Everything about Savang Vatthana totally explained
Savang or Sisavang Vatthana (full name Samdach Brhat Chao Mavattaha Sri Vitha Lan Xang Hom Khao Phra Rajanachakra Lao Parama Sidha Khattiya Suriya Varman Brhat Maha Sri Savangsa Vadhana) (
13 November,
1907 −
13 May (
?), 1978; or perhaps as late as 1984) was the last
king of the
Kingdom of Laos. He ruled from 1959 after his father's death, until his forced abdication in 1975. Savang Vatthana proved unable to manage a country in political turmoil. His rule ended with the takeover of the Pathet Lao in 1975, after which he and his family were sent to a re-education camp by the
Pathet Lao.
Early life
Prince Savang Vatthana was born on 13 November 1907 at the
Royal Palace of Luang Prabang, the son of King
Sisavang Vong and Queen
Kham-Oun I. He was the second of five children, the others being Princess Sammathi, Prince Sayasack, Prince Souphantharangsri and the oldest princess Khampheng. He was also a distant cousin of Prince
Souvanna Phouma and Prince
Souphanouvong. At the age of 10, Prince Savang was sent to study in
France. He attended a lycée in
Montpellier, got a degree from Paris's École Libre des Sciences Politiques (now called
Sciences Po), where French diplomats were trained. After graduating from school, the young heir continued his studies in France. After a decade, Savang Vatthana returned but he no longer could speak
Lao, and had to be instructed by a palace functionary for years.
On August 7, 1930, he married Queen
Khamphoui and they'd five children, Crown Prince
Vong Savang, Prince
Sisavang Savang,Prince
Sauryavong Savang, Princess
Savivanh Savang, and Princess
Thala Savang. Like other Asian royal families, the family played tennis together, and liked to attend major tournaments on their travels abroad. He was also a devout Buddhist and became an authority on the
sangkha and took his role as protector of the state religion seriously.
During
World War II, he represented his father with the Japanese forces. His father sent him to the Japanese headquarters in
Saigon, where he vigorously protested the Japanese actions, when they invaded Laos and forced them to declare independence from France.
King of Laos
In 1951, he served as Prime Minister, and when his father became ill on August 20, 1959, he was named
Regent.
On October 29, 1959, he informally ascended the throne upon the death of his father. He was, however, never officially crowned and annointed king, deferring his coronation until the cessation of civil war. During his reign, Savang Vatthana visited many countries on diplomatic missions. In March 1963, he toured 13 countries, including the United States, where he stopped at
Washington, D.C. to meet with President Kennedy. It was the second stop on a tour of 13 of the nations signatory to the Geneva Pact that guaranteed the "neutrality" of the
Kingdom of Laos. The first stop had been
Moscow, and the Russians showered gifts, including slick Chaika limousines. He was also accompanied by his Prime Minister,
Souvanna Phouma.
He was active in Lao politics, trying to stabilise his country after the political turmoil started with the
Geneva Conference of July 1954, which granted full independence to Laos but didn't settle the issue of who would rule. Prince
Souvanna Phouma, a neutralist, operated from
Vientiane, claiming to be Prime Minister and being recognized by the
Russians; Prince Boun Oum of
Champassak in the south, right-wing, pro-US, dominated the Pakse area, recognized as Prime Minister by the US; and in the far north, Prince
Souphanouvong led the leftist resistance movement, the Pathet Lao, drawing support from North Vietnam, also claiming to be Prime Minister with the backing of the communists. To avoid argument over whether Souvanna or Boun Oum was the "legitimate" Prime Minister, both sides would deal through the pro-western King Savang Vatthana. In 1961, a majority of the National Assembly had already voted
Boun Oum into power and King Savang Vatthana left
Luang Prabang, visiting the capital to give the new government his blessing. But he wanted the
Three Princes to form a
coalition government, which happened in 1962 but collapsed. In 1964 series of
coups and counter coups resulted in the final alignment of the
Pathet Lao on one side with the neutralist and right wing fractions on the other. From this point the Pathet Lao refused to join any offers of coalition or national elections.
Abdication and death
On 2 December 1975 he was forced to abdicate the throne after the
communist revolution, and later was appointed supreme advisor to the President. He refused to leave the country. In March 1977, he was arrested with the Queen, Crown Prince
Vong Savang, Prince
Sisavang, and his brothers Princes
Souphantharangsri and
Thongsouk. He was put into an
internment camp Sam-Neua in northern Laos. It was called "Camp Number One", where all the important political prisoners were held. During his time in the camp, the royal family was allowed to move freely around in their compounds during the day. He was the oldest prisoner in the camp, turning 70 during the earlier months of imprisonment, the average age being around 55.
About 1978, it was reported that he, along with Queen
Khamphoui and Crown Prince
Vong Savang, had died. Upon the news of the deaths of King Savang Vatthana and Crown Prince Vong Savang, the King's youngest son
Sauryavong Savang became the head of the Laotian royal family, acting as
regent to his nephew Crown Prince
Soulivong Savang. However, according to
Kaysone Phomvihane, Vatthana would have died in 1984, at the age of 77.
Issue
The children of Savang Vatthana and Khumphoui as follows:
Quotes
- "I will be with my people to face this problem together to the end regardless of what will happen to me."
- "Alas, I'm destined to be the last king of Laos."
- "We Lao, we're also Thai, but we don't want to become Siamese."
Further Information
Get more info on 'Savang Vatthana'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://savang_vatthana.totallyexplained.com">Savang Vatthana Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
