The Majestic King Anouvong Statue: A Symbol of Laotian Heritage

The statue of Chao Anouvong is located in Chao Anouvong Park along the riverbank in Vientiane. The statue faces the river and is close to Vientiane’s night market.

The statue of Chao Anouvong was built in 2010 to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the founding of Vientiane and to honor Chao Anouvong.

Chao Anouvong was the king of Vientiane from 1805 to 1828. At that time, Laos was divided into three separate states (Champasak, Vientiane, and Luang Prabang), all under Siamese control.

From the beginning of his reign, he was dissatisfied with Siamese rule. By 1826, King Chao Anouvong launched an armed rebellion against Siam with the aim of gaining independence. However, the rebellion was unsuccessful.

King Chao Anouvong was captured and taken to Bangkok, where he was imprisoned until his death in 1828.

Nevertheless, Chao Anouvong is praised for his achievements and resistance for the nation and is revered by the Lao people as the founder of the modern Lao state.

Interestingly, the statue of Chao Anouvong faces away from Laos and looks across the Mekong River into Thailand — where more than 20 million ethnic Lao people now live in Thailand’s northeastern provinces. What could this mean?