What to throw away and what to keep. For the communist Pathet Lao the ancient Royals had to go. Except not entirely. Laotian Royals had multiple wives and dozens of children. Among them were 3 “Red Princes” whose French educations left them followers of Ho Chi Minh. Perfect for a Communist head of state, with the slight nod that maybe not so much was changing. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
One of the last stamp issues of the Royal government of Laos honored American Apollo astronauts. There were no stamps at all for a year and a half and then when stamps came back, one of the first celebrates Soviet Cosmonauts. Different but just a little the same right. Except this issue cellebrates 60 years since the Bolchevick revolution in Russia. That is a pretty big hint that Pathet Lao was having it’s strings pulled form the outside, just like they accused the other side.
Todays stamp is issue A99, a 5 Kip stamp issued by Laos on October 25, 1977. During this period the stamps went under 2 names. Less political issues used Postes Lao. More political earned the full if clunky Republique Democratique Populaire Lao. the regime is still in power but last used the mouthful name on a stamp in 1982. This was a five stamp issue in different denominations that was also available in two different souvenir sheets. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. The sovenir sheet that included this stamp is worth $6.00.
The Royal government faced a civil war virtually constantly after World War II. The Pathet Lao was openly communist but also claimed to be nationalist. The Royal government, having lasted through the French was seen as collaborators of colonialists. They perhaps were not helping their otherwise valid point by opening areas to North Vietnam’s military. After the USA left Vietnam in 1973 a treaty was signed in Laos that retained the King but had a coalition government including communists. This was not good enough and with South Vietnam and Cambodia falling in 1975 the Pathet Lao made their move. In August 1975 they marched into the capital unopposed with 50 women in front of the column. For a while the King stayed in the Palace. At the end of the year he submited his abdication but just moved to an apartment in Vientiane.
The Pathet Lao had their own Royals. Prince Souphanouvong was a lesser Royal born to a concubine in 1905. His paternal bloodline got him an education in Vietnam and then in France during the period of French Indo China. Such education of natives never leads them to love de Gaulle or even Petian. They instead all seem to become followers of Ho Chi Minh. Prince Soupanouvong returned to Laos a Red Prince and was made a General Secretary of the Pathet Lao political arm. Power to the People!
With the abdication of the real King, Souphanouvong stopped calling himself Prince and the Communist named him President, a non executive head of state. The now ex King was even named his Supreme Adviser. Power to the People. The real commies could not however stomach still having the King around. There was still some fighting in the countryside mainly eminating from the Hmong minority. Remember them from the Eastwood movie “Gran Torino.” Worrying that the King would leave the capital and lead an uprising, The Royal Family was rounded up and sent to a re-education camp. It was announced in 1978 that all the Royals died simultaneously from malaria. Well we know today that there are deadly Asian bugs around.
None of this affected Soupanouvong. In fact even in the re-education camp he would still visit and consult with the ex King. As the eighties went along, the country came less controlled by Vietnam and reopened again to tourism and trade with Thailand. After Soupanouvong retired in 1991, Laos decided that no longer needed Royals to serve as head of state. They do after all have that susceptibility to malaria.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast big families, they help a family adopt and get on. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.