Vientiane, Laos, 1996

Southeast Asia

Early color work from the Philippines, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia

Jungle embrace, Angkor Wat, Cambodia, 1995

Leon, Iloilo province, Philippines, 1989

Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

Manila, Philippines, 1992

(left) Luang Prabang, Laos, 1996. Iloilo City, Philippines, 1989

Morning brew, Luang Prabang, Laos, 2002

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Mae Sam Laep, Thailand, 1995

Manila, Philippines, 1992

(left) Luang Prabang, Laos, 1996. Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Vientiane, Laos, 1996

Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Vientiane, Laos, 1996

Bagac, Bataan, Philippines, 1989

Manila, Philippines, 1990

Near Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Leveriza district, Manila, Philippines, 1990

Xieng Khouang province, Laos, 1996

Leveriza district, Manila, Philippines, 1990

During the Vietnam conflict, Laos was the scene of large-scale ground battles and fierce aerial bombardment. It is estimated that up to 30 percent of all ordnance did not detonate, leaving a lethal legacy that continues to kill, maim, and impoverish over 40 years later. (right) A cluster bomb casing serves as a fence post in Ban Ban, Xieng Khouang province, Laos, 1996

The BLU 42, commonly found on the landscapes of Xieng Khouang province in northern Laos. A single cluster bomb unit holds about 150 of these bomblets. Phonsavan, Laos, 1996

Laos has the distinction of being, per capita, the most heavily bombed nation in the world. During the Vietnam conflict, Laos was the scene of large-scale ground battles and fierce aerial bombardment. Xieng Khouang, Laos, 1996

US warplanes dropped an estimated 300,000 tons of bombs in Northern Laos during the Vietnam conflict. In Xieng Khouang province alone, that translates to about 2 tons per inhabitants.

The bombings were part of a CIA-run, covert action directed at stopping the North Vietnamese supply routes along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Laos was hit by an average of one B-52 bomb-load every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, between 1964 and 1973. US bombers dropped more ordnance on Laos in this period than was dropped during the whole of WWII. Of the 270 million cluster munitions, or ‘bombies’ to the locals, that rained down, particularly on Xieng Khouang province, 80 million failed to explode, leaving a deadly legacy.

Xieng Khouang province, Laos, 1996

Burmese guerrilla fighters at their jungle hideout near Mae Sam Laep, Thailand, 1995

Burmese family at a refugee camp near Mae Sam Laeb, Thailand, 1995

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been troubled by civil war since the end of British colonial control in 1948. Decades of strife between tribal minority groups and the government have resulted in large numbers of internally displaced persons and mass human rights abuses.

At a refugee camp near Mae Sam Laeb, Thailand, 1995

For most of its independent years, the country has been gripped by rampant ethnic conflict and Myanmar’s multitude tribal groups have been caught up in one of the world’s longest running ongoing civil wars.

Burmese guerrilla fighter, near Mae Sam Laeb, Thailand, 1995

Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1995

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1995

From the height of 1975 to 1979, the Khmer Rouge drove Cambodia into a harrowing graveyard consisting of the death of one and a half to three million people. Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into a prison known as S-21. The Khmer Rouge was methodical in keeping records of its brutality. Each prisoner who passed through S-21 was photographed, sometimes before and after being tortured. Tuol Sleng Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1995

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1995

(left) Angkor Wat, Cambodia, 1995. Mae Sam Laeb, Thailand, 1995

Iloilo province, Philippines, 1989

Leon, Iloilo province, Philippines, 1989

Phonsavan, Xieng Khouang province, Laos, 1996

Burmese refugee camp, near Mae Sam Laeb, Thailand, 1995

Angkor Wat, Cambodia, 1995

Phonsavan, Laos, 1996

Photography by Alan Dejecacion

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