Word: vong
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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During all his 55 years on the throne-the longest reign of any living monarch -it sometimes seemed as if King Sisavang Vong of Laos had found a way to survive history simply by ignoring it. He never openly fought for independence from the French, but instead of earning the resentment of his people, he won only greater affection. When the French urged him to take a firmer stand against the Japanese in World War II, he patiently explained: "My people do not know how to fight; they only know how to sing and make love." Later he proved equally...
...boat races on the Mekong River were always irresistible, and fishermen rowing by the palace often stopped to listen to the music from the King's khen pipes. But five years ago sickness fell-first rheumatism and then a malignant tumor on the neck. Last August King Sisavang Vong finally turned his duties over to his eldest son, Crown Prince Savang Vatthana, 52. Last week 21 can non volleys thundered over Luangprabang, and the fires in the temples burned all night. At 74 the old King was dead...
Died. Sisavang Vong, 74, longtime (1904-59) King of Laos; in Luangprabang (see FOREIGN NEWS...
Urgent Appeal. When the news of the defeat finally reached Vientiane, something like panic seized the otiose Laotian government. Crown Prince Savang Vat-hana, 52, was speedily invested as Regent of Laos, taking over from his 74-year-old father, King Sisavong Vong, who abdicated because he felt the country needed a younger and more energetic chief of state. At the risk of exposing the southern provinces of Laos to attacks from Communist guerrillas operating out of northern Thailand, a fresh battalion of loyal troops was airlifted to threatened Samneua. And late in the week Laotian Foreign Minister Khampan Panya...
...Half Brothers. But when the French returned for their short and unhappy postwar role, they chased Prince Phetsarath into luxurious exile in Bangkok, restored King Sisavang Vong to the throne, complete with white umbrella. Another nephew. Prince Souvanna Phouma, later took over as Premier, has since been doing his best to set up a stable, non-Communist government. His task has been difficult, first because everything is difficult in Laos, second because the country's Communist-led Pathet Lao forces (which occupy two northeastern provinces) are bossed by his own half brother Prince Souphanouvong...