SNAKE AT THE PRIME MINISTER'S HOUSE

Old Prime Minister's house in former US built village known as '6 Clicks City'

I'm continuing my visit to former Prime Minister Kaysone's compound. His homes are in a suburb originally built for US government workers, living here in Vientiane, Laos during the war.

Having finished looking at Kaysone's simple ranch house, my helpful guide takes me outside to the back yard. Here was the big boss’s final home. After his health declined in later years, they built a larger residence for him in the yard behind. The two houses nearly touch, they're built so closely. White with blue trim, it’s a much more cheery home than his small old American house. Although modern it’s built on stilts, giving it a Laotian look. Perhaps in his old age, Kaysone wanted to get back to his roots. We’re not allowed inside, but we are able to walk up on the front porch.

“They build for him, his doctor say it more healthy,” explains my guide. “He move in 1990. He die there 1992.”

Coming down the far stairs, my guide suddenly sticks his arm out in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. There on

I nearly stepped on this poisonous snake!!

the stairs right in front of me, is a snake. Slithering across the steps, it’s more than 2 feet long; green with dark spots. I’ve never seen this type of snake before.
 
“If it bite you, then you die,” he says.  

I’m glad he stopped me.

The serpent slides off the steps and down into the grass, where it slithers under the shade of the staircase. Strangely, after we pass, the snake emerges and climbs back up on the stairs again. Apparently it likes that vantage point.

Further behind Kaysone’s final house, is a wooden building unlike the rest. Curious, I ask what it is.

“That Russian sauna house”, he says “they make for Kaysone.”

During the 1980’s,  Caucasians seen around Vientiane were no longer the Americans or French. They were from the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block. These were advisors, engineers and

Russian sauna house built by USSR near former Prime Minister's house

technicians, trying to fill the gaps left by the departed westerners.

A heavy dependence on foreign aid was a rallying cry of the Pathet Lao during the war years. Despite their claims that they would eliminate that dependence, they merely shifted their reliance from the west, to the east. From 1975 onward, Laos was heavily dependent on their new patrons: the Soviet Union and Vietnam.

Round about the time that Kaysone moved into his new house here, the Soviet block was coming apart. Laos desperately needed their communist donors, and it lost them.  Kaysone had already begun returning to free markets, making the dubious claim that ‘state capitalism’ was the road to socialism. But without the millions in foreign aid from their brother communist countries, Laos was headed towards economic disaster. Soon they were begging USAID (United States Agency for International Development) to come back, and full diplomatic relations with the USA were re-established in 1992.

Now USAID is back in town, and American aid projects are once again happily promoted in the state controlled newspapers. The cycle of aid in Laos has come full circle, although nowadays the budget and scope of US projects is far smaller. The country’s big brother to the north, China, has become the biggest patron of Laos. 

Continuing to exert political influence in Laos, are the Vietnamese. Near this complex on Route 13 is their recent museum project, the Kaysone Phomvihane Memorial. Partly funded by Vietnam it cost $8 million to build, a ridiculous expense in one of Asia’s poorest countries. Unlike in Vietnam where Ho is nationally revered, the communist party’s attempts to create a personality cult for Kaysone after his death have fallen short.

There are no visitors today at museum honoring ex-Prime Minister Kaysone

Like his buddy Ho Chi Minh, Kaysone would not have approved of this attempt at hero worship. The people of today’s Laos seem to agree. Although filled with photos and memorabilia from the strong man’s life, the quiet museum gets few visitors. The current generation in Laos is too focused on the present and the future, to be concerned with old communist leaders from the past.

I think Kaysone himself would get a good laugh out of some of the official attempts to  idolize him. One example sits downtown in the Lao National Museum. In a small case displayed in a corner, is an old piece of exercise equipment. It’s a four spring chest expander, the type that was briefly popular in America back in the 1970’s. The caption for this display was worth reading. “This spring was used by Comrade Kaysone Phomvihane in the gymnastic session during the elaboration of the plan to seize power.”

Hilarious.

I ponder over another of history’s 'strong men'. Somewhere in the not so distant future, I can picture another display in a museum in Austria. Beneath a display case of exercise equipment, there will be the following caption: “These barbells were used by Arthur Swarzenegger, during the elaboration of his victorious campaign to seize power as Governor of California.”

USA VILLAGE OCCUPIED BY COMMUNISTS

After US government workers and their families moved out, the Prime Minister moved in!

I’ve entered a quiet American neighborhood, and I’m having a feeling of deja vu. White, single story ranch houses line both sides of the street. Each home has a driveway where Dad can park the car. Low chain link fences surround landscaped lawns, where children can play after school. Big old, GE air conditioners sit in the windows. These are American made houses, built with American architecture, made with American money. And yet, this isn’t the USA, this is Vientiane. It’s as if I’ve been instantly transported from Laos, all the way back to 1970's suburban America.

“This was house of the American family,” says my guide. That's true, Americans did in fact live here. Made of more than 200 buildings this was known as ‘Six Clicks City’, since back in the 70’s it used to be six kilometers outside of Vientiane. Many of these old homes were torn down, but these originals remain.

”(This) same style (as) homes on American military base,” my guide says. Looking around, I see he’s right. Like standard US government housing, each

Ancient US made GE air conditioner. It still works!!

ranch home is almost identical to the next. This insular community was organized like base housing for families of US government workers posted in Laos during the war. There used to be a swimming pool, tennis courts, a club, commissary, school, and American office buildings. All these facilities were right here in this quiet neighborhood of Americana, that just happened to be located in a remote, war torn Asian third world country.

As the war in Laos heated up, American support for the Royal Laotian Government increased, as they sought to hold back the communists. At its peak Laos was receiving $250 million a year in aid, an enormous amount for a country with less than three million people. With that support came an ever increasing need for government advisors, intelligence men, diplomats and staff working for USAID. (United States Agency for International Development, the governmental arm for foreign aid.)

As the war was ending USAID became a target for the Pathet Lao, who were now able to walk Vientiane’s streets freely. As the communists took over, the Pathet Lao orchestrated ‘spontaneous’ demonstrations, pushing for USAID to close and leave Laos for good. American installations were targeted with demonstrations.
 

Visitors wear shoe covers on this 'hallowed ground'

 

Prime Minister's shoes, as though he just stepped out

There were strikes led by communist infiltrated unions and student groups. (One student leader from those days, was a young communist named Bouasone Bouphavanh. He later became the Laotian Prime Minister.)

Soon mob attacks led by plain clothes Pathet Lao took over government buildings, and left the Royal Laotian government paralyzed. One such group occupied USAID’s headquarters, and the writing was on the wall. Finally in 1975 USAID closed down and left the country. 

Prime Minister's safe, with whiskey bottle atop

Here in Six Klicks City, the Americans and their families were forced to pack up and get out, and the communists moved in. I head toward one of the better maintained ranch homes. Before entering, my guide has me put cloth foot covers on over my shoes; they want to preserve this quaint American house just as it was. I step inside the front door, and sitting there on the floor by the door, are a pair of slippers, and a pair of tennis shoes. It’s as if the owner of the house has just stepped outside, and will be coming back soon.

I wonder who the American family was that lived in this house, but that fact is lost to history. What is remembered, is who moved in here after their hasty departure. In 1975, a Laotian named Kaysone Phomvihane moved in, and he ended up staying here for 15 years. A hard line communist, he was the unquestioned leader of the Pathet Lao. This simple, two bedroom, ranch house built with American aid, became the official residence for the Prime Minister of newly communist Laos!
Kaysone was half Laotian and half Vietnamese, which tells you where communism in Laos really came from. Originally from Savannakhet to the south, Kaysone went to Vietnam to attend university, since Laos had no universities at all back then. While studying in Hanoi, he learned the ways of the communist party. He actually took part in an election once as a candidate. Back in 1950, Kaysone ran for office in a reasonably fair election. He lost. Discarding democracy, he went on to lead the Pathet Lao in their armed struggle to overthrow the government.
As I enter the living room, Kaysone’s décor is not quite what I was expecting for the leader of a nation. Striped furniture sits on simple brown carpeting. Two elephant tusks stand in corners of the room. A pair of stuffed turtles and a stuffed lobster appear to be climbing the blue cinder

The odd decor of the Prime Minister's living room

block walls. It looks like the home of a bachelor, not a Prime Minister. 

Nearby a couple of comfortable pillows sit on a traditional carpet, in front of a boxy old television. It looks as though Kaysone preferred to watch TV while he was lying down on the floor. A large 1980’s era satellite dish outside brought him access to foreign programs. Besides foreign TV, Kaysone enjoyed his whiskey as well. Home made bottles of local Lao Lao whiskey are on the shelves, and a half empty bottle of Black & White Scotch sits on top of a large green safe. The guide tells me that after Kaysone died, they opened the safe, finding nothing of value inside. Hmmm… if there was nothing of value inside, then why would the Prime Minister keep a big ugly safe in his living room? 

Also adorning the room, are photos of his family. There are black and white portraits of his Vietnamese father, and Laotian mother. A color photo of Kaysone with his wife, adopted son, and other relatives sits on a desk.

Kaysone's overcoats, and a US made suitcase?

“How long did Kaysone’s family live here with him?” I ask my guide.

“Two months,” he replies. I don’t doubt it. Obviously, the scattered décor of this house lacked a woman’s touch. Peeking around the furniture in the back sitting room, I spot a small bed behind a bookshelf.

“Bodyguard sleep there,” my guide says. Kaysone needed him. As the most powerful communist in Laos, there were at least three assassination attempts on his life.

Heading for his bedroom, I find it very basic. There’s only simple wooden furniture here, a double bed, a dresser and closets. There isn’t room for much more, since bedrooms built by the US government weren’t built for size. I’ve seen children’s bedrooms in America bigger than this. And yet, this was good enough for the most powerful man in Laos. Much like his friend Ho in Hanoi, Kaysone shunned the colonial mansions, favoring more simple accommodation. 

Inside the closets are what’s left of his clothes. Curiously, there are two heavy overcoats. Kaysone never needed these in the heat of Vientiane, they were for his official winter visits to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Up on top of the closet, lay his suitcase. I pull it towards me for a closer look, and I see that the manufacturer’s tag still there: Samsonite. The old commie not only liked American housing, he liked American luggage too.

For a head of state this building certainly isn’t the White House, although the building, and much of its contents, are still American made. Since Kaysone needed not only a residence but offices too, he took over the house next door. Inside I find a reception room, meeting rooms,

Kaysone meets Ho Chi Minh in 1986, a miracle, since Ho died 17 years before!

offices, and lots of old US office furniture.  The old style American grey filing cabinets and heavy lockers are easy to pick out. A tell tale sticker still at the top of one gives away the origin: “Victory Steel Art Office Equipment”. What an ironic name.

Atop a bookshelf, is a painting of Kaysone, and a certain elder Vietnamese politician with a goatee. Amused, I ask my guide what this is.

“1986. President and Ho Chi Minh.”

“Really?” I say disbelievingly, “They met in 1986?”

“Yes,” he confirmed.  If my guide was correct, this was a miraculous meeting. Here was Kaysone sitting on a couch next to a smiling Ho Chi Minh, a man who had been dead for 17 years. 

Obviously, my guide knows his Laotian history, far better than Vietnamese history.