evidence: Laos (ເມືອງລາວ mư̄ang lāo or ປະເທດລາວ pa thēt lāo) is the only landlocked nation in Southeast Asia. Formerly a French colony, it is one of the few remaining communist states in the world, espousing Marxism–Leninism as its main political ideology. [...] The area east of the Mekong, however, was soon wrenched back from Siam by the French in 1893, who wanted a buffer state to protect Vietnam. The three Laotian states were reunified as a single territory in 1907. In contrast to Vietnam, Laos remained a backwater of French Indochina and did not see much investment and Western influence with the exception of infrastructure projects mostly concentrated in Vientiane, schools in urban centers, and cuisine (especially baguettes and café culture). It was briefly occupied by Japan in 1945, and was then brought into a more or less continual three-decade-long conflict that first spilled over from North Vietnam when France moved in to reassert its colonial rule. After Laos was granted full independence in 1953, the war continued between a variety of factions, with the Communist and North Vietnam-allied Pathet Lao struggling to overthrow the French-aligned monarchy. During the Vietnam War (1964-1973), this alliance led the United States to dump 1.9 million tons of bombs on Laos, mostly in the northeast stronghold of the Pathet Lao: as a comparison 2.2 million tonnes were dropped on Europe by all sides during World War II. [...] - Vientiane/Nong Khai: The first Friendship Bridge and the busiest of crossing of them all. Direct trains from Bangkok now available.