Article: Land-locked Laos has history of isolation, unrest.(Oregon Life)

Byline: Randi Bjornstad The Register-Guard

Through a combination of history, geography and politics - and with the exception of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma - Laos may be the least known to the outside world of any country in Southeast Asia.

To begin with, it's landlocked - bounded by China on the north, Vietnam on the east, Cambodia on the south and Myanmar and Thailand on the west - so access to tourists as well as traders historically has been relatively difficult.

Besides that, the Lao People's Democratic Republic is one of the world's few remaining traditionally communist nations; the Pathet Lao took control of the country in 1975 from ...

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