LUANG PRABANG, Laos (AP) – Growing up in Wisconsin, Son Inthachith’s classmates in school had no idea where his native Laos was. Thanks to President Barack Obama, not only is the little landlocked country on the world map but so is Inthachith’s sleepy hometown of Luang Prabang.
The town of about 50,000 people, known to a relatively small number of international tourists for its stunning temples and quaint streets, welcomed Obama on Wednesday as he made a side trip from the capital, Vientiane, where he is attending a regional summit on Thursday.
“President Obama is giving Laos the highlight it needs,” Inthachith, 42, said, choking up with emotion. “I think it’s going to bring more investment, more people interested.”
Inthachith left Laos as a boy and ended up in Madison, Wisconsin, part of a post-Vietnam War refugee exodus from the communist nation. But he returned to Luang Prabang in 2006 to start a company that connects visiting students with volunteer rural development projects.
During the war the U.S. secretly bombed Laos in an attempt to destroy communist trails from neighboring Vietnam. More bombs were dropped on the country than on Germany and Japan combined in World War II.