Jump to content

Cambo-Laos relationship ?


gobbledonk

Recommended Posts

OK - I've read the official line that they are good pals, but you have to wonder if these two countries, marginalised by their more powerful neighbours in Thailand and Vietnam, actually get along. I didnt hear a bad word spoken about Laos in my brief time in Cambo - will have to dig a little deeper the next time I venture to that part of the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and you will not hear a bad word spoken by the Khmers in reference to the Laos, nor vice-versa.

 

they have had 0 conflict over the centuries. in fact, contrary to conflict, they have had plenty of positive interaction: King Fa Ngum, recognized founder of the Lan Xan kingdom (considered "the birth of Laos"), when exiled from Laos, was received by the king of Cambodia and schooled there, and married a Khmer princess...he returned to Laos with Khmer troops backing him and kicked butt, taking control of the land, and the rest is history

 

Lao and Khmer languages, while not "genetically" related, also share a lot of vocab that Thai and Khmer do not, due to centuries of always friendly interaction (mostly the result of Lao borrowing from Khmer, Khmer being the older brothers in SEAsia...the Lao accept this historical fact, Thais do not).

 

In the Isaan realm, they're very friendly with eahc other as well (Isaan Lao and Surin Khmer), they bond together sharing the commonality of both being looked down upon by the Thais...so much that most Surin Khmers speak Lao fluently (doesn't work the other way, as Khmer is a damn hard language to learn for foreigners, haha, plus Lao is the default "lingua franca" of Isaan anyway...)

 

finally, as is the case with Thai, the Lao alphabet was adapted from the Khmer, and bears many similarities to it...

 

oh yeah, also in the realm of their particular brands of Buddhism, Khmer and Lao share much, including some holidays/concepts lost to the Thais...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are some border disputes, but they are more or less ignored most of the time.

 

I was under the impression that the Lao alphabet was adapted from an earlier Thai alphabet (which was based on Khmer, despite the Ramkhamhaeng nonsense).

 

Now shall we talk about Cambo-Lao relations with Viet Nam? :)

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. Flasher, I know that Vietnam is viewed with fear and loathing by many Cambodians, but it took the Vietnamese invasion to bring the Khmer Rouge reign of terror to an end - granted, individual KR members hung onto positions of power for years afterward, but if it had been left to the United Nations to kick them out, we might have another Burma in 2010. I have a lot of respect for the Vietnamese but I'm not sure I would want to have to compete with them. As for the Thai refusal to accept the value of their Khmer heritage, I put a lot of that down to the fact that many in BKK are Chinese Hindus pretending to be Thai Buddhists.

 

For people they despise, the Thais dont seem to have a problem exploiting their neighbours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I told Ms CP that Buddhism actually came from India and Theravada originated in Sri Lanka, she refused to believe it. When I told her that other countries had very large Buddhist populations, I got 'No, no, Thailand number one for Buddha !'. Not hard to see why the missionaries must have been overjoyed to find the Phillipines.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is a lot of government co-operation and communication between the two countries, going on panels and committees friends of mine sit on. So I'd say yes, their closer that Cambo/Thai.

 

That said I think Thai/Laos is very close, going on memory, but wasn't one of the more recent Laos PM's born in Thai, or Visa Versa?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

That said I think Thai/Laos is very close, going on memory, but wasn't one of the more recent Laos PM's born in Thai, or Visa Versa?

 

I dont know about that, but the Laos Chief of Army, Sounthone Pathammavong, will be 100 next year. No, that isnt a typo - the guy was born in 1911 and putting down an attempted coup in Vientiane in 1960 - this is a man who survived the French, Japanese and the Americans and still has a job to go to. Must be something in the water up there, cause I didnt see a whole lot in Vientiane that would have me wanting to live past 40 ... :smirk:

 

Luang Prabang next time, tourist hordes or no.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...