Summary

In 1975, the communist Pathet Lao, with strong support from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, was able to take full control over Laos, changing its name to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and adopting a one-party socialist political system modeled on those of Vietnam and the Soviet Union. Many political opponents of the new regime were sent to concentration camps in remote parts of the country, where they languished without proper food or medicine for many years without even trials. Others escaped across the Mekong River to Thailand, where they became political refugees living in and outside of refugee camps set up not far from the border. Before long, those opposed to the new government and their Vietnamese supporters started to politically and militarily resist. Because the Thai government would not allow them to stay permanently in Thailand, many became political refugees in the United States, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere, but that did not stop their political activity related to Laos. An overview of post-1975 transnational diasporic politics associated with Laos is provided here. This is done through following the experiences and political organizations that Khamphoui Sisavatdy, an elected member of the National Assembly of Laos in 1972, participated in after 1975, starting as a refugee staying in Nong Khai, northeastern Thailand, and then later as an immigrant to the United States. Even though he was living in the United States, Khamphoui and other first-generation Lao immigrants remained focused on the politics of Laos. The intention here is to complicate the understanding of national borders and politics to avoid the territorial trap that frequently affects political understandings. The example of Lao post-1975 transnational politics is useful for demonstrating how politics can transcend national boundaries in particular ways, ones not sufficiently investigated and documented in Southeast Asia.