Word: lao
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However, large numbers of Chinese Nationalist troops supported by the United States remained after 1962, along with Thai and South Vietnamese troops. The CIA, whose active participation in fighting the Communist forces of the Pathet Lao is barely disguised, now goes under the name USAID Annex...
However, Air America also comes in handy to those who want to travel cheaply. Travel in Laos cannot be done by land. Almost all of the countryside is under the control of the Pathet Lao or in question, and thus not safe to travel in for anyone with as questionable attributes as white skin, no knowledge of Lao, and a passport issued by the United States or one of its allies...
...United States and its ally, the Royal Lao Government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, control about six cities, including Vientiane (which is officially neutral), Luang Prabang, the royal capital, and several small "strategic hamlets." The rest of the country, or about 98 per cent of the area, is subject to continual bombardment from U.S. jets...
...only way to travel between the enclaves of American control is to fly. There are two airlines that link the cities of Laos-Royal Air Lao and Air America. Via Royal Air Lao the 150-mile flight between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, on a DC-3, costs about five dollars. On Air America it is free, if you are a persuasive and persistent hitchhiker. I was lucky enough to get on one of Air America's cargo planes going to Luang Prabang. The plane was stuffed full of crates and peasant refugees, being readied for resettlement in "strategic hamlets...
...Laos (pop. 3,000,000), some 700,000 people have been displaced since 1962. Many fled from their homes last year when North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao forces recaptured the Plain of Jars after ten days of fighting. Others have been driven from their villages by U.S. bombs. The terror of the Laotian bombings has been reflected in a series of refugees' drawings collected by Fred Branfman, formerly of the International Voluntary Services (see page...