Lao-Thai relations

These countries are connected by a long history of bilateral relations. In the XV century there were contacts between the states predecessors Lansang and Ayutthaya . Until the beginning of the XVIII century, Lansang included the territory of the northeast of modern Thailand, the inhabitants of this territory speak the Spanish language (one of the dialects of the Lao language. ^[2] . In 1950, diplomatic relations were established between modern states, but cross-border cooperation began only at the end the cold war . in 1980, there was an armed clash between the border guard boats in these countries on the river Mekong . in 1984 and 1987 there were already more serious military clashes in the province Xaignabouli to spare do on the Mekong. The reason was the conflict debate about forest resources supplies ^[3] .

In 1988, Thai Prime Minister Chatchai Chunhavan radically changed the policy towards Laos and began to develop trade relations with this country. In 1989, President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Caseon Fomvihan , paid an official visit to Bangkok . In March 1990, Laos was visited by Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn , and in June 1992, Thai Crown Prince Maha Vachiralongkorn arrived in Vientiane . In the 1990s, two problematic moments slowed down the development of Lao-Thai relations: a large number of emigrants and refugees arriving in Thailand, as well as the fact that radical representatives of the Lao and Hmong peoples began to place their training camps in Thailand. In July 1992, Thailand announced that Lao refugees who did not return home or did not find a new place of residence in third countries would be classified as illegal immigrants in 1995 and deported to Laos ^[3] . In December 2009, Thai soldiers evicted more than 4,000 Hmongs and forcibly repatriated to Laos. These actions were criticized by the US Department of State and Human Rights Watch. ^[4]

In the 1990s and 2000s, three bridges spanning Thailand and Laos were thrown across the Mekong river border ^[5] . In 2008, the first railway in Lao PDR (3.5 km along Lao territory) was laid from Thailand to Laos ^[5] .

In 2012, the Thai government agreed to provide a loan to Laos for two projects. The first loan worth more than 718 million baht was used to build 33 km of the highway from the Thai province of Uttaradit to the Lao province of Sainyabuli. A second loan of over 84 million baht was used to build the airport in Pakse in the Lao province of Tampasak ^[6] . In October 2011, the Lao government provided 1.5 million baht to the Thai government as a solidarity with flood victims in central Thailand. ^[7]