BANGKOK

Baan Sala Daeng

Babylon Hotel

Om Yim Lodge

Tarntawan Place

Vincent’s Bangkok

CHIANG MAI

Club One Seven Guesthouse

Lavender Lanna Hotel

Lotus Hotel

PJ’s Place

Souvenir Guesthouse

KOH SAMUI

Akwa Guesthouse

Baan Shadis Resort

Baan Kao Tropical Boutique

PATTAYA

Ambiance Hotel

Copa Hotel

Don Plaza Hotel

East Suites

Ganymede Residence

Howards Guesthouse

La Café Royale Hotel

Le Prive Resort

Marina Inn Plaza

Poseidon Guesthouse

The Venue Hotel

Tui’s Place

Two Guys Guesthouse

PHUKET

Adonis Guesthouse

Aquarius Guesthouse

Blue Dolphin Guesthouse

CC Blooms Hotel

Club One Seven Guesthouse

Connect Guesthouse

Minotel Guesthouse

Rendez Vous Hotel

Siam Palm Residence

Thailand is the gay hub for Southeast Asia.  Being centrally located, it is only a short flight away from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.  Most gay tourists fly directly into Bangkok spend a few days here then head out to other destinations in Thailand or Southeast Asia.  Thailand is very open and there are no laws against homosexuality.  But be careful about underage sex, that is very dangerous.  There are so many gay destinations to choose from in Thailand; Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Phuket and scattered throughout Thailand are other gay owned guesthouses to choose from.

The archaeological excavations carried out recently have proved the presence of human beings in the territory of Vietnam since the Paleolithic Age or the Old Stone Age (300,000 – 500,000 years). In the Neolithic Age (New Stone Age), Hoa Binh – Bac Son cultures (about 10,000 BC) had witnessed the development of agriculture and animal husbandry, including even the technique of paddy rice cultivation.

The Vietnamese as an ethnic group had been formed and developed early in the Red river and Ma river delta situated in northern part of the present-day Vietnam. Generations to generations, people moved from highland and mountainous areas to the plains, developed new lands for cultivation. They constructed a system of irrigation dams and dykes to tame the mighty Red River, the river that brought about several devastating floods every year. It is the process of continuous labor to control water – to fight against flood, storm and drought, to build up irrigation dams and canals for agricultural cultivation that formed the paddy rice civilization and the commune culture.

In the Bronze Age, a unique and distinct civilization had been formed that reached a high level in technical skill as well as art – the brilliant Dong Son culture. The recent ethnological, historical and archaeological studies and researches have asserted the existence of the Hung Kings’ period in Van Lang Kingdom (later Au Lac Kingdom) about 1000 years BC. In 200 BC, Au Lac Kingdom was invaded and annexed into the giant empire of the Han feudalism in the north. Nevertheless, the ten-century domination of Chinese feudalism could not assimilate Vietnamese culture and break the Viet people’s brave resistance.

The Dai Viet

In the 10th century AD, the Vietnamese had won their freedom and built up an independent state named Dai Viet. The country was under the ruling of many national feudal dynasties, among which the most important ones are the Ly Dynasty (11th and 12th century), the Tran Dynasty (13th and 14th century), the Le Dynasty (15th, 16th and 17th century) with their centralized administration, strong army forces and a highly developed economy and culture. During this period, Vietnam as a nation had to ceaselessly fought against the vicious conquering conspiracies of Chinese and Mongolian feudal empires. Vietnam’s long and tough struggles of resistance against the invasions of the Song (11th century), the Yuan or the Mongols (13th century), the Ming (15th century) had acquired glorious victories. Vietnam became stronger, all its ethnic groups became more united and the country moved into a new prosperous period after each struggle.

Dong Son culture which was enriched by the influence of Chinese culture developed from centuries to centuries in a framework of an independent state. Buddhism and Confucianism entered Dai Viet and brought with them many popular cultural features and distinct forms. Nonetheless, Vietnam still preserved its own language and a highly developed agricultural civilization.

In the 17th and 18th century, feudalism in Vietnam was considerably weakened. Peasants ceaselessly rose up in revolts that led to the Tay Son movement (1771–1802). Tay Son overthrew all regional feudal lordship that divided the country into two parts, united the country and chased away the Qing (Manchus) invaders from China, simultaneously implemented many social and cultural reforms. However, with foreign aid, Nguyen Anh soon took over the ruling power and the Nguyen Dynasty was established, which was the last royal dynasty in Vietnam.

Struggle for national liberation

In the middle of 19th century (1858), French colonialists began to invade Vietnam. The incompetent government of the Nguyen gradually gave in and from 1884, French colonists established a protectorate and a colonial government that controlled the whole territory of Vietnam. In the early days, resistant movements of the Vietnamese people under the leadership of intellectual patriots like the literate, cultured people and scholars broke out everywhere, but they all failed in the end.

Nguyen Ai Quoc, who later became President Ho Chi Minh, traveled abroad to find the way to save the country. He laid the foundations for the Vietnam Communist Party, which was founded on 3rd February 1930. Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the Vietnamese people rose up against French colonization and Japanese occupation, organized the Great National Uprising in August 1945 and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on 2nd September 1945.

Being confronted with aggressive schemes and intervention of France and the United States, the newly born Democratic Republic of Vietnam had to carry out the thirty-year war of resistance. The coming back of French aggressive troops had resulted in the nine-year war of resistance (1945–1954) which ended by the famous victory of Vietnam in Dien Bien Phu and the 1954 Geneva Agreement on Vietnam. According to this Agreement the country was temporarily partitioned into North Vietnam and South Vietnam by the 17th parallel, which should be reunified within two years (1956) through a general election held all over Vietnam. The northern part of Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with its capital Hanoi) was placed under the control of the Vietnam Workers’ Party. The southern part (the Republic of Vietnam), which was controlled by a pro-French administration and later, a pro-American administration, had its capital in Sai Gon. The Sai on government used all its forces to prevent the election, suppressed and killed former participants in the resistance movement. The situation led to the national movement fighting for peace and unification of the country. The Sai Gon government could not suppress the aspiration of all Vietnamese people to unify the country, especially since the National Front for Liberation of South Vietnam was established on 20th December 1960. In order to maintain the Sai Gon regime, the United States increased its military aid to the Sai Gon government.

Particularly, in the middle of the ’60s, half-million American troops and their allied troops were sent to South Vietnam in direct military intervention. From 5th of August 1964, they started bombarding North Vietnam. In spite of that, following president’s Ho Chi Minh’s teaching “Nothing is more precious than independent and freedom”, the Vietnamese people bravely and firmly stood up and won numerous victories in the northern as well as southern part of the country. In 1973, Washington had to sign the Paris Agreement on the restoration of peace in Vietnam and the withdrawal of all American troops from Vietnam.

Reunification

In the spring of 1975, the patriotic armed forces of Vietnam swept across the country in the great general offensive and overthrew the Saigon government. The southern part of Vietnam was liberated and the country was united as one.

On 25th April 1976, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was renamed into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which governs both northern and southern parts in its territory.

In 1977, Vietnam became a member of the United Nations. After many years of prolonged war, the country was heavily devastated. In the 1975 – 1986 period, Vietnam had to cope with innumerable difficulties. The aftermath of war, social evils, the mass flow of refugees, war at the southwest border against the genocidal policies of Pol Pot government in Cambodia, the dispute at the northern border, the isolation and embargo from the United States and Western countries, plus continual natural calamities… put Vietnam before tremendous tough challenges. Moreover, those difficulties became more severe due to subjective reasons such as hastiness and impatience, and voluntarism in rebuilding the country regardless of specific actual conditions. Early in the 80s, Vietnam witnessed the most serious ever socio-economic crisis, the inflation rate rose up to a record 774.7% in 1986.

Approximately 10,000 years ago, a Neolithic race known as the Hoa Binh spread through most of Southeast Asia including Laos, and over time developed agricultural skills including rice cultivation to supplement their hunting, fishing and gathering. They are said to be the ancestors of the present day Khmu people, a Lao Theung (‘upland Lao’) ethnic group who are known as the indigenous people of Laos. The first known kingdom in what is today Southern Laos had is capital nearby Champassak and dated from around the 5th Century – it was known as the Chenla by the Chinese. Other kingdoms were later founded by Mon peoples in South and Central Laos, including kingdoms near the location of present day Tha Khaek and Vientiane.

Between the 7th and 10th Centuries, the Tai people began migrating south from their ancestral homeland in Southern China, into the northern areas of Thailand, Burma, Vietnam and Laos. Settling along the fertile river valleys they practiced wet rice cultivation and were organized into a type of principality system with each ruled by a local leader as a sort of ‘city state’. Gradually their settlements were established further south along the river valleys in Laos. Muang Sua was the name given to what is presently Luang Prabang, following its conquest in the late 7th Century by Tai people. By the 13th Century many of these small ‘kingdoms’ or principalities in Laos had been conquered or came under the control of the powerful Khmer Empire of Jayavarman VII, and in Central and Northern Laos were being brought under the control of the emerging Sukhothai Kingdom.

Lan Xang Kingdom

Fa Ngum, a Laotian Prince who had been exiled into Cambodia from a young age and had married a daughter of the Khmer King, set out from Khmer territory in the mid-14th Century with a large army to re-gain control of the parts of Laos which had fallen to the Sukhothai. In 1354 he was crowned King of Lan Xang Hom Khao (Land of a Million Elephants and the White Parasol) Kingdom in Vientiane and the first unified Lao Kingdom was formed. The Kingdom extended from the border of China to Southern Laos near Don Khong (nearby the present Cambodian border), and during that period was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. The Kingdom of Lan Xang remained largely unified and powerful over the following centuries, fighting off invasions from Vietnam, Siam and Burma until the early 18th Century, when Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Champassak separated into three separate kingdoms as a result of internal divisions and power struggles.

Divided Kingdoms, Foreign Control and Independence

The division of the previous Lan Xang Kingdom into three smaller separate kingdoms left them vulnerable to the more powerful neighbouring kingdoms, and by the late 18th Century all three of the Lao Kingdoms had surrendered to Siam. An attempted rebellion against Siamese rule by the Vientiane Kingdom in the early 19th Century led to the city being sacked, with only Wat Sisaket was spared from destruction, and to harsher Siamese controls over all three of the Lao Kingdoms.

The French had now started to emerge in the region, declaring Cambodia a protectorate in the mid 19th Century, and were making expeditions into the Lao Kingdoms. In 1893 the French were able to force the Siamese to sign a treaty conceding all territories east of the Mekong River to French control, and Laos became a French colony. During World War II the French position in Indochina was weakened, and in 1945 Laos came under brief control of the Japanese and independence was declared. With the end of the war following shortly afterwards the Japanese surrendered and a Lao Government was formed. The French returned to Indochina shortly after, sending the new Lao Government into exile, however in October 1953 France granted Laos full independence.

The following two decades saw Laos caught up in the ensuing power struggles and conflicts in Indochina, and within Laos the struggles for control between Lao Communists (‘Pathet Lao’) and Lao Royalists led to the increasing involvement of both the US and North Vietnamese in Lao affairs. Laos became a ‘sideshow’ for the more well known battles that were being fought in Vietnam during the Second Indochina War (or ‘American War’).

The fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon to the Communists in 1975 signalled the end of the war in Indochina. The Pathet Lao liberated the country from Royal control and American influence – the Lao King abdicated power signaling the end of the monarchy in Laos and in December 1975 the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) was established.

Bokèo is a northern province of Laos. The literal translation of Bokeo is “gem mine”. The province is rich in deposits of precious and semiprecious stones.The province was created in 1983, when it was split off from Louang Namtha Province. Bokeo’s provincial capital is Houayxay on the Mekong river.

Bolikhamsai is a province of Laos, located in the middle of the country. The province was formed in 1983 from parts of the Vientiane Province and Khammuan. In Khamkheuth district there is picturesque karst limestone scenery, which is allegedly the largest formation of its type in Southeast Asia. The province is also home to the Theun Hinboun Dam.

Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. Population: 500, 994 (2001 estimate). The river Mekong flows through the province. The capital of the province is Pakxe, but it takes its name from Champasak, the former capital of the Kingdom of Champasak. The small town of Champasak, location of the Khmer ruins of Wat Phu, is the seat of the district of Champasak. Besides, there’s also Khonphapheng waterfall is located over here. Neighboring are (from North clockwise) the provinces Salavan, Xekong and Attapu, as well as Cambodia (provinces Stung Treng and Preah Vihear) to the south and Thailand (Ubon Ratchathani Province) to the west.  Champasak can be reached from Thailand through the Chong Mek border crossing, at Vang Tao, from where the highway leads east towards the city of Pakxe. Crossing the border at Chong Mek is relatively straightforward, as there are large border posts on both sides of the border, as well as large outdoor markets. It is possible to obtain a Lao visa from this border post, and Thai baht is freely accepted for purchases on the Lao side of the border.

Houaphan is a province of Laos, located in the east of the country. The province is home to the Viengxay caves, an extensive network of caves used by the Pathet Lao, and the Hintang Archeological Park, one of the most important pre-historic sites in northern Laos. Houaphan is one of the poorest areas of Laos, but home to spectacular scenery and fine textile traditions. Textiles from this region are recognised to be among the finest in Asia.

Khammouan is a province of Laos, located in the center of the country. To the north it is bounded by Bolikhamxai; to the south, by Savannakhet. To the west is the Mekong and Nakhon Phanom Province, Thailand; to the east, the Annamite Mountain Range separates Khammouan from Vietnam.  The vast forests of the Nakai-Nam Theun Biodiversity Conservation Area are an important watershed that feed many Mekong tributaries as well as form the catchment area for Nam Theun 2, the largest hydropower project in Laos. The Xebangfay, Hinboun and Nam Theun are the main rivers of the province.  Plans to build a bridge over the Mekong, connecting Thakhek to Nakhon Phanom, are progressing. Construction is set to begin in 2008 and will take three years to complete.

Louang Namtha is both a province of Laos and the name of the provincial capital, located in the north of the country. From 1966 to 1976 it formed, together with Bokeo, the province of Houakhong.

Luang Prabang is a province of Laos, located in the north of the country. Luang Prabang is strikingly situated on a narrow peninsula that bisects the conjunction of the Mekong River, flowing south along the west side of the city, and the Mae Kong River, a tributary of the Mekong the flows from the east but angles north just before the convergence of the two rivers. The tip of the peninsula is the site of a Wat that was frequented by the royal family when it resided there, and is still a site of devotion for local Lao Buddhists as well as increasingly frequent tourists. Stone boat landing steps lead down to the river from the Wat at the very tip of the peninsula, affording a striking panoramic view of the river in all seasons. In the centre of the peninsula is a mount, Phu Si, which despite the constrained scale of the city, is —- m high; a steep stair leads to a shrine and a stunning overlook of the city and the rivers.

Oudômxai is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country.  The province was created in 1976, when it was split off from Louangphabang. Around 1987 the capital of the province was moved from Ban Nahin to Muang Xay

Phôngsali is a province of Laos, located in the north of the country. The capital of the province is the city of Phôngsali. Phôngsali is located between Yunnan (China), and Điện Biên in Vietnam, a new province which was created by a split of Lai Chau Province in early 2004. Its culture has thus been historically heavily influenced by China.

Salavan is a province of Laos, located in the south of the country.  The province is located on the Bolaven Plateau

Xaignabouli is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. The province is located in the northwest of the country, and covers all the area west of the Mekong river. It is bordered by Oudomxai Province to the north, Louangphabang and Vientiane Province to the east, and (from the south clockwise) the Thai provinces Loei, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Nan and Phayao.

Savannakhét is a province of Laos, The name Savannakhet comes from the words Savanh Nakhone, which means “city of paradise”, the province’s original name. located in the south of the country. It is bordered by Khammouan to the north, Salavan to the south, Vietnam to the east and Thailand to the west.  The town was initially bombed and subsequently occupied by Thai armed forces during the French-Thai War. In 2006, the Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge across the Mekong River from Savannakhet to Mukdahan, Thailand was opened.

Xekong is a province of Laos, located in the south-east of the country. Xekong was created in 1984, when it was split off from Salavan Province. It is bordered by Vietnam to the east, Attapeu Province to the south, Salavanh Province to the north, and Champasak Province to the west. Xekong is the second smallest province in Laos (7, 665 km²); it also has the lowest population (about 83, 000) and the lowest population density of any province. Xekong is split administratively into four districts: Thateng on the Bolaven Plateau, Lamam in the lowland plain, and Dakchung and Kaleum in the mountainous areas bordering Vietnam.

Vientiane is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. 1989 the province was split into two halves – the Vientiane prefecture containing the city Vientiane itself, and the remaining province.

Xiangkhoang is a province of Laos, located in the north-east of the country. It was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War era. Originally known as Muang Phuan the famous Plain of Jars is located here.

Hanoi

Aqua Club 333 Kim Ma, Ngoc Khanh, Ba Dinh Dist    Small but very nice mixed bar, with many young gay guys. Only been open a few months, but already popular.

Cay Xoai Cafe Truc Bach Lake     Gay owned, mixed bar, out of the city, but worth going to.

GC (Golden Cock) Bar 5 Bao Khanh St   Very nice bar, with lots of locals on the weekends, weekdays tend to be very quiet.

VTN Bar 72 Nguyen Du      A gay café, bar and restaurant.  Small but very popular with the local gays. The locals are very friendly.

Solance Bar Chuong Duong Do St     Late night club where everyone meets, near the Red River.  Start out at the Golden Cock and then follow the crowd for after hours fun.

Ami Spa G/F, Room 108, D3 Bldg, Ngoc Khanh St, Ba Dinh Dist     Gay owned massage, with several handsome young men to choose from.  Very reasonable price, outcall service available.

Go Go Club Sauna 55 Phao Lang St,Dong Da Dist      Services include: sauna, steam bath, herbal steam bath, Jacuzzi and relaxing area (food and soft drinks available).  Very busy in the early evenings, free wi-fi available.

Men Spa 17 Tuc Mac Alley, Tran Hung Dao St (near the Train Station)   Very nice, and fairly new sauna, in a re-modeled Victorian home.  Big dark room, dry and steam saunas, lockers, showers, lounge rooms with A/C, bar and outdoors  balcony area. Free snacks and soft drinks.

Spa Adam 92 Tho Quan Alley, Kham Thien Street, Dong Da District     Located in a small  alley, but very modern with 3 floors to explore. The first sauna for men in Hanoi.  Services include: sauna, steam bath, herbal steam bath, Jacuzzi and one big relax area.

Topcares Spa 27 Linh Lang St, Ba Dinh District   New sauna, with nice western decorations, very clean, and many rooms to meet the locals and have a good time.  Facilities include a large steam bath, dry sauna, Jaccuzi, dark room and relaxing rooms. Free a mineral water and extra towels. Snacks, beer and soft drinks available.  Near the Daewoo Hotel.

Ho Chi Minh City

Apocalypse Now Thi Sach St 2B-2C    This is where the rich and famous tend to hang out, can be a little dangerous, but fun.  Two dance floors, and many young guys (mixed) to watch and chat up.

Dong Phuong Bar 22 Ba Huyen Thanh Quan St     Very popular with the gay crown on the weekends.

Q Bar Dist 1 under the Opera Bldg    This seems to be the new “in” place.  The place to go to meet all the hot guys, and dance away the night.

Villa Bar (old Samsara) Dist 1 2/F 131 Dong Khoi St  This used to be the “in” place, still lot of hot guys, with some live entertainment on weekends, near the river.

Xuan Mai Hotel 140 Cong Quyuh    Gay owned and managed, very reasonable guesthouse. xuan_mai_hotel@yahoo.com

Lang Coffee 573/12 Su Van Hanh St., Ward 13 Dist 10   Lãng Café is the Home of the Great, aiming to provide comfortable and homely space to relax, meet friends and have fun. We provide great Asian hospitality a friendly environment which is a great social spot.

Papa Coffee Shop 6B Cong Truong Quoc Te St Dist 3   Gay owned and managed, a great place to meet for coffee and snacks with your friends or to meet new ones. The staff are very friendly and free wi-fi is available.

Phuong Cac Café Bis Nam Ky Khoi Nghia 213 Dist 3   This is the place to be every Sunday morning.  Hundreds of gay locals gather here to meet, eat and have a great time.  The food is excellent.  Not easy to find, but well worth it.

Ha Son Spa for Men 310 Huynh Van Banh, Ward 11, Phu Nhuan Dist   Great 3 story building with several handsome masseurs, with many great packages to choose from.  Be sure to check out the glory holes on the 3^rd floor for a good time.  cell phone  0909959988    hason.spa@gmail.com

Nam Spa FF8 Ba Vi street, Bac Hai, Ward 15  A great place to go and spend the day.  Many spa treatments to choose from, with several very good looking masseurs.  Beautifully decorated and appointed, with art work.  This is the place to go and relax and be pampered.

Phi Thuyen Spa 13 Cuu Long, Phuong 2, Tan Bing Dist     Smaller than the other sauna’s but seems to be the place for the younger local guys to go to.  And the masseurs tend to give a great massage with personal service.  Is much nicer since they moved to their new location.

Golden Smile Karaoke & Spa 656 Su Van Hanh – W.12  Dist 10    Great Karaoke Club, and upstairs is a sauna and massage.  Small but you can meet guys there.  The sauna entrance fee includes Jacuzzi, sauna, stream room and 1 hour massage.

NaDam Spa 12/29/1 Highway 13, Hiep Binh Chanh, Thu Duc      They offer several spa and massage services including sauna, steam bath, infrared sauna, jacuzzi, fish spa, body scrub, body care, hair dresser, facials, etc. You can enjoy sun bathing on the upper floor and even a great buffet if your hungry.

Mui Ne – Phan Thiet

White Sands Resort Great hotel right on the beach.  Featuring, bar, restaurant, shop, swimming pool, and bike rentals.  Great place to spend a weekend or your holiday.

Balcony Guesthouse Kratie Village A gay owned and managed guesthouse and restaurant.  Right on the Mekong River with a beautiful view of the river and a great place to see the world famous Irrawaddy dolphins.  A peaceful garden setting featuring a great restaurant with a Khmer and western menu.   016 604 306

DonDet Island

River Garden Guesthouse Neat little guesthouse, right on the river. Clean rooms, some with shared facilities.  A restaurant on site featuring Lao and International food.  Khun Aek the owner speaks very good English and can make sure your holiday is enjoyable. info@rivergardenlaos.com

Luang Prabang

Ban Pack Luck Villa Ban Vat Nong Road    Lovely little  guest house near the center of the city, and opposite the famous Le Elephant Restaurant.  Six nice rooms, and breakfast served downstairs every morning.   reservation@packluck.com

Villa Deux Rivieres Located right on the Nam Khan River, on the old city side of the peninsula, this gay owned guesthouse is very new and beautiful.  Seventeen rooms decorated in traditional Lao style.  A very comfortable way to spend time in Luang Prabang.  Villa Deux Rivieres now offers you a 10% discount for 3 or more nights, for all bookings made from CambodiaOut, just mention that you have been redirected from CambodiaOut and you will receive the special price provided only by CambodiaOut. Please show your member card on arrival.

Khob Chai Bar Chao Siphoupan Road        Typical mixed pub, opposite Lao Lao Garden, same owners.

Pack Luck Wine Bar Sakkarine Road      Near the the night market, a quick walk up the road from Pack Luck Guest House.  They offer some great wines.

Couleur Café Ban Vat Nong    Cute and friendly waiters.  Good Lao and French food, nice selection of drinks.  Located in a charming old Lao home.

L’Elephant Restaurant Ban Vat Nong Road   Located opposite Pack Luck Villa.  Featuring great French cuisine, with handsome and very friendly waiters.

Le Café Ban Vat Sene Sakkarine Road Same owners as L’Elephant   Very cute and friendly waiters, fantastic breads, a great place for breakfast or lunch.  Sitting on the street watching the local people.

Le Patio Cafe Base of Mt Phousi Same owners as L’Elephant   Very cute and friendly waiters, fantastic breads, and a great place for breakfast or lunch.  Sitting on the street watching the local people.

The House Phousi Road       A great Lao house converted to a fine restaurant.  A great Belgian chef that offers Lao, Belgian and fantastic pastas.  The House now offers you a 10% discount on your food purchases. Just show your CambodiaOut “BONUS” member card and you will receive the special price provided only by CambodiaOut.

Dhammada de Massage Near the Dala Market     Mostly masseurs, but a mixed massage parlor. A little nicer in both massage services and setting.

Pack Luck Wine Shop Dala Market        Newly opened wine and jewelry shop.  Great selection of wines at good prices.

Pack Luck Fitness Center Near Dala Market         Owned and operated by Pack Luck Group,  modern equipment in a clean environment.

Vientaine

Syri 2 Guest House Setthatirath Road   Mostly backpackers. one block from the Mekong River and walking distance to the center of town.  syri2@hotmail.com

Europe Restaurant Phonsavanh Road    Excellent Swiss cuisine and friendly service from their handsome staff.   207-539

Jai Dee Restaurant Manthaturiat Road     Near the Namphou Fountain, great Lao food, and nice bar, ask Art about the scene. The staff is very friendly and handsome.

L’Estaminet Restaurant Lane-Xang Avenue    Opposite the Morning Market.  Handsome staff that speaks Lao, Thai, English and French.  Good food at a great price.  Wonderful outdoor garden setting or inside for a nice meal. 250-975

Le Central Brasserie Setthatirath Road    Ask for Yves and he will tell you all about the scene. Great French cuisine.

Bor Pen Nyang Pub Fa Ngum Road        Right on the river.   Four floors with something going on on every floor.  Later at night, the gay crowd hangs out on the fourth floor overlooking the river.  Good food and drinks.  A fun place.

GQ Bar & Massage Fa Ngum Road.    Right on the river.  Gay owned and managed bar with cute  staff and customers.  The upstairs massage parlor has several cute masseurs and they provide traditional Lao massage, with a few extras.

Vang Vieng

Babylon Guest House 3 story guesthouse, with a nice care, 24 hour bar and free wi-fi.  The rooftop offers a great view of the town and surrounding mountains, located right in the center of town.

No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian soil since well before the 1st century ad. The first Cambodians likely arrived long before either of these dates. They probably migrated from the north, although nothing is known about their language or their way of life. By the beginning of the 1st century ad, Chinese traders began to report the existence of inland and coastal kingdoms in Cambodia. These kingdoms already owed much to Indian culture, which provided alphabets, art forms, architectural styles, religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and a stratified class system. Local beliefs that stressed the importance of ancestral spirits coexisted with the Indian religions and remain powerful today.

Cambodia’s modem-day culture has its roots in the 1st to 6th centuries in a state referred to as Funan, known as the oldest Indianized state in Southeast Asia. It is from this period that evolved Cambodia’s language, part of the Mon-Khmer family, which contains elements of Sanskrit, its ancient religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Historians have noted, for example, that Cambodians can be distinguished from their neighbors by their clothing – checkered scarves known as Kramas are worn instead of straw hats.

Funan gave way to the Angkor Empire with the rise to power of King Jayavarman II in 802. The following 600 years saw powerful Khmer kings dominate much of present day Southeast Asia, from the borders of Myanmar east to the South China Sea and north to Laos. It was during this period that Khmer kings built the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world – the Angkor temple complex. The most successful of Angkor’s kings, Jayavarman II, Indravarman I, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, also devised a masterpiece of ancient engineering: a sophisticated irrigation system that includes barays (gigantic man-made lakes) and canals that ensured as many as three rice crops a year. Part of this system is still in use today.

THE KHMER KINGDOM (FUNAN)   Early Chinese writers referred to a kingdom in Cambodia that they called Funan. Modern-day archaeological findings provide evidence of a commercial society centered on the Mekong Delta that flourished from the 1st century to the 6th century. Among these findings are excavations of a port city from the 1st century, located in the region of Oc-Eo in what is now southern Vietnam. Served by a network of canals, the city was an important trade link between India and China. Ongoing excavations in southern Cambodia have revealed the existence of another important city near the present-day village of Angkor Borei. A group of inland kingdoms, known collectively to the Chinese as Zhenla, flourished in the 6th and 7th centuries from southern Cambodia to southern Laos. The first stone inscriptions in the Khmer language and the first brick and stone Hindu temples in Cambodia date from the Zhenla period.

ANGKOR ERA Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom The giant faces carved on the Bayon temple at the Angkor Thum complex in northwestern Cambodia represent both the Buddha and King Jayavarman VII (ruled about 1130-1219). Although a Buddhist temple, Angkor Thum was modeled after the great Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat. In the early 9th century a Khmer (ethnic Cambodian) prince returned to Cambodia from abroad. He probably arrived from nearby Java or Sumatra, where he may have been held hostage by island kings who had asserted control over portions of the Southeast Asian mainland.

In a series of ceremonies at different sites, the prince declared himself ruler of a new independent kingdom, which unified several local principalities. His kingdom eventually came to be centered near present-day Siemreab in northwestern Cambodia. The prince, known to his successors as Jayavarman II, inaugurated a cult honoring the Hindu god Shiva as a devaraja (Sanskrit term meaning “god-king”). The cult, which legitimized the king’s rule by linking him with Shiva, persisted at the Cambodian court for more than two hundred years. Between the early 9th century and the early 15th century, 26 monarchs ruled successively over the Khmer kingdom (known as Angkor, the modern name for its capital city).

The successors of Jayavarman II built the great temples for which Angkor is famous.

Historians have dated more than a thousand temple sites and over a thousand stone inscriptions (most of them on temple walls) to this era. Notable among the Khmer builder-kings were Suyavarman II, who built the temple known as Angkor Wat in the mid-12th century, and Jayavarman VII, who built the Bayon temple at Angkor Thum and several other large Buddhist temples half a century later. Jayavarman VII, a fervent Buddhist, also built hospitals and rest houses along the roads that crisscrossed the kingdom. Most of the monarchs, however, seem to have been more concerned with displaying and increasing their power than with the welfare of their subjects. Ancient City of Angkor This map shows the layout of the ancient city of Angkor, capital of the Cambodian Khmer kingdom from the 9th century to the 15th century. The city’s huge stone temples were both civic centers and religious symbols of the Hindu cosmos. Historians believe that Angkor’s network of canals and barays (reservoirs) were used for irrigation.

At its greatest extent, in the 12th century, the Khmer kingdom encompassed (in addition to present-day Cambodia) parts of present-day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and the Malay Peninsula. Thailand and Laos still contain Khmer ruins and inscriptions. The kings at Angkor received tribute from smaller kingdoms to the north, east, and west, and conducted trade with China. The capital city was the center of an impressive network of reservoirs and canals, which historians theorize supplied water for irrigation. Many historians believe that the abundant harvests made possible by irrigation supported a large population whose labor could be drawn on to construct the kings’ temples and to fight their wars. The massive temples, extensive roads and waterworks, and confident inscriptions give an illusion of stability that is undermined by the fact that many Khmer kings gained the throne by conquering their predecessors. Inscriptions indicate that the kingdom frequently suffered from rebellions and foreign invasions. Historians have not been able to fully explain the decline of the Khmer kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries. However, it was probably associated with the rise of powerful Thai kingdoms that had once paid tribute to Angkor, and to population losses following a series of wars with these kingdoms. Another factor may have been the introduction of Theravada Buddhism, which taught that anyone could achieve enlightenment through meritorious conduct and meditation. These egalitarian ideas undermined the hierarchical structure of Cambodian society and the power of prominent Hindu families. After a Thai invasion in 1431, what remained of the Cambodian elite shifted southeastward to the vicinity of Phnom Penh.

CAMBODIAN DARK AGE This map of Southeast Asia in the mid-16th century shows the major centers of power in the region prior to the arrival of Europeans. During this period, these kingdoms were constantly at war. Eventually the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (modern Thailand) expanded to the north and east, absorbing much of Lan Na and Lan Xang (modern Laos). Dai Viet (modern Vietnam) expanded to the south, taking over the remaining territory of the Kingdom of Champa and the southern tip of the Kingdom of Lovek (modern Cambodia). Toungoo evolved into modern Myanmar. The four centuries of Cambodian history following the abandonment of Angkor are poorly recorded, and therefore historians know little about them beyond the bare outlines. Cambodia retained its language and its cultural identity despite frequent invasions by the powerful Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya and incursions by Vietnamese forces. Indeed, for much of this period, Cambodia was a relatively prosperous trading kingdom with its capital at Lovek, near present-day Phnom Penh. European visitors wrote of the Buddhist piety of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Lovek. During this period, Cambodians composed the country’s most important work of literature, the Reamker (based on the Indian myth of the Ramayana). In the late 18th century, a civil war in Vietnam and disorder following a Burmese invasion of Ayutthaya spilled over into Cambodia and devastated the area. In the early 19th century, newly established dynasties in Vietnam and Thailand competed for control over the Cambodian court. The warfare that ensued, beginning in the l830s, came close to destroying Cambodia.

FRENCH RULE Phnom Penh, as planned by the French, came to resemble a town in provincial France. By the second half of the 19th century, France had begun to expand its colonial penetration of Indochina (the peninsula between India and China). In 1863 France accepted the Cambodian king’s invitation to impose a protectorate over his severely weakened kingdom, halting the country’s dismemberment by Thailand and Vietnam. For the next 90 years, France ruled Cambodia. In theory, French administration was indirect, but in practice the word of French officials was final on all major subjects-including the selection of Cambodia’s kings. The French left Cambodian institutions, including the monarchy, in place, and gradually developed a Cambodian civil service, organized along French lines. The French administration neglected education but built roads, port facilities, and other public works. Phnom Penh, as planned by the French, came to resemble a town in provincial France.  The French invested relatively little in Cambodia’s economy compared to that of Vietnam, which was also under French control. However, they developed rubber plantations in eastern Cambodia, and the kingdom exported sizable amounts of rice under their rule. The French also restored the Angkor temple complex and deciphered Angkorean inscriptions, which gave Cambodians a clear idea of their medieval heritage and kindled their pride in Cambodia’s past. Because France left the monarchy, Buddhism, and the rhythms of rural life undisturbed, anti-French feeling was slow to develop. King Sihanouk, through skillful maneuvering, managed to gain Cambodia’s independence peacefully in 1953. During World War II (1939-1945), Japanese forces entered French Indochina but left the compliant French administration in place.

On the verge of defeat in 1945, the Japanese removed their French collaborators and installed a nominally independent Cambodian government under the recently crowned young king, Norodom Sihanouk. France reimposed its protectorate in early 1946 but allowed the Cambodians to draft a constitution and to form political parties. Soon afterward, fighting erupted throughout Indochina as nationalist groups, some with Communist ideologies, struggled to win independence from France. Most of the fighting took place in Vietnam, in a conflict known as the First Indochina War (1946-1954). In Cambodia, Communist guerrilla forces allied with Vietnamese Communists gained control of much of the country. However, King Sihanouk, through skillful maneuvering, managed to gain Cambodia’s independence peacefully in 1953, a few months earlier than Vietnam. The Geneva Accords of 1954, which marked the end of the First Indochina War, acknowledged Sihanouk’s government as the sole legitimate authority in Cambodia.

MODERN STATE Sihanouk’s campaign for independence sharpened his political skills and increased his ambitions. In 1955 he abdicated the throne in favor of his father to pursue a full-time political career, free of the constitutional constraints of the monarchy. In a move aimed at dismantling Cambodia’s fledgling political parties, Sihanouk inaugurated a national political movement known as the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (People’s Socialist Community), whose members were not permitted to belong to any other political group. The Sangkum won all the seats in the national elections of 1955, benefiting from Sihanouk’s popularity and from police brutality at many polling stations. Sihanouk served as prime minister of Cambodia until 1960, when his father died and he was named head of state. Sihanouk remained widely popular among the people but was brutal to his opponents. In the late 1950s the Cold War (period of tension between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, and its allies) intensified in Asia. In this climate, foreign powers, including the United States, the USSR, and China, courted Sihanouk. Cambodia’s importance to these countries stemmed from events in neighboring Vietnam, where tension had begun to mount between a Communist regime in the north and a pro-Western regime in the south. The USSR supported the Vietnamese Communists, while the United States opposed them, and China wanted to contain Vietnam for security reasons. Each of the foreign powers hoped that Cambodian support would bolster its position in the region. Sihanouk pursued a policy of neutrality that drew substantial economic aid from the competing countries.

In 1965, however, Sihanouk broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. At the same time, he allowed North Vietnamese Communists, then fighting the Vietnam War against the United States and the South Vietnamese in southern Vietnam, to set up bases on Cambodian soil. As warfare intensified in Vietnam, domestic opposition to Sihanouk from both radical and conservative elements increased. The Cambodian Communist organization, known as the Workers Party of Kampuchea (later renamed the Communist Party of Kampuchea, or CPK), had gone underground after failing to win any concessions at the Geneva Accords, but now they took up arms once again. As the economy became unstable, Cambodia became difficult to govern single-handedly. In need of economic and military aid, Sihanouk renewed diplomatic relations with the United States. Shortly thereafter, in 1969, U.S. president Richard Nixon authorized a bombing campaign against Cambodia in an effort to destroy Vietnamese Communist sanctuaries there.

KHMER REPUBLIC In March 1970 Cambodia’s legislature, the National Assembly, deposed Sihanouk while he was abroad. The conservative forces behind the coup were pro-Western and anti-Vietnamese. General Lon Nol, the country’s prime minister, assumed power and sent his poorly equipped army to fight the North Vietnamese Communist forces encamped in border areas. Lon Nol hoped that U.S. aid would allow him to defeat his enemies, but American support was always geared to events in Vietnam. In April U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, searching for North Vietnamese, who moved deeper into Cambodia. Over the next year, North Vietnamese troops destroyed the offensive capacity of Lon Nol’s army.  In October 1970 Lon Nol inaugurated the Khmer Republic. Sihanouk, who had sought asylum in China, was condemned to death despite his absence. By that time, Chinese and North Vietnamese leaders had persuaded the prince to establish a government in exile, allied with North Vietnam and dominated by the CPK, whom Sihanouk referred to as the Khmer Rouge (French for “Red Khmers”).

In 1975, despite massive infusions of U.S. aid, the Khmer Republic collapsed, and Khmer Rouge forces occupied Phnom Penh.  The United States continued bombing Cambodia until the Congress of the United States halted the campaign in 1973. By that time, Lon Nol’s forces were fighting not only the Vietnamese but also the Khmer Rouge. The general lost control over most of the Cambodian countryside, which had been devastated by U.S. bombing. The fighting severely damaged the nation’s infrastructure and caused high numbers of casualties. Hundreds of thousands of refugees flooded into the cities. In 1975, despite massive infusions of U.S. aid, the Khmer Republic collapsed, and Khmer Rouge forces occupied Phnom Penh. Three weeks later, North Vietnamese forces achieved victory in South Vietnam.

DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA Pol Pot is a pseudonym for the Cambodian guerrilla commander Saloth Sar, who organized the Communist guerrilla force known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge ousted General Lon Nol in 1975, establishing a brutal Communist regime that ruled until 1979.  Immediately after occupying Cambodia’s towns, the Khmer Rouge ordered all city dwellers into the countryside to take up agricultural tasks. The move reflected both the Khmer Rouge’s contempt for urban dwellers, whom they saw as enemies, and their utopian vision of Cambodia as a nation of busy, productive peasants. The leader of the regime, who remained concealed from the public, was Saloth Sar, who used the pseudonym Pol Pot. The government, which called itself Democratic Kampuchea (DK), claimed to be seeking total independence from foreign powers but accepted economic and military aid from its major allies, China and North Korea. The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, killed close to 1.7 million people in the mid- to late 1970s. In this photo, human bones and skulls fill a museum in Cambodia that had been used as a prison and torture center during Pol Pot’s reign, Sygma.

Without identifying themselves as Communists, the Khmer Rouge quickly introduced a series of far-reaching and often painful socialist programs. The people given the most power in the new government were the largely illiterate rural Cambodians who had fought alongside the Khmer Rouge in the civil war. DK leaders severely restricted freedom of speech, movement, and association, and forbade all religious practices. The regime controlled all communications along with access to food and information. Former city dwellers, now called “new people,” were particularly badly treated. The Khmer Rouge killed intellectuals, merchants, bureaucrats, members of religious groups, and any people suspected of disagreeing with the party. Millions of other Cambodians were forcibly relocated, deprived of food, tortured, or sent into forced labor.  While in power, the Khmer Rouge murdered, worked to death, or killed by starvation close to 1.7 million Cambodians.

The Khmer Rouge also attacked neighboring countries in an attempt to reclaim territories lost by Cambodia many centuries before. After fighting broke out with Vietnam (then united under the Communists) in 1977, DK’s ideology became openly racist. Ethnic minorities in Cambodia, including ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese, were hunted down and expelled or massacred. Purges of party members accused of treason became widespread. People in eastern Cambodia, suspected of cooperating with Vietnam, suffered severely, and hundreds of thousands of them were killed. While in power, the Khmer Rouge murdered, worked to death, or killed by starvation close to 1.7 million Cambodians-more than one-fifth of the country’s population.

PRESENT CAMBODIA In October 1991 Cambodia’s warring factions, the UN, and a number of interested foreign nations signed an agreement in Paris intended to end the conflict in Cambodia. The agreement provided for a temporary power-sharing arrangement between a United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and a Supreme National Council (SNC) made up of delegates from the various Cambodian factions. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the former king and prime minister of Cambodia, served as president of the SNC. The Paris accords and the UN protectorate pushed Cambodia out of its isolation and introduced competitive politics, dormant since the early 1950s. UNTAC sponsored elections for a national assembly in May 1993, and for the first time in Cambodian history a majority of voters rejected an armed, incumbent regime. A royalist party, known by its French acronym FUNCINPEC, won the most seats in the election, followed by the CPP, led by Hun Sen. Reluctant to give up power, Hun Sen threatened to upset the election results. Under a compromise arrangement, a three-party coalition formed a government headed by two prime ministers; FUNCINPEC’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh, one of Sihanouk’s sons, became first prime minister, while Hun Sen became second prime minister.

In September 1993 the government ratified a new constitution restoring the monarchy and establishing the Kingdom of Cambodia. Sihanouk became king for the second time. After the 1993 elections, no foreign countries continued to recognize the DK as Cambodia’s legal government. The DK lost its UN seat as well as most of its sources of international aid. The unrealistic power-sharing relationship between Ranariddh and Hun Sen worked surprisingly well for the next three years, but relations between the parties were never smooth. The CPP’s control over the army and the police gave the party effective control of the country, and it dominated the coalition government. In July 1997 Hun Sen staged a violent coup against FUNCINPEC and replaced Prince Ranariddh, who was overseas at the time, with Ung Huot, a more pliable FUNCINPEC figure. Hun Sen’s action shocked foreign nations and delayed Cambodia’s entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). By the end of 1997, Cambodia was the only nation in the region that was not a member.

Despite the coup, elections scheduled for July 1998 proceeded as planned. Hundreds of foreign observers who monitored the elections affirmed that voting was relatively free and fair; however, the CPP harassed opposition candidates and party workers before and after the elections, when dozens were imprisoned and several were killed. The election gave the CPP a plurality of votes, but results, especially in towns, where voting could not be dictated by local authorities, indicated that the party did not enjoy widespread popular support. Prince Ranariddh and another opposition candidate, Sam Rainsy, took refuge abroad and contested the outcome of the election. In November the CPP and FUNCINPEC reached an agreement whereby Hun Sen became sole prime minister and Ranariddh became president of the National Assembly. The parties formed a coalition government, dividing control over the various cabinet ministries. In early 1999 the constitution was amended to create a Senate, called for in the 1998 agreement. These signs that Cambodia’s political situation was stabilizing encouraged ASEAN to admit Cambodia to its membership a short time later. Pol Pot died in 1998, and by early 1999 most of the remaining Khmer Rouge troops and leaders had surrendered. Rebel troops were integrated into the Cambodian army. In 1999 two Khmer Rouge leaders were arrested and charged with genocide for their part in the atrocities.

Since the Paris Accords of 1991, Cambodia’s economic growth has depended on millions of dollars of foreign aid. Foreign interest in Cambodia has decreased, however, and the country has received diminishing economic assistance. This development, along with the continued lack of openness in Cambodian politics, has made Cambodia’s prospects for democratization dim, as well as its chances for sustained economic growth.

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