The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

244 ..... -· : ... Nicholas Tapp
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of the 1975 revolution (which Macalister. Brown considers close to the 'semi-legal takeover
through considerable popular support' of Czechoslovakia). Arthur Dommen's
paper Qn 'Laos between Thailand and Vietnam' traces the present-dlly ethnic problems
of L~os to colonial policies pur~ued by the French; specific papers lQOk at relationships
with Vietnam, Thailand, and China, while Dr. Burley co~tributes well-researched
information on non-military foreign aid to Laos since 1975, from donors such as the
ADB, ESCAP, the USSR 11nd Sweden, and Bernard Yan-es-Beeck reports on the si~uation.
of refugees lea;ving La_os.
Despite the high standar~ of scholarship, because the articles are.so short. (there
are 18 altogether) they tend to be on the superficial side simply in terms of the information
they are able to provide, and unfortunately many of the articles reduplicate sections
and. issues already dealt with in other articles. Although contributors vary in their
attitudes towards what Macalister Brown terms the 'Communist seizure of power in
Laos', the general ·consensus of opinion seems to be in favour of the nationalistic
elements of the 1975 revolution and sympathetic to the overwhelm~g social and economic
problems faced by the new leadership (who inherited a heavily bombed country
abruptly d~prived of US aid and an increasing shortage of technical and professio!lal
personnel), while expressing strong reservations about the nature of events since the
signing of the Treaty of Friendship and Co-Operation in 1977 which resulted in growing
Vietnamese influence within Laos. Tllus Dr. ·carlyle Thayer, examining the 'special
relationship• between the two countri~s. argues that it is the ~anagement of this issue
above all which will determine the future course of events for Laos, and contrasts the
dissidence Vietnamese influence has provoked within Laos itself with the extent
io ~hich the le~dership has been able to manipulate the situation to its own adviUltage.
I)espite the brevity and repetitiveness of some of the articles, therefore, overall
the book is ~elc:Ome in illuminat~g some of the problems faced by an evolving socialist
state, and pla~ing them within a wider historical and cultural context. Beset by problems
of a social, eoo.nomic. and ethnic nature, Laos seems indeed at a crucial point in its
development.
School of Oriental & African Studies,
London
Nicholas Tapp