Crown Prince SoulivongSavang (born May 8, 1963), grandson of the last King of Laos Savang Vatthana, is the pretender to the Lao throne.
SoulivongSavang was born at the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang to Crown Prince Vong Savang, youngest son of King Savang Vatthana, and Princess Mahneelai.
Savang escaped from captivity from Laos with his younger brother Prince Thayavong Savang in 1981, arriving in France as refugees.
Prince SoulivongSavang, the exiled pretender to the throne, hopes so, although he denies any involvement in the July 3 incident.
Soulivong has also won audiences with the governments of France, Australia, New Zealand and Canada in the past year.
Therein lies the difference between Soulivong's political campaign, and the mystical, magical manner in which royal reverence is expressed on the ground.
On 25 February Prince Soulivong appealed to the USA to "negotiate a transition to democracy" in Laos.
France is also the home of Soulivong's uncle, prince Sauryavong Savang, the patriarch of the Lao royal family and self-declared 'Prince Regent of Laos'.
This shows that, for the first time in years, some Lao are seriously rediscovering their past, and that the thought of restoring the centuries-old monarchy is not entirely dead.
The raiders, as they came to be described, were easily routed leaving six of their own dead.
The attack followed a series of bombings in Vientiane attributed to Hmong rebels and coincided with a month-long lobbying visit by Princes Sauryavong Savang and SoulivongSavang to the United States.
Analysts concluded that the raid was likely a demonstration to gain financial and political support from Laotians abroad.
At the time Sauyavong made his statement, he and the purported “crown prince”, 36 year old SoulivongSavang, were on a speaking tour of the US.
He and Soulivong claim credit for encouraging anti-Lao PDR resolutions in the Senate and House in 1998 and 1999.
Soulivong told an audience at Dartmouth College on February 21st that overseas Lao “conscious of the fact that their disorganized struggle [for democracy] has not been able to reach its objective, have turned to the Lao Royal Family to unify all the Lao people.”
While such an alliance is unlikely within the country due to ethnic and linguistic differences, Lintner points to the growing bond between these movements' exiled counterparts.
In February, hundreds of exiled Lao pro-democracy activists and Hmongs rallied around ex-Hmong leader Vang Pao and Prince SoulivongSavang, grandson of the deposed King Savang Vatthana, in Washington DC.
They urged the United States government to initiate talks between the Lao government and the opposition, in a bid to make a transition to democracy.
H.R.H. Prince (Sadet Chao Fa Jaya) Sulinga Varman Savangsa (SoulivongSavang), is the current Head of the Royal House of Laos.
He is the eldest son of H.R.H. Crown Prince (Anga Mahkuta Rajakumara) Varman Savangsa (Vong Savang) and H.R.H. Crown Princess (Anyi Mahkuta Raja Kumari) Manikyalan.
He became Heir Apparent on the presumed death of his father, May 2, 1978 and became Head of the Royal House of Laos on the presumed death of his grandfather in March 1980.
After the communists took control of Viet-Nam and of Cambodia in 1975, His Majesty King Sri Savang VATTHANA, my grandfather, abdicated the throne in order to avoid bloodies battles for his subjects.
Statements in defense of democracy made to the US Congress by His Royal Highness Prince Sauryavong SAVANG -here present- and myself, were presented in February 1998.
HRH Tiao Mangkhala Manivong (by Inkham), married HRH Tiao Savivane Savang (daughter of HM King SAVANG VATTHANA).
HM King Sri SAVANG VATTHANA 1959/1975, born 13th November 1907 in Luang Prabang, Head of the Royal House of Laos 1975/1980, Prime Minister of Laos 1946/1947, married 7th August 1930, Tiao Khamphoui, (daughter of Tiao Khampan), born 12th July 1912, died 12th December 1981, and had issue.
HRH Tiao Sawee Nahlee Savang, married Tiao Santhi Inthavong, born 1961, a descendent of King INTHAVONG of Vientiane.
H.R.H. Rajah (Prince) Jerry Remigius Kanagarajah of Sri Lanka (Jaffna) is a member of the Southeast Asia Imperial & Royal League, which promotes friendship between Royal Familes of Southeast Asia, to improve social and charitable work in their nations and to meet diplomatically to improve political issues within their nations.
Prince Buu Chanh supports Crown Prince SoulivongSavang to polically pressure the Communist government of Laos for democracy and human rights for the people of Laos.
Prince Buu Chanh supports Prince Sauryavong Savang to polically pressure the Communist government of Laos for democracy and human rights for the people of Laos.
Hopin' for Business 2(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-13)
Local health officials refused to confirm there was cholera in the country, a situation that would have almost certainly shut down its borders.
If the fear of bombs and epidemics weren't enough to dissuade the would-be traveler, Hmong rebels led a charge for independence on the Thai border last July and called for the return of Laos' Prince SoulivongSavang, who has lived in exile in Paris since 1981.
Assuming Laos resolved all of these troubles, the government would still have to get over one more obstacle: its own apparent ambivalence toward the raw capitalist nature of the tourism trade.
Hoping to rally the disparate elements are royalists, mostly exiled in France and headed by Prince SoulivongSavang, the eldest grandson of the last king of Laos and heir to the throne.
The prince, 37, whose grandfather King Savang Vatthana died in a communist re-education camp, has visited the United States twice this year to lobby political figures.
The heir to a 600-year-old monarchy says he's willing to return home as a constitutional ruler something the communists vow will never happen.
His Royal Highness Prince SoulivongSavang, Heir to the throne of Laos
In September 1981, Prince SoulivongSavang escaped from the Lao communist government to rejoin the rest of the Royal Lao White Parasol Family's members in France, where they currently live in exile.
He has been traveling in the U.S. and Canada to promote unity, solidarity among Laotians, and preservation of Laotian cultures, language, arts, and music.
Ho Chi Minh Trail Turned to Highway--In 1975 it had become a comprehensive transportation network with five main, roughly parallel roads and 21 crossroads covering nearly 12,500 miles.
*Exiled Lao prince asks for help for his homeland -- In a visit to this seaside community, the exiled Lao prince, SoulivongSavang, asked for help in dismantling the communist dictatorship ruling his homeland.
* Exiled prince pleads for forgotten country -- Crown Prince SoulivongSavang of Laos seemed a bit disconsolate yesterday as he sipped scotch and soda at the Fairmont Copley Hotel's Oak Bar.