Champasak

Champasak lies beside the Mekong in southern Laos, within a landscape shaped by ancient Khmer temples and settlements. Nearby Vat Phou stands at the foot of Phou Kao, where sanctuaries and waterworks were arranged between the sacred mountain and the river. This older ceremonial landscape remained a prominent feature of the country around Champasak.

After the death of the Lan Xang king Sourigna Vongsa in 1690, rival claims divided his kingdom. Champasak emerged as a separate southern Lao kingdom in 1713 under Nokasad, a member of the royal family. Its influence extended across the Mekong and into the Khorat Plateau. In 1778 Siamese armies brought Champasak under their authority, turning the southern kingdom into a dependency of Siam alongside Vientiane and Luang Prabang.

The later city of Pakse lies here.