Muong Thanh Valley - Political History

Political History

Due to its location along the border with Laos and near the border with China, the Muong Thanh Valley and the surrounding region has had a long history of invasions and political change.

In the 15th century the troops of Vietnamese Emperor Lê Lợi allied with the indigenous inhabitants to expel the Chinese Ming invaders.

Three hundred years later the Muong Thanh Valley came under the occupation of the Phe people from Laos. The Thai vigorously fought the Phe invaders and finally defeated them in 1751 with help from a peasant leader from Son Nam named Hoang Cong Chat.

Until French rule began, the inhabitants of the Muong Thanh Valley and many of Vietnam's other highland minority groups were quite isolated from the lowland populations. When the French arrived in the nineteenth century they began to consolidate rule and contact between highland regions such as Muong Thanh and the lowland regions increased. The French sought contacts with the Thai and other highland groups in order to cultivate their land. This often led to conflict between the French and the minority groups because the natives did not trust the French.

After independence from the French, the Muong Thanh Valley fell under the rule of the North Vietnamese government and the inhabitants were given a certain degree of autonomy as a compromise for accepting the rule of the central government in Hanoi.