Pakbeng (Lao: ປາກແບ່ງ) is a small village in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

, on the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annual ...

about halfway between the Thai border at

Huay Xai Houayxay ( lo, ຫ້ວຍຊາຍ) (also ''Huoeisay'', ''Houei Sai'' or ''Huay Xai''), is a district in Bokeo Province, Laos, on the border with Thailand. Ban Houayxay is the administrative centre of the district. The town lies on the Mekon ...

and

Luang Prabang Luang Phabang, ( Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ/ ຫຼວງພະບາງ) or ''Louangphabang'' (pronounced ), commonly transliterated into Western languages from the pre-1975 Lao spelling ຫຼວງພຣະບາງ (ຣ = silent r ...

, Laos. Pakbeng is connected by a sealed road with

Oudomxai Oudomxay (alternates: Oudômxai or Moung Xai; lo, ອຸດົມໄຊ) is a province of Laos, located in the northwest of the country. Its capital is Muang Xai. It covers an area of . It borders China to the north, Phongsali province to t ...

along the Nam Beng River.

Geography

Pakbeng had its main road paved in 2005 and also just completed a hydroelectric station downriver thanks to a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

loan. Before then, the town was dependent on electrical generators for electricity. There is a small wat to be found in the hills not far from the village. It is an example of a Buddhist temple from the former

Lan Na The Lan Na Kingdom ( nod, , , "Kingdom of a Million Rice Fields"; th, อาณาจักรล้านนา, , ), also known as Lannathai, and most commonly called Lanna or Lanna Kingdom, was an Indianized state centered in present-day ...

Kingdom. Many of the old temples had been destroyed during wars with the Thai Kingdom 300 years before.

History

During the

Laotian Civil War The Laotian Civil War (1959–1975) was a civil war in Laos which was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. It is associated with the Cambodian Civil War and the Vietnam War ...

, Pakbeng was the southern terminus of the freshly constructed Route 46 from

Yunnan Province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

Tourism

The town is the overnight stop for boats running between

and

. The slow boats which run between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang over a period of two days spend the night moored in Pakbeng. An elephant sanctuary was opened in November 2017 with four elephants: Mei-kham (48 years old female with more than 25 years as a working elephant in the forest), Kham-Khum (28 years old male with 20 years as a working elephant), Mae-Kham-Di (28 years old female, 15 years working in the forest) and Mae-Ping (21 years old female who was never used as a working elephant). The sanctuary has been built to create an alternative of the ancestral work of the elephants and the

mahout A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retaining h ...

who traditionally were working in the forest and protect the elephants from hard labor tasks.

Gallery

File:Pakbeng.jpg, Main street, Pakbeng File:Panoramic view of Pakbeng's (ປາກແບ່ງ) main street.jpg, Panoramic view of Pakbeng's main street

References

External links

* Populated places in Bokeo Province Populated places on the Mekong River {{Laos-geo-stub