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Land of a Million Elephants
Ever hear the legend of Chao Fa Ngum? The first King of "Laos", formally call Lan Xang, Fa Ngum (1316 -- 1393, was born in Muang Sua, died in Nan) established the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang in 1354, the Kingdom to predate Modern Laos. Lan Xang was on the scale of Ayutthaya. The two Kingdoms shared such a close bond, because both Royal Families came from the same bloodline. Well King Fa Ngum's story is that he was born with all 32 of his teeth. The day he was born, the sun did not shine. So the current King of Muang Sua (Luang Phrabang) exiled him and his father (the King was their Father and Grandfather respectively). Some say it was Chao Fa Ngum's dad that seduced the King's concubine and was exiled, but who knows. Some stories say just King Fa Ngum was exiled. Well they were exiled to the Court of Angkor in Cambodia. Chao Fa Ngum grew up there and years later with Khmer help brought an army of 10,000 men north. Along the way, he conquered or annexed the modern Lao states, because back then they were separate small tribes. Places like Champassak, Savannakhet, Ubon Ratchathani, and most of Thai Issan today. He extended the Kingdom to push towards the China Sea to the East, taking parts of modern day North Vietnam. Then he conquered Muang Sua, changed the name to Luang Phrabang, and started the Lan Xang Kingdom. Luang Phrabang was the capital city.