Lao Long Documentary

Lost Laotian

During this Holiday Season, I received a DVD (documentary) as a gift
sent directly to my jail cell. This documentary is in regard to a group
of Laotian who live in Burma where their ancestors were forced to
migrate to that land as Siam's slaves when that land belongs to Siam
(Thailand). This documentary is title in Lao as "Lao Long."

As many of us know, during the war between Siam and the Kingdom of Laos
during the 17-18 centuries when Laos lost the war to Siam. Siam forced
thousands of Lao people to migrate to Thailand to become their slaves.
These lost Laotian are the great great great grand children of those
Lao slaves that Siam forced them to come to Thailand during that time.

The lost Laotian now are lost in the land that no ones want them and
face discrimination from the Burmese and Karieng-it is a sad and
painful history for us all who cares about our own people. I have to
admit that by watching this documentary of lost Laotian; I could not
stop my tears from pouring out of my eyes. However, before I am telling
you more about this group of lost Laotian, I want to bring you back to
a story that I have learned nearly ten years ago from Mr. Kongsana
Koumpholphakdy, a former Deputy Chief of Staff of RLG Air Force, he
told me that during the hype of Vietnam war, there were about 800 lost
Laotians who lived in Vietnam came to the Lao Embassy in Saigon
requesting to migrate to Laos because they are Lao and some of their
kids could not even speak Vietnamese and the only language they knew -
were Lao. The RLG and the RLG Air Force were ready to use the limited
resources that RLG had at the time to Airlift these group of lost
Laotian in Vietnam to our motherland in Laos. Sadly, at the last
minutes the RLG Prime minister, Souvanna Phouma, rejected the plan and
cancelled the Air Lift. Now, no one knows what are the fates of those
lost Laotian in Vietnam.-----It is sad for me to hear that story and
every time I think about it. Now, I am seeing in my own eyes through
this documentary-it is a deja vue again. These group of lost Laotian
in Burma (near by the border of Thailand) are Lao and they are a group
of unwanted people in Burma even though their ancestors lived, plowed
and worked in that land for more than two hundred years, but they are
still not Burmese Citizens they are just categorized as an ethnic
minorities that are unwanted by no body even to the government of
Burma.

How these lost Laotian got there when asked, they are giving many
different stories because how these people learned how they got to this
land they learned only through the word of mouths of their ancestors
and each seems to give different stories. In fact, most heard about
Laos does exist as a country and some heard about the Capital of Laos
is Vientiane, but no one ever see or know where Laos or Vientiane is.
Most also want to go and live in Laos if giving the opportunities. Some
know that Vientiane has That Louang stupa and some even think that
Emerald Buddha (Pra Keo) is still in Vientiane unknown to them that Pra
Keo had been taking away from Laos to Thailand at the time that their
ancestors were forced to migrate to the land that they are now.
Children of these lost Laotians also educate in Burmese Language in the
Lao Temple.

By sharing this story here in SCL, I hope that readers of the SCL will
have the opportunities to see this documentary and I also hope that the
LPDR government will do something about these lost Laotian by bringing
them home to our motherland and don't repeat the mistake of uncaring
for their own people as Souvanna Phouma did to the lost Laotian in
Vietnam if LPDR really cares about its own people and ethnics as LPDR
always claimed to be.

Love and kisses

Soumaly

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Lao Long Documentary
    ... > migrate to that land as Siam's slaves when that land belongs to Siam ... This documentary is title in Lao as "Lao Long." ... > These lost Laotian are the great great great grand children of those ... > this documentary-it is a deja vue again. ...
    (soc.culture.laos)
  • Re: Lao Long Documentary
    ... > migrate to that land as Siam's slaves when that land belongs to Siam ... This documentary is title in Lao as "Lao Long." ... > These lost Laotian are the great great great grand children of those ... > this documentary-it is a deja vue again. ...
    (soc.culture.laos)