Effects Of The War In LAOS

During the War from 1964 to 1973 more than 2 million tons of ordnance were dropped in LAOS. That averaged one-half ton for every person in the country at that time. LAO was the most heavily bombed country, per capita, in the world. More than 30% did not explode on impact. This has caused a continuing problem for the population today. Reportedly, it will take 150 years to clear the land at the current rate of operation. In the Xieng Khuang Province, an average of 1 person per day was killed in the 9 year war.

On our visit to Xieng Khuang where the Plain of Jars are located, we saw numerous bomb carters and trenches.

This crater now serves as a fish pond.






In visiting the Plain of Jars, the pathways were marked with white markers placed by MAG (Mines Advisory Group). MAG's job is to clear the UXO's. On the Plain of Jars, 175 UXO's have been destroyed.






MAG continues to train LAO people to detect and learn how to detonate UXO's. As we were driving through a village, we happened to see a team of 3 women working in a field. A worker who has been certified by MAG receives a salary of $55 per week.







This is the team leader.


























Note the two piles of light brown soil. They had just unearthed a bomb.







In the villages close to the Jars, 1444 UXO's were destroyed. Of the agricultural land near the Jars, the equivalent of 19 football fields have been cleared. On the walking paths between sites 2 and 3, a total of 19 UXO's were destroyed.

A photo of Xieng Khuang Province the red dots show the number of UXO's that had been dropped.

Digging for metal to sell, illegally, to scrap metal dealers creates one of the biggest problems for the LAO people. Scrap metal brings in more than an average family earns in one month. However, the effects of UXO's exploding lead to death and injury.



People have used the scrap metal to use in various ways.






Note the supporting corner post and those by the door of this buffalo house. They are bomb casings.













All these tools, except for the shovels, were made from bomb metal scraps.












A school bell made from a 2000 pound bomb.













A spoon made from the aluminum of an airplane.








Two hundred fifty million submunitions (bombies) were dropped in the country. The cluster bomb is 4.9 feet long and contains 670 tennis sized balls. Each bombie projects 30 steel pellets 66 feet. Tens of millions of bombies remain imbedded in the land. Children often find these and use them as a toy, not realizing that they can explode. This photo is from the Visitor's Center.


In the January 6, 2012 Vientiane Times, there was an article about a bull dozer worker who was working on a new road, struck a 2000 pound bomb. Fortunately, it didn't explode. Experts said it was capable of destroying an area with a radius of 1.2 miles.

During the war, bombs were dropped on LAO at an average of 1 every 8 minutes for 9 years.