If you thought Laos was just rain forests, giant king cobras and ancient relics, think again—here are ten fascinating facts that reveal the country’s weird, wild side.
10 Trained Operatives Still Fight The Government
Imagine growing up as the grandchild of Hmong fighters who were recruited by the CIA during the Vietnam War. Your grandparents were taught to hunt communists, and now your whole family lives hidden in jungles, waging guerrilla warfare for decades.
Escaping the jungle isn’t a simple stroll in the park. Recent reports recount groups of women and children emerging from concealment only to be brutally assaulted by soldiers, with children as young as nine suffering horrific violence.
It’s a bitter irony: the United States promised asylum to those who helped them, yet many Hmong families still starve in the jungle, hunted by the Lao army, with no clear path to safety.
After the war, roughly 300,000 ethnic Hmong fled to Thailand, and about 145,000 eventually resettled in the United States. Surprisingly, U.S. intelligence later foiled a Hmong coup attempt in Laos in 2007.
Federal charges allege that nine Hmong and a retired California National Guard lieutenant colonel plotted to train a militia, acquire $9.8 million in weapons, smuggle the force into Laos via Thailand, attack key government sites, and install themselves as the new regime.
9 The World’s Most Bombed Country
During the Vietnam conflict, the United States dropped a staggering 270 million bombs on Laos. Roughly thirty percent of those never detonated, leaving a deadly legacy that surpasses the total ordnance dropped on Europe throughout World War II.
Hundreds of Laotians still lose limbs or eyesight each year to unexploded ordnance. With a large portion of the population dependent on manual labor, the impact on the nation’s economy is profound.
Because about 35 percent of Laos’s terrain is littered with hidden explosives, the Ho Chi Minh Trail remains a perilous zone for anyone trying to farm or travel.
8 One Of The Last Communist States Dependent On Capitalist Aid
Since 1986, Laos has posted annual growth of 6–7 percent after the communist regime loosened central controls and permitted private enterprise. Yet foreign aid remains a lifeline.
In the mid‑1990s, President Nouhak Phoumsavan—a staunch disciple of Ho Chi Minh—insisted that true communism was still the goal. Party critics warned that the country was “a little dogmatic” and needed a realistic assessment before choosing between communism and capitalism.
Despite progress, Laos still lags on the United Nations Human Development Index, ranking 138 out of 188 in 2016. Life expectancy sits just over 66 years, an improvement from the early‑1990s.
Child mortality remains high: of 1,000 births in 2012, 71 children were expected to die before age five—a 56 percent drop from 1990, yet still higher than neighboring nations. Malnutrition is a major driver of these deaths.
7 Deforestation Is A Threat To The Future
In 2005, roughly 70 percent of Laos was cloaked in rainforest; today that figure has shrunk to about 40 percent. The country still harbors some of the world’s last true wilderness.
A small population and relative isolation have shielded remote regions from mass‑scale capitalism, but recent decentralization of forest management has accelerated timber extraction.
Approximately half of the remaining forest is primary—meaning it consists of indigenous species with minimal human disturbance. As global resource conflicts loom, preserving these ecosystems could become a strategic priority.
6 In Laos, The Opium Of The Masses Is Just Opium
Smoking opium in Laos carries a prison sentence of three to ten years; possessing under a kilogram can net two to seven years behind bars. Yet the law is frequently ignored.
Backpackers once roamed Vang Vieng—dubbed “the town where teenagers ruled the world”—where cafés openly advertised opium tea, joints, and even magic‑mushroom pizzas.
If you’re caught in Vientiane, you’ll desperately need a lawyer and a lot of luck—luck, because legal aid can be hard to find before you’re potentially shot.
In 2009, pregnant British citizen Samantha Orobator was arrested for heroin smuggling. She didn’t see a lawyer for nine months, but a pregnancy that occurred four months after her arrest allegedly saved her from a firing squad.
Life behind bars for drug offenses in Laos is a grim prospect.
5 Rat Jerky, Deep‑Fried Grasshopper, Or Chicken Feet—Better Than Wendy’s
Food is a perfect lens for cultural differences. While some of us proudly bite into pecan pie, Laos offers culinary adventures that might make you squirm.
Picture jerky made from rat skin, served with a dipping sauce that’s literally its own blood. Or try deep‑fried grasshoppers and chicken feet—dishes that could give any fast‑food chain a run for its money.
Embrace the oddities; after all, they’re just another kind of lasagna on the global table.
4 A Lawless Party Town Is An Exercise In Darwinism
Vang Vieng, once notorious for its drug‑infested nightlife, has seen the death toll of tourists climb dramatically. In 2011, 27 backpackers perished at a single river‑jumping site visited by roughly 150,000 travelers each year.
A perfect storm of cheap whiskey, psychedelics, opiates, youthful exuberance, and sheer disregard for warning signs led many to be pulled from the river with broken necks or lungs full of water.
Life jackets are now mandatory for those daring enough to hop onto inner tubes, and the death count is expected to fall—though ignoring a sign that reads “Do not jump; you will die” is still a fatal gamble.
3 Sapphires And Corruption And Dead Lawyers, Oh My
Everyone loves a good shaggy‑dog tale, and Laos provides one involving sapphires, corruption, and murder.
In the 1990s, an Australian SAS veteran, an American raconteur, and a crooked lawyer teamed up to launder roughly $20 million by purchasing Laotian sapphires.
The scheme unraveled when the lawyer was found dead in a Phnom Penh hotel, his laptop—containing access codes to millions of dollars—still intact. Who walked away with the loot remains a mystery.
The “Golden Triangle” is famed for heroin, but it also houses some of the world’s finest silversmiths and a relatively untapped supply of sapphires—for anyone brave enough to survive the trade.
2 The Plain Of Jars
Legend has it that the stone vessels scattered across Laos’s Plain of Jars were crafted to brew potent rice wine in celebration of mythical giants’ victories. Other tales claim they stored whiskey for a thirsty mountain giant, while some suggest they hold the ashes of ancient royalty.
What’s certain is that, 2,500 years ago, the civilization that built them adored massive jars—some standing three meters tall and a meter wide—placing them across the fields.
Many of the sites overlap with former bomb zones, rendering them inaccessible. The true purpose remains a mystery, leaving only tantalizing clues for modern explorers.
1 Corruption Is De Rigueur
In September 2014, Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong signed Decree No. 327, criminalizing any online criticism of the government or ruling communist party and imposing penalties on violators.
Consequently, exposing everyday corruption is now illegal. If a relative is detained by corrupt officers, speaking out could land you in trouble.
Phout Mitane, a 26‑year‑old from Nabouam village, photographed police seizing her brother’s truck on dubious documentation charges. When the images surfaced on Facebook, she was taken into custody without formal arrest.
Laos’s laws forbid disseminating content that encourages terrorism, social disorder, or “divides the solidarity among ethnic groups and between countries.” In plain language: the state is aware of corruption but doesn’t want citizens to act on it.