Military Regions of Laos

Beginning in 1955, the Kingdom of Laos was divided into five Military Regions, roughly corresponding to the areas of the country’s 13 provinces. The Military Regions were necessitated by the poor lines of communication within the country. The Military Districts were the basis of a culture of warlordism in the Royal Lao Armed Forces (FAR) high command.

Laos covers approximately 235,000 square kilometers (91,000 square miles). In the early 1950s, there were few means of transportation available in the Kingdom of Laos. Travelling by riverboat through the Mekong River was still the most reliable means of transporting people and goods in-country. Laos, newly-independent from the French, had bequeathed fewer than 1,500 kilometers of all-weather paved roads. The purpose of the French colonial roadbuilding program had not been the interconnection of Laos' provinces, but rather linkage with Vietnam. Air transportation in Laos depended on half a dozen airports and auxiliary airfields that could not accommodate anything larger than twin-engine aircraft. With such barely developed transport infrastructure, the defense of the country was entrusted to local troops raised in and stationed at military districts reflecting French traditions, designated "Military Regions" (French: Régions Militaires), which encompassed two or more provinces. As a result of this decentralized organization, the FAR General Staff in Vientiane served primarily an administrative function. Consequently, Laotian commanders of the Military Regions became warlords within their regions. A top command position within a Military Region was dependent upon the influence of an urban elite aristocratic family or families who economically and politically dominated the MR. If a general was not a scion of one of these families, then he had their support in some other manner.

The provinces of Military Region 1 (French: Région Militaire 1) are listed and mapped below. Headquartered at Luang Prabang the MR 1 was the largest, covering the whole of North-western Laos. The region was dominated by the Lao Royal family and the former Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Lao Army, Major-General Ouane Rattikone. Its original appointee to command it in 1955 was Major (later, General) Ouane Rattikone. In late 1962, the MR 1 was commanded by Colonel (later, Brigadier-General) Sourith Don Sasorith, later replaced by Brigadier-General Tiao Sayvong, a half-brother of the King.

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