Southeast Asia: Vietnam,Cambodia and Laos (1973)

These are the people of the part of Southeast Asia formerly called Indochina. Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. These are people with histories centuries older than our own. Over 80% of these people are farmers, and rice is their most important crop. They do most of their work by hand or with the help of animals. For hundreds of years, farmers have worked these lands of Southeast Asia that are fed by the waters of the Mekong and Red Rivers and their tributaries. And on the banks of these waterways, the people built the river kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Three of the countries, Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam are situated along the Mekong River. The main waterway of North Vietnam is the Red River. Even though the land is divided into four countries, the people have much in common. Each country has an economy based on agriculture. And the major crop is rice. Rice is also the main food of the people of these countries. Rice needs a lot of water to grow. The rice farmers of Laos, Cambodia, and North and South Vietnam rely on elaborate irrigation systems that lift water up to the rice paddies from the nearby rivers. These rivers and irrigation canals are also a rich source of food. Thousands of tons of fish are taken from inland waterways every year. For a land without much meat, fish becomes an important source of protein. The rivers and waterways are also highways, providing cheap travel for passengers and cargo in a region with few good roads. Traveling on the water is often the only reliable way to move from one place to another, especially during the monsoon rains. During the rainy season that lasts for several months, the roads become rivers of mud, and land travel is difficult in all the Indochinese countries. The religion of most of the people in these countries is Buddhism. But Buddhism is not the only major religion in this part of Southeast Asia. In South Vietnam, there are over a million Roman Catholics. The Catholic religion was brought to Indochina by the French, who gained political control during the years between 1863 and 1893, and governed the countries of Indochina until 1954. Today, some Frenchmen still live and work in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. But the days of French political power here are over. The French language is still here, though, and the French system of education is still followed. Many natives have also adopted Western dress. Although the people of Cambodia, Laos, and North and South Vietnam have much in common, there are differences in the geography of their countries. Of the four countries, Laos is the only one without an outlet to the sea. It's completely landlocked. Northern Laos is very rugged, with few good roads. The Mekong and its tributaries provide the main means of surface transportation. Most of the half million people who live in this hill country are upland Lao, Ho, and Meo, descendants of early immigrants from South China. Most of the people in this part of Southeast Asia are poor. Most of their work is done by hand. They live principally by farming, raising mainly upland rice and opium poppies. Today, airplanes are very important in these northern mountain regions, where surface travel from place to place has always been difficult. Planes are used to link northern Laos with the central and southern parts of the country. These are level lowlands. The villages of central and southern Laos are occupied by the lowland Lao. Most of the lowland Lao live near the Mekong River or its tributaries, where they still irrigate their rice fields as their ancestors did. Lowland Lao raise water buffalo and other livestock, which they export to neighboring countries. Much of the international trade of Laos passes through Vientiane, the nation's capital. Many of the businesses in Vientiane are operated by Chinese merchants. The Chinese control much of the wealth in this country. In Laos, a country with few known natural resources, the Mekong River is of major importance. Its waters are used by farmers for irrigation, and it serves as a major part of the Laotian transportation system. As the Mekong leaves the hills of Laos, it enters the comparatively level Cambodian plain. Cambodia is shaped like a bowl. It's the fertile heartland of the region, surrounded by hills and periodically flooded and drained by the Mekong River and a lake called Tonle Sap. Cambodia is a rich, fertile land. It's rich in good farmland and also rich in heritage. Cambodian heritage dates back more than a thousand years to the beginning of the Khmer Empire. The Khmers were among the earliest inhabitants of the region. They were great builders, sometimes called the Romans of Southeast Asia. They constructed huge reservoirs and canals to control and distribute the water supply. Like the Romans, the Khmers tied their empire together with durable roads and they carved great cities like Angkor out of the jungle. The Khmers built a great temple, Angkor Wat. They were a deeply religious people like the Cambodians of today. There are many temples in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, to accommodate the 400,000 people who live there. In this busy city, the old traditions are blended with the new. This small factory is located in Phnom Penh. Industry is very limited in Cambodia but growing. Cambodia, with its 6 million people, is slowly becoming a modern nation. With the help of new equipment and techniques, the prosperity of the ancient Khmers is being restored to modern Cambodia. In addition to an excellent all-weather highway system that links Phnom Penh with the major districts of Cambodia, there are also several hundred miles of railroads. This highway leads to Tonle Sap, Cambodia's great lake. The lake is very important to the Cambodians. Every year, fishermen catch about 50,000 tons of fish, the main source of protein in the Cambodian diet. Many of the fishermen live in stilt houses because every year, from June to November, the land near the Tonle Sap is flooded. This road leads to the rich farmland near the Mekong River. As in the other Indochinese countries, rice is Cambodia's chief crop and the main food in the Cambodian diet. However, Cambodia's most important export crop is rubber. On large plantations, tons of raw rubber are collected and processed for shipment. The Mekong River and its tributaries contribute to Cambodia's prosperity, not only as a source of water for irrigating farmland, but also by serving as reliable highways. After the Mekong leaves Cambodia, it flows into Vietnam. Geographically, Vietnam is divided into three regions: the Mekong Delta, the Annam Mountains with an adjoining narrow coastal plain, and the Red River Delta. Politically, Vietnam was divided by a demilitarized zone, the DMZ, in 1954. North Vietnam is the smallest of the Indochinese countries. And like the other countries, it is a river land. There are mountains in the north and northwest, a large delta at the mouth of the Red River, and the northern coastal plains of Annam. The Red River Delta is the heart of North Vietnam. Most of the people and most of the farmlands are concentrated there. North Vietnamese farmers grow garden vegetables that will be found in most markets of the region. Like people of the other Indochinese countries, the North Vietnamese also use the rivers and waterways for transportation. The hub of North Vietnamese water transportation is the port of Hai Phong, near the mouth of the Red River. 60% of North Vietnam's international trade passes through Hai Phong. Coal is North Vietnam's chief export product. Unlike the other countries of former Indochina, North Vietnam has important supplies of minerals. In addition to coal mines, there are also mines of tin, chromium, and phosphate. Much of the country's mineral resources are used in local industries. In other factories, food is processed. The abundant supplies of fresh and salt water fish have helped North Vietnam develop fish canning into an important industry. Some of Vietnam's industries are run by hydroelectric power. This source of power and its mineral wealth and inland waters have helped North Vietnam become the leading industrial nation of the Indochinese countries. In South Vietnam, the Mekong River is important in that country's economy. Although South Vietnam is larger than North Vietnam, it is very similar geographically. It has the rugged Annam Highland, rich coastal plains, and the fertile Mekong River Delta. In this Delta, many of South Vietnam's 16 million people live. The farmers produce millions of tons of rice a year, much of it for export. Rubber is another important export crop in South Vietnam. After the latex is collected, it's processed into bales of crude rubber and transported cheaply along inland waterways to a port city. The few places in South Vietnam that cannot be reached by water are linked by nearly a thousand miles of railroad and by several thousand miles of all-weather highways. The hub of this transportation network is Saigon, chief port and capital of South Vietnam. Saigon is a huge cosmopolitan city of over a million people. They are caught between the hectic pace of Western life and the deliberate slowness of Eastern cultures. There are beautiful gardens, quiet Buddhist temples, and busy streets with heavy traffic. Much of the traffic Saigon is also the center of South Vietnam's industry. Although there are over 2,000 factories in the country, most of them are engaged in light industry or handcraft trades. South Vietnam's industrial power has been growing, but there is a lack of trained personnel and raw materials. These are difficult problems to overcome. Some of the problems are being solved at the University of Saigon. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, South Vietnam has a good educational system. Unfortunately, education is expensive and not available to everyone. Another problem the Vietnamese will have to solve is the unequal distribution of wealth. The few wealthy Vietnamese live in large homes and enjoy special privileges, but thousands of poor Vietnamese live in slums. Among the poorest of South Vietnam are the Montagnards, who live in the rugged highlands. Some of these mountain people are descendants of the original inhabitants of Vietnam. Centuries ago, they were driven out of the fertile delta and coastal areas by invading tribes, who today are the Vietnamese. Others are immigrants who came out of China long ago. Today, the Montagnards are separated by a wide cultural gulf from the other Vietnamese. But the lives of all the people of Vietnam have been affected by a common problem. A long war. Before 1954, the French ruled Vietnam as one country. But after the French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu by Ho Chi Minh and his army of liberation, a peace conference meeting at Geneva established the demilitarized zone, the DMZ, which was meant to divide Vietnam temporarily into north and south. But in 1955, South Vietnam declared itself an independent nation. And in 1959, Viet Cong guerrillas began trying to overthrow the government. American advisers helped train South Vietnam's army. In 1965, the United States was asked to actively intervene to help the army of South Vietnam that was on the verge of defeat. By 1968, over 500,000 American troops were in South Vietnam. They battled the Viet Cong and North Vietnam's forces in the South and bombed supply channels in the North. There was great destruction on both sides. And of Of there were hundreds of thousands of casualties. North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, and Americans. For more than 20 years, war has affected the economy and culture of the Indochinese countries. But even without a war, each country still has an economic struggle. For these countries of Southeast Asia, the real war must be fought not on the battlefield, but in the farms and villages, where the people are struggling to change their old ways of doing things. The battle is to blend the demands of a modern world, a world of machines and progress, with the ancient cultures and traditions of the river nations of Southeast Asia.