Laos is one of the top holiday destinations in the world with its clean green natural image, scenery, Lord of the Rings film setting, adventure, culture and value for money.

Country Information: Southeastern Asia, northeast of Thailand, west of Vietnam - Lao People's Democratic Republic is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar (commonly known in the West as Burma) and the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. From the 14th to the 18th century, the country was called Lan Xang or Land of A Million Elephants. Highlanders live on mountains and the Lowlanders live along the Mekong River and its tributaries. There are more than a hundred ethnic groups in Laos. The three major groups are Khmu, Lao, and Hmong; and the rest are small tribes. The two most powerful groups are Lao, and Hmong. The Lao are Lowlander, and the Hmong are Highlander. The Highlander favor freedom and democracy and oppose Vietnamization. The Lowlanders practice Communism and favor Vietnamization. Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997.