Word: luangprabang
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...probing deeper into territory generally conceded to the foe. Now, however, there is concern that the Communists might change the nature of the war by changing the old seesaw pattern. They could do so by moving west and cutting the road link between Vientiane and the royal capital of Luangprabang, or by driving south against a pair of other targets...
...northern Laos, two Communist battalions struck last week at government positions north of the royal capital of Luangprabang, having taken the strategic valley of Nam Bac in January. In central Laos, two battalions of mixed North Vietnamese and local Communist Pathet Lao forces were thrown back just outside Thakhek on the border of northeast Thailand-a threat so close to home that Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman warned Hanoi that the Thais might have to take direct action to aid Laos. Worst of all is the situation in southern Laos, where North Vietnamese forces have cut road links, launched mortar...
With the confusion nearly total, the Communist Pathet Lao seized the opportunity to strike. Last week some 200 of the Red troops thrust into the strategic Mekong River town of Ban Lat Hane only 20 miles north of the royal capital of Luangprabang, routing the government forces defending it. Whether it was the opening of a fresh Pathet Lao offensive or merely a hunger strike, no one could say, but hunger undoubtedly played a part. With the rice crops off 35% because of the floods, the Communists will be forced this fall to probe deeper than usual into government territory...
...monsoon rains, endless lines of cars and scooters splash through crowds of small boys swimming in the potholes. Planes land and take off on schedule at the city's busy airport, despite the fact that its six clocks have all stopped. A small factory puffs contentedly away near Luangprabang, distilling opium into heroin. Although only 15% of the population uses money and the country is almost entirely dependent on U.S. aid ($56 million in the past year), business is booming, and there has been a modicum of economic progress. Some high ways have been resurfaced, villages modernized, food production...
What is more, the anti-Communist Laotian armies of Kong Le and rightist General Kouprasith Abhay have finally learned to fight effectively together. A joint operation not only cleared and held the northern sector of the Vien-tiane-Luangprabang road (see map) but has produced more than 300 Pathet Lao defectors as well...