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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Laos
Index
The French, meanwhile, had imposed a treaty of
protectorate on
Annam in 1884. This treaty implied a French interest going
beyond
exploratory involvement in the affairs of Laos. In June
1885, the
French consul general in Bangkok notified the Siamese
government
that a vice consulate would be established in
Louangphrabang under
terms of a most-favored-nation clause contained in a
Franco-Siamese
treaty of 1856. A new Franco-Siamese convention of May
1886
acknowledged the role of Siamese officials in Laos for the
conduct
of administrative matters but avoided implying French
recognition
of Siamese claims to sovereignty there.
Auguste Pavie arrived at Louangphrabang in 1887 to
assume his
post as vice consul. Pavie played a key role in saving Oun
Kham's
life from raiders from Lai Chau, earning the king's
gratitude and
a promise that he would place his kingdom under France's
protection. Incidents between Siamese and French officials
on the
left bank, where the French had made themselves advocates
of
Vietnamese claims to suzerainty, continued in 1887-93.
Finally, in
March 1893, the French government, acceding to a campaign
by the
colonial lobby in Paris, decided to send three French
commissioners, each with a small armed force, to evict the
Siamese
from outposts they had established in central and southern
Laos.
The commissioners had secret orders to avoid exchanges of
fire if
at all possible; ironically, the Siamese were under
identical
orders from their government.
The French government dispatched two warships to the
Gulf of
Siam, and, in what became known as the Paknam incident,
forced the
passage of a fort at the mouth of the Menam River on July
12 and
anchored in the river with their guns trained on the royal
palace.
On July 20, the French gave an ultimatum to the Siamese
government
to recognize the rights of Annam to the left bank
territories and
to meet a list of other demands within forty-eight hours.
The
Siamese replied on July 22, accepting the first demand in
central
and southern Laos but rejecting the rest. The French
declared a
blockade of Bangkok, whereupon the Siamese accepted the
rest of the
French demands. By terms of the treaty concluded on
October 3,
1893, between the Government of the French Republic and
the
Government of His Majesty the King of Siam, Siam renounced
all
claims to territories on the left bank and to islands in
the river.
Data as of July 1994
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