Lao–Siamese War (1778–1779)
military conflict
Lao–Siamese War or the Siamese Invasion of Laos (1778–1779) was a military conflict between Thonburi Kingdom and the Lao kingdoms of Vientiane and Champasak. The war resulted in all three Lao kingdoms of Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak becoming Siamese tributary vassal kingdoms under Siamese suzerainty and domination in Thonburi and the subsequent Rattanakosin Period.
Background
Vientiane–Luang Phrabang Rivalry
Succession disputes after the reign of King Sourigna Vongsa of Lanxang resulted in the fragmentation of the Lao kingdom of Lanxang into three distinct kingdoms of Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak in the early eighteenth century. In 1763, the Burmese armies under the new Konbaung dynasty invaded and captured Chiangmai and Lanna. The Burmese occupation of Lanna allowed the Burmese to expand its influences into Laos. In 1764, King Ong Boun of Vientiane sought alliance with the Burmese to invade his rival Luang Phrabang. The Burmese general Nemyo Thihapate led the Burmese army to attack the city of Luang Phrabang as a part of his campaign to conquer Ayutthaya. King Sotikakumman of Luang Phrabang defended his city but the Burmese shelled heavily. According to Burmese chronicles, the Burmese had the severed heads of Lao captives piled up into large collection of human heads to demoralize the Lao defenders. Luang Phrabang fell to the Burmese in March 1765.
“Lao–Siamese War (1778–1779)” enters the record as military conflict. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Siamese, military and conflict can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q111648747. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1778, 1779, 1763 and 1764.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lao–Siamese War (1778–1779)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.