Thailand and Laos, from the perspective of the main ethnic group, are a pair of brothers, the origin of the Thai and Lao ethnic groups is the same, blood and language are very close. However, the level of economic and social development of the two countries is very different.
Thailand is not only large in size and population, but also far richer than Laos. In 2021, Thailand's population was 66.17 million and its per capita GDP was $7,200, while Laos' two figures were just over $7 million and $2,500, respectively.
Thailand was once known as one of the "Four Asian Tigers" in the 90s of the 20th century, while Laos is still listed as one of the least developed countries by the United Nations.
▲Songkran is a common festival of the Tai, Lao and Dai ethnic groups
From the perspective of ethnic composition and economic and social development, Laos is more like a "little brother" of Thailand. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Thailand and Laos established two independent states.
During Thailand's Thonburi and Rama dynasties, Thailand and Laos were even unified from 1778 to 1893, which is the historical origin of some Thai nationalists who considered Laos part of their territory.
However, Thailand ceded Laos to French colonists in 1893 and lost 237,000 square kilometers of territory at once, about half the area of today's Thailand (513,000 square kilometers).
When Laos became independent in 1954, Thailand did not ask for a return, silently accepting this fact. So, what's all this all about?
▲The level of economic development in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, is obviously not high
1. Go south to establish a state
Historians currently believe that the ancestors of the Tai and Lao people are the Tai Lao people, which originated in the Yunnan region of China. Around the 1st century AD, there were already ancestors of the Tayland Lao people who migrated to the Indochina Peninsula, and Chinese history books refer to them as "Lao people" or "Lao people".
Founded in 738 AD, the Nanzhao Kingdom is a multi-ethnic country with Yunnan as the core territory, with a large number of Thai-Lao ethnic groups, Hu ethnic groups and so on.
After the fall of the Nanzhao Kingdom in 903, these peoples began to move south on a large scale into the Indochina Peninsula.
▲Nanzhao Kingdom is the source of many Southeast Asian ethnic groups
The earliest people to move south were the Pyu people, and in 1044 the Bagan Dynasty, the first dynasty of Burma, was established in the Irrawaddy River basin, and began to form the Burman ethnic group.
The Thai-Lao people migrated south mainly to escape the invasions of the Yuan Dynasty, and only came to the Mekong and Chao Phraya river basins in the 13th century.
The land was under the rule of the Cambodian Empire at this time, and the Thai-Lao people had to endure their conquests and convert to Buddhism under their influence.
As the number of Thai Lao peoples increased, their strength became stronger and stronger, and finally defeated the Cambodians in 1238 and established the Sukhothai Dynasty in the Chao Phraya River Valley, which was the first dynasty in Thai history to form the Tai people.
▲The blue area is the original territory of the Sukhothai dynasty
The Nanzhao state was destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty in 1254, and the Tai Lao people who remained in Yunnan evolved into the Dai people in China. Encouraged by the successful establishment of the Tai people, the Thai Lao people in the middle and upper reaches of the Mekong River also began to rebel against the Chenla dynasty, and in 1353 established the first unified state in the history of Laos, the Lancang Dynasty, they were called the Lao people, which was different from the Tai people in the Chao Phraya River Valley.
The Sukhothai and Lancang dynasties were both Thai-old nation-states, and they each underwent multiple dynasties to gradually form their own unified states, which are called Siam and Laos in Chinese history books, and the blood, language, culture and religion of the two have always been the same, but because of the geographical differences (Mekong and Chao Phraya rivers) and followed different paths.
▲ The Sukhothai and Lancang dynasties were not large at first, and gradually expanded into their current territory
Siam occupies the alluvial plain of the lower Chao Phraya River, developed agriculture and dense population, and soon became one of the main forces on the Indochina Peninsula, fighting Cambodians and Burmese for a long time. In 1431, Siam captured Angkor, the capital of Chenla, and the Cambodians were forced to move the capital to Phnom Penh, where it continues to this day.
The core territory of Laos is the middle and upper reaches of the Mekong River, dominated by mountains and plateaus, poor land, inconvenient transportation, and no access to the sea, so the population is small and the strength is weak. Facing Vietnam to the east, Laos has been on the defensive and has lost a lot of territory.
▲ Laos is basically a mountainous plateau, and the conditions are not as good as Siam
Siam and Laos are two equal countries, roughly bounded by the Mekong River, and generally safe and sound, both because they are brothers of the same ethnic group and out of the need to fight foreign enemies, and Laos and Siam have helped each other many times in history against Burmese, Cambodians and Vietnamese.
2. Two into one
Burma posed the greatest threat to the two Thai-Lao nation-states, and the Tungoo dynasty conquered most of Siam and Laos in the mid-16th century.
In order to escape the Burmese and to give the capital more flat land resources, Laos moved the capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane in 1560.
In addition to the terrain being more conducive to defense, Vientiane was close to Siam, easy to get support from Siam, and has been the capital of Laos ever since.
After the decline of Burma in the 17th century, Laos was given a temporary respite, but strife arose within the royal family, and in 1703, Laos was divided from north to south into three countries: Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champasak.
The division of Laos has rendered itself defenseless
In 1752, Burma, which had completed another round of regime changes, expanded again. In 1767, it even destroyed Siam, reaching the pinnacle of Burmese history.
The Siamese did not give in, and revival movements were launched everywhere, the strongest of which was the Thonburi dynasty.
In order to strengthen the strength of the Tai people, the founder of the Thonburi dynasty, Zheng Xin (a native of Chaoshan in Guangdong), forced the three small Lao countries of Laos to submit by force, and in 1778 the first union of the Thai-Lao peoples of the Indochina Peninsula, but formally Siam annexed Laos.
▲ Siam was once annexed by Myanmar, which indirectly promoted the unification of the Thai and Lao ethnic groups
Under the leadership of Zheng Xin, the Thonburi dynasty completed the restoration of Siam. In 1782, after Tak Shin, Siam entered the Rama dynasty, and Rama I moved the capital to Bangkok and inherited the rule of three small Lao states.
Laos as a whole ceased to exist, and the original three small states became dependencies of Siam. After a series of conquests and wars, Rama I also occupied Cambodia, making the Siam territory the largest in history.
▲Thailand today is only half the size of its heyday
In addition to its borders with Myanmar and Vietnam, Siam also borders the Islamic Malay Sultanate to the south. Although there are some territorial disputes, the Malay Peninsula is narrow and does not require much defense effort.
Despite this, Siam's defense situation has not improved.
First, although Myanmar withdrew from Siam, it remained a great power in the Indochina Peninsula;
Second, the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam, established in 1802, had considerable territorial ambitions, constantly competing with Siam for Cambodia and encroaching on the land of three small Lao countries. Under the attack of Burma and Vietnam, Siam fell into a disadvantageous situation of fighting on two fronts.
Third, strong enemies are around
While Burma, Siam and Vietnam were fighting each other, European colonial powers were increasingly approaching the Indochina Peninsula. The first colonists to appear were the British, who first completed the colonization of India and then prepared to conquer Burma.
When the First Anglo-Burmese War broke out in 1824, Burma suffered a crushing defeat after a year of heroic resistance, and had to cede land for reparations and open trade ports to Britain.
At the same time, the British extended their power into the Malay Peninsula, forcing the Malay sultanates here to accept British "protection", and the British finally appeared on the Siamese border.
▲ The First Anglo-Burmese War is very much like a preview of the Opium War
An even bigger shock soon followed, and in 1840, the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the British fleet and forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, ceding land and opening reparations and opening ports to Burma in the same way. The Qing Dynasty is the "heavenly kingdom" in the eyes of the countries of the Indochina Peninsula, and it can't beat the British.
When the Second Anglo-Burmese War broke out in 1853, the southern half of Burma was occupied by the British, and the colonists set their capital in Yangon. In the same year, Japan opened its doors under duress from the American fleet and immediately fell into civil strife.
In 1858, the French landed in southern Vietnam, and the Nguyen Dynasty had no resistance, and it was only a matter of time before Vietnam became a complete colony.
▲ Rama V initiated the Westernization reform, in a sense saved Siam
Located in the middle of the Indochina Peninsula, Siam fortunately escaped the initial onslaught of the British and French colonists and had a respite.
But in Siam's eyes, the two powerful neighbors of Burma and Vietnam have been defeated, and the ambitions of the European colonists are very great, and the crisis of national demise is not far away.
In 1868, King Rama V initiated the Westernization reform, which integrated with the European powers in many aspects, purchased a large number of European weapons, introduced European instructors, and transformed the traditional Siamese army into a Western-style army. Economically, Siam took the initiative to open its trading ports, trade with European powers, and protect foreign capital.
▲The Siamese army has rapidly advanced from the Middle Ages to the modern level
Britain and France are busy digesting Burma and Vietnam, winning Siam nearly 30 years of peace. After the initial completion of the Westernization reform, Siam was able to interact with European countries on a relatively equal footing. At this time, the land area of Siam was roughly twice the size of present-day Thailand, and today's Laos and Cambodia belong to Siam.
As Britain and France gradually completed their conquests of Burma and Vietnam, Siam began to face the armed forces of European colonists. In 1883 France completely annexed Vietnam, and in 1886 Britain completely annexed Burma, leaving only Siam in the middle.
Fourth, lose the car to protect the marshal
Rama V's westernization reforms allowed Britain and France to obtain most of the privileges stipulated in the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing, such as trade ports, extraterritoriality, and ultra-low tariffs of 3%, etc., and it was no longer necessary for European powers to use force to seize them, allowing Siam to maintain its political independence.
Siam already had a Western-style army, and although it still relied on European countries for weapons, it made the great powers feel that the cost of conquering Siam was too high and might offset the benefits of the war, so Britain and France had no plans to conquer Siam by force for the time being.
Siam opened up economically to the West in exchange for political independence
Neither Britain nor France wanted the other to occupy Siam and thus gain a dominant position on the Indochina Peninsula. Therefore, Britain and France agreed to maintain Siam's independence and avoid friction caused by direct meetings between British and French forces, which played a role as a buffer zone. A similar example is the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, which separated British power in India from Russian power in Central Asia.
Rama V's diplomatic breakthrough also gave Siam more room for manoeuvre. At the end of the 19th century, countries such as the United States, Russia, Germany and other countries rose one after another, and did not want to see the two traditional colonial powers of Britain and France further expand. Siam actively developed diplomatic relations with these countries, which to a certain extent played a role in curbing British and French aggression.
▲The enlightenment of the royal family is one of the key factors for the independence and progress of the Siamese nation
However, not turning Siam into a colony does not mean that there is no interest in the territory of Siam, in this regard, the French appear more active, which has something to do with the topography of Vietnam. The territory of Vietnam is in the shape of a long north-south strip, especially in the central part, with an average width of less than 100 kilometers.
More importantly, Vietnam is basically a coastal plain, almost entirely overlooked by the mountains of Laos. Therefore, in order to ensure the security of the Vietnamese colonies, the French believed that it was necessary to claim Siamese territory from the west in order to expand their strategic depth.
▲ Siam's territory cut off step by step by Britain and France
In 1884, French colonial forces first occupied Cambodia and in 1888 the northeastern part of Laos. Siam attached more importance to the Laos region than Cambodia, which had belonged to Siam for 110 years, and Siam naturally regarded it as its own territory, so it began to actively prepare for war.
When the Franco-Siamese War broke out in 1893, although the Siamese army inflicted considerable casualties on the French army, France used its naval superiority to invade Bangkok, eventually forcing Siam to admit defeat, ceding the Laos region east of the Mekong River to become part of the French colony in Southeast Asia, and Vientiane, the capital of Laos, became a city on the border between Thailand and France (Laos).
▲The French Indochinese Federation has been a legacy for nearly 100 years
Britain not only remained neutral in the Franco-Siamese War, allowing French aggression, but also took the opportunity to force Siam to cede a large part of the northern territory, which later became the Shan State of Burma. The defeat in the Franco-Siamese War made Siam deeply humiliated and powerless, and began to change its resistance strategy.
After that, Britain and France made more territorial claims, and Siam stopped fighting by force, and endured the pain of ceding remote areas and dependent states. However, this is not a complete renunciation of resistance, but the use of these relatively unimportant lands in exchange for the security of the core territory, and even to demand the abolition of the great powers.
▲At the beginning of the 20th century, only China, Japan and Thailand were independent in East Asia and Southeast Asia
In 1907 and 1909, Siam ceded three places including Battambang in Cambodia to France, and four places including Pattani in the Malay Peninsula to Britain, in exchange for the abolition of extraterritoriality and the withdrawal of foreign troops and other national sovereignty.
In 1907, France completed its occupation of Laos and Cambodia, and together with Vietnam formed the colony of the French Indochinese Federation, which became the prototype of today's three countries.
Among them, Vietnam has the largest population, relatively high economic and cultural level, and the longest history of colonization, so many Vietnamese served as colonial officials to help the French rule Laos and Cambodia.
▲ Siam joined the Allies in World War I and won a certain respect from the West
By 1909, Siam's land area was just over 510,000 square kilometers, equivalent to only about 50% of its heyday at the end of the 19th century.
But Siam retained its core territory in the middle and lower reaches of the Chao Phraya River, as well as its political independence, becoming the only independent state in Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.
Ceding Laos hurt Siam the most, not only because Laos is larger than Cambodia (230,000: 180,000 square kilometers), but also because Laos and Siam are brothers of the same race, almost identical in blood and language.
5. Parting ways
The loss of half of the territory humiliated the Siamese, giving rise to "Greater Thaiism" with the goal of reclaiming these lost territories. In order to achieve this goal, Siam not only formed a military government in 1938, but also joined the Japanese fascist side in World War II.
In the early days of World War II, Siam declared war on Britain and France, seized part of the ceded land, and later recognized the situation before defecting, and returned these territories after the war, bidding farewell to Greater Thaiism. In 1949, Siam changed its name to Thailand and pursued a pro-Western foreign policy.
▲ The Thai military government was an accomplice of Japanese fascism during World War II
As soon as World War II ended, the French returned to Southeast Asia in an attempt to re-establish the French Indochinese Federation. The awakened people of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia refused to agree, and with the Viet Cong as the core, they united to resist the French colonialists.
In 1954, the Viet Cong won the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, annihilating 17,000 elite French paratroopers, forcing France to sign the Geneva Agreement, abolish the Indochinese Federation, and declare independence from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
▲The defeat of Dien Bien Phu prompted France to withdraw from Southeast Asia and Laos to become independent
Pro-Western Thailand takes a hostile attitude towards the three countries and has a small number of territorial disputes with neighboring Cambodia and Laos. After more than half a century of colonial rule and the profound influence of Vietnam on Laos, although Thailand and Laos are brothers of the same race, their sense of identity has been very weak, and Thailand has no idea of letting Laos return.
After the withdrawal of French colonial power, due to the intervention of the United States, Laos and Cambodia soon fell into civil strife, and the US military directly sent troops to Vietnam. It was not until 1972 that U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, and civil strife in Laos and Cambodia gradually subsided.
▲ During the Vietnam War, Thailand sent troops to participate in the war, deepening the gap between Thailand and Laos
The establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in December 1975 meant that Laos was finally on the right track. The suffering of Cambodia is not over, with Vietnam invading Cambodia in 1978, withdrawing its troops in 1989 under pressure from the international community, and establishing the Kingdom of Cambodia in November 1993.
Since Laos was ceded to France in 1893, the brothers of Laos and Thailand have embarked on two different paths of development.
After decades of development after World War II, Thailand has a population of more than 60 million and a per capita GDP of more than $7,000, nearly three times that of Laos. Thailand not only has developed agriculture, but also ranks among the top industries in Southeast Asia, and tourism is world-famous.
▲Bangkok is a famous international metropolis
Laos' social system is closer to Vietnam's, coupled with the unfavorable conditions of mountainous terrain, and it is a landlocked country, and all conditions restrict Laos.
With a population of more than 7 million in 2022, the economic pillar is agriculture, industry and tourism are weak, and the per capita GDP is more than 2,500 US dollars, which is only higher than Timor-Leste, Cambodia and Myanmar in Southeast Asia, and is among the least developed countries.
Laos is also landlocked and not economically linked to Thailand. If Laos wants to develop, there is another direction. In December 2021, the China-Laos Railway connecting Kunming and Vientiane was fully opened, and Laos finally had an "outlet to the sea" facing China.
▲The significance of the China-Laos Railway to Laos is very significant and all-round
In 2019, the China-Laos Railway has not yet been opened, and the number of Chinese tourists to Laos has exceeded one million, becoming the second largest source of tourists in Laos and approaching Thailand, the largest country.
In the future, the China-Laos Railway will not only double the number of Chinese tourists to Laos, but also further strengthen the economic cooperation between China and Laos, which can largely make up for the disadvantage of Laos without access to the sea.
▲China-Laos Railway