was erected in the 15th century,
though the temple beside it only dates from 1970. The state was eventually absorbed by the Kingdom of Lanexang
(Land of a Million Elephants), the first Lao state, founded in the late 14th
century. This part of the new
kingdom was still called Sikhottabong, included land on the other side of the
river, and its governor was basically the administrator of the southern half of
Lanexang.
Thakhek’s real transformation
took place after the French established control towards the end of the 19th
century. To develop its potential
for commerce, the French encouraged an influx of Vietnamese, who at one point
constituted 85% of the population.
After the conclusion of World War II, when in the winter of 1946 the
French re-imposed their control over Laos, Thakhek was the venue for the first
major armed resistance, by a mixed Lao Issara and Viet Minh force, led by the
leftist Prince Souphanouvong.
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| Buddhas in a private garden of a Thakhek house |
French artillery and air
strikes quickly prevailed and Souphanouvong was wounded escaping by boat to
Thailand. During the civil war
that convulsed Laos in the 60s and 70s Thakhek was relatively unaffected. The fighting was far north, the bombing
far to the east and the town’s casino was busy with Thai customers. With the victory of the Pathet Lao in
1975, the casino closed and many of Thakhek’s Vietnamese fled to Vietnamese
villages around Nakhon Phanom.
Today Thakhek is a quiet and
pleasant town, easy to get around on foot, with lots of colonial vestiges. Some of the old houses could use some
renovation, but the shop houses lining the riverside Chao Anou Road are in good
condition and make this the most atmospheric street in town. A walk along the river offers views of
the port and Nakhom Phanom on the other side. It is especially active during and just before full moon day
in October, when rowing crews in long boats practice for the races that day.
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| practicing for the boat races in Savannakhet |
Going downriver, the next town
is Savannakhet. With a population
of 125,000, it is the second largest in the country. Though there are villages in the area that are much older,
at this location the town itself began developing in the 17th
century. The French marched in to
directly administer it in 1893 and began improving its infrastructure and
conscripting laborers to build a road to Quảng Trị, Vietnam. As in Thakhek, they also sponsored an
influx of Vietnamese and Chinese, who still form significant portions of the
population and have their own Mahayana Buddhist temples, in contrast to the
Theravada Lao temples.
But before that, the French
had to deal with an insurrection shortly after their takeover. In 1899 preachers in the area began
predicting the arrival of a holy man who will save people from a disaster to
happen the second week of April 1902, when the earth would turn dark for seven
days, provided they follow his instructions, the taboos on certain foods and
the use of money and made pilgrimages to That Phanom.
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| St. Teresa Catholic Church |
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| Wat Ing Hang |
In November 1901 the French,
growing nervous about the mass meetings, arrested several of the leaders, though
not Phò Kaduat. This action turned
a millenarian religious movement into an anti-colonial, political campaign that
quickly became violent. Both sides
attacked and counter-attacked, but by the end of 1902 the French had killed Phò
Kaduat and suppressed the movement, though similar disturbances rocked the
Bolavens Plateau until 1936.
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| 16th century Ing Hang Stupa |
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| Vishnu on Garuda, That Ing Hang |
Kaysone Phoumvihan, the Lao
PDR leader from 1975 until his death in 1992, himself born in Savannakhet,
called Phò Kaduat one of the country’s five great historical heroes. Government propaganda extolled his
anti-colonial credentials, without any reference to the ‘superstitious’ aspects
of the movement.
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| Champassak Palace Hotel, Pakse |
Savannakhet today is
a relatively quiet city with an abundance of trees in the urban zones. Colonial era buildings still stand in
the old French Quarter, near St. Teresa’s Catholic Church, erected in 1930 for
the French and Vietnamese Catholics and still used by the latter nowadays. Among the city attractions, the oddest
is the small Dinosaur Museum, with a display of a collection of bones found
during excavations carried out in the province in the 1930s. The second oddest has to be the Savan-Vegas
Casino on the river, drawing customers mainly from Mukdahan, the Thai city
across the river.
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| carved shutter, Wat Luang, Pakse |
In the heart of the city is
the venerable Wat Xayaphoum. First
erected in 1542 and since then renovated and expanded, it is now the largest
temple in Laos. Even more revered
is the stupa called That Ing Hang, 15 km outside the town. It commemorates an alleged visit by the
Buddha, when he preached his sermon here between two trees (the meaning of Ing Hang). The present structure is the one remodeled in 1548 and
features sculptures of guardian deities and of Vishnu on Garuda between two
coiled serpents.
Flowing south past
Savannakhet, the Mekong passes into Champassak province, where it ceases to
mark the boundary between Thailand and Laos. As a result of the Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1893, part of
the river’s western bank became part of Laos (as did Xayaboury province
opposite Luang Phabang). In 1905
the French founded Pakse, at the junction of the Sedon and Mekong Rivers, today
the largest and most important town in the province, with a population of
88,000.
Little of the colonial era
architecture remains, but Wat Luang near the river, built in the 1930s, has
fine wood-carved window shutters and doors. Next to it stands Wat Phabat, which is supposed to house a
footprint of the Buddha. In garish
contrast to the temples is Pakse’s most famous (or notorious depending on one’s
view) building—the Champassak Palace Hotel. With its sort of Southeast Asian ‘wedding cake style’ it was
intended to be the palace of Boun Oum, the last in the line of Champassak’s
former royal family. Construction
started in 1968 but Boun Oum was forced into exile and died before he could
live in it. In the end it wound up
in the hands of a Thai businessman, who turned it into a hotel.
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| Lao in red, Thai in blue, Pakse Museum painting |
A little further down the road past this is the museum. In a secluded spot just outside of
town, the museum holds ancient stone sculptures from the Khmer ruins in the
south, bronze drums and other items, plus a painting of a 19th
century battle wherein the aggressive Lao in red thrash their Thai foes in
blue. This must have been a moment
of temporary advantage, however, for according to history, Chao Anou’s attack on
Thailand led to a resounding defeat and the loss of full Lao sovereignty.
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| Mekong RIver below Champassak |
In ancient times the province
was successively part of the Khmer states of Funan, Chenla and the Angkor
Empire. In the 14th
century Fa Ngun, residing in Angkor, won the backing of the Khmer emperor in
his claim to the throne of a vassal state in northern Laos. But as soon as he established his
authority he declared an independent Kingdom of Lanexang and then solidified
his position by defeating a Khmer army from Champassak.
Eventually, as the Angkor
regime collapsed, Lanexang absorbed the territory of Champassak. But in 1711, due to a vicious
succession struggle, Lanexang split into three kingdoms: Luang Phabang, Vientiane and
Champassak. The former two
continued periodic hostilities, sending refugees streaming south to the
southern kingdom. Champassak’s
population grew as a result. This
phenomenon would continue the first decades of the following century.
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| fishing on the Mekong at Champassak |
Champassak could not keep out
of war entirely, though. King
Taksin of Siam attacked in 1777, a year before his campaign against
Vientiane. From then on the Thai
became the power brokers in Lao politics.
Champassak’s rulers acceded to a slight loss of sovereignty, but
otherwise carried on unimpeded.
That changed in 1819, when the Thai-appointed King of Vientiane, Chao
Anou, suppressing a revolt led by a Champassak monk, had his son Chao Nho
installed as Champassak’s ruler.
At the end of 1826 Chao Anou, deciding to re-assert Lao independence,
attacked Thailand. Chao Nho led an
army from Champassak in support.
Grossly underestimating the strength of his opponents, Chao Anou
suffered a disastrous defeat, including his capture and the destruction of
Vientiane. Chao Nho escaped back
to Champassak but found the populace, under the leadership of one of the
princes from the dispossessed royal family, had closed the gates. Forced to flee to the forest, he was
soon captured and sent to a Bangkok prison.
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| royal mansion at Chanpassak |
Champassak remained a Thai
vassal state until taken by the French.
During World War II, as an ally of Japan, Thailand invaded Champassak
and seized the lands on the west bank, including Champassak town. After the war ended, the French
reasserted control and the Thai were forced to withdraw from the entire
province.
Contemporary Champassak is the
smallest of the Mekong River towns.
It is all but bereft of vestiges of its past, other than a modest
mansion used by 19th century rulers. Evidence of its former incarnation as a Khmer outpost lies
at nearby Wat Phu and Chanpassak itself is basically a stopover for visitors to
Wat Phu or the Four Thousand Islands further downriver. It has its charms, though.
The town stretches along one
long street beside the river.
Restaurants, hotels and temples are mostly on the riverbank. Fishermen in small boats come out on
the river at sunrise and in the late afternoon. The atmosphere of Champassak is much more rural than urban. But that’s true of most of Laos. With its alluring, unspoiled scenery,
relics of history and relaxed, leisurely pace of everyday life, of all the
southern Lao river towns, Champassak is the most representative of Laos as a
whole.
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| sunrise at Champassak |
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