Tiao Souvanna Phouma
Tiao Souvanna Phouma was a younger brother of Tiao Phetsarath born on October 7, 1901, and named after his great-grandfather. Like his elder brother Souvanna Phouma was sent to France for his higher education, gaining diplomas in civil engineering . He returned home in 1930 and married Mom Kham Phiou from Luang Prabang's Kham Ouane family. But his work as a civil engineer soon took him to Vientiane and his new bride's family did not permit her to follow him. Two years later he married Aline Allard, the French-Lao daughter of a French diplomat, who worked as a teacher in Vientiane. His marriage to a mixed race woman caused some consternation in Luang Prabang’s socially conscious society.
By 1944 Souvanna Phouma was the chief engineer of Indochina. His most famous assignment was the restoration of Wat Phra Kaew in Vientiane which had remained in ruins since its destruction during the Siamese invasion of 1828. This restoration managed by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient was promoted by the French authorities as part of the “re-awakening” of Laos.
By 1944 Souvanna Phouma was the chief engineer of Indochina. His most famous assignment was the restoration of Wat Phra Kaew in Vientiane which had remained in ruins since its destruction during the Siamese invasion of 1828. This restoration managed by the École Française d’Extrême-Orient was promoted by the French authorities as part of the “re-awakening” of Laos.
Before & After. Wat Phra Kaew in Vientiane lay in ruins for over 100 years before it was rebuilt under the supervision of Souvanna Phouma
At the end of World War II Souvanna Phouma joined his brother Phetsarath in the Free Lao movement, also fleeing to exile in Thailand in 1946. But when the movement collapsed in 1949 Souvanna Phouma moved back to Laos – in fact it was his wife Aline who helped negotiate with the French the return of the Free Lao leaders. He established the National Progressive Party to contest elections under the new constitutional framework and won a land-slide victory in 1951 making him the Prime Minister of Laos. He would hold that role for 19 of the following 24 years, representing the “neutralist” faction between the political left and right, until the demise of the Royal Lao Government (RLG).
Tiao Souvanna Phouma attempted to steer the Royal Lao Government to a "neutralist" position during the Cold War
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His first major achievement was to negotiate full independence from France which was achieved in October 1953. But less than one year later he was forced to resign due to pressure from the political right both at home and from the US and Thailand. He returned to power in November 1957 at the head of a coalition government of all factions. But after elections in May 1958 the US was unhappy with communist factions being bought into government and precipitated a crisis by suspending aid upon which Laos was totally reliant. The coalition collapsed and Souvanna Phouma was ousted from office again.
Souvanna Phouma was banished to a comfortable posting as Ambassador to France until August 1960 when Colonel Kong Le surprised everybody by mounting a coup on behalf of the neutralists. Souvanna Phouma was invited back to form a neutralist government with the Pathet Lao. But right-wing forces fought back and in early December entered Vientiane. Fierce fighting ensued with some 600 civilian casualties. On December 9 Souvanna Phouma fled into exile in Phnom Penh whilst Kong Le’s neutralist forces retreated to the Plain of Jars. |
The election of John F. Kennedy as US President gave a new boost to the cause of Lao neutralism. In June 1962 after lengthy negotiations in Geneva a Second Coalition Government was formed headed once again by Souvanna Phouma. But before planned elections could be held a series of assassinations took place and the Pathet Lao ministers abandoned Vientiane and fled to safety in Houaphan. The Second Coalition Government finally collapsed in September 1963. From this point on Souvanna Phouma maintained his position as Prime Minister but neutralism was effectively dead and Laos was caught between the global struggle played out in Vietnam between the USA and Soviet Union.
July 1962, Souvanna Phouma’s neutralist position is boosted by John F. Kennedy’s election to the White House
For ten years Souvanna Phouma’s government presided over a declining economy and a shrinking area of control. By 1972 the US was negotiating its exit from Indochina and after signing a peace agreement with North Vietnam in January 1973 it leant heavily on the RLG to sign a peace agreement with the Pathet Lao. So in February a cease-fire was signed and Souvanna Phouma came to head a Third Coalition Government which once again included the Pathet Lao. But morale within the RLG was collapsing whilst the Pathet Lao slowly chipped away at their authority. The strains showed personally when in July 1974 Souvanna Phouma, now aged 72, suffered a heart attack and flew to Paris for eight months to recuperate. At the end of November 1975 after demonstrations in Vientiane had called for the abdication of the king, Souvanna Phouma flew to Luang Prabang where the king consented to step down. Souvanna Phouma himself resigned, thus bringing to an end the Royal Lao Government.
Unlike most RLG leaders Souvanna Phouma did not flee to exile nor was he sent for “re-education”. Instead he remained in Vientiane in semi-retirement as “Supreme Advisor” to the government. Communist Prime Minister Kaysone Phomvihan was a frequent visitor, no doubt respecting the decades of experience held by this elder statesman of Laos. Souvanna Phouma’s hopes of guiding his country on a middle “neutralist” path had been shattered but in an interview in 1979 he praised the ”socialisme à la Laotienne”, somewhat overlooking the hardships that the Lao people were undergoing at this time. He died, probably of a heart attack, on January 10, 1984. His ashes are interred in the family stupa at Wat Maha That.