LAO'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER

This note is a Lao 2000 kip note from 1997 with Kaysone Phomvihane, the leader of the Lao people's revolutionary party and first prime minister of the Lao people's republic.the reverse has a hydroelectric plant.

more notes Here, here, here, here, here  and here

KING OF LUANG PHRABANG ( AND LAOS)

Here we have a 5 kip note from Laos and was issued in 1962. The front has a portrait of Sisavang Vong, The last king of the Luang Phrabang and then the new  king of the kingdom of Laos. The reverse has a temple and an elephant with his mahout.  In 1975 Sisavang's grandson hands over power to the Marxist Pathet Lao where the royal family is sent to re-education camps where they are said to have died.

more Lao notes HERE

THREE ELEGANT LADIES FROM LAOS

These 3 elegant ladies are on the 1000 kip note from 2003. The note is from Laos and as well as the 3 ladies there is a picture of a temple on the front and a herd of cows on the reverse along with two geometric designs that remind me of the nail and string pictures of the 1970's


more notes from Laos HERE and HERE

also see FRENCH INDO_CHINA

VIETNAM VERSION FROM FRENCH INDO-CHINA

This note is a delightful note from French Indochina and was one of the last issues before france pulled out and the various countries became independent. This note was circulated around what is now, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

this note is a 1 Piastre (100 piastre = 1 dong) note and each of the notes have the same front (local flora) but the reverse had different pictures depending on which country it was issued in. This note has a temple dragon so it is from the Vietnam area. Cambodia had the royal house boat and Laos had a pagoda .

more french indochina notes HERE and HERE

 By PHGCOM - self-made, adapted from Public Domain, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4733176

10 CENTS FROM THE VICHY GOVERNMENT

This tiny note is from french Indo-china which was an area of SE Asia encompassing Laos Burma,Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. This area was occupied by the french up until the second world war. The 10 Cents note above was printed by the french Vichy government who sided with the nazis and it was printed  in 1942

LAO 200 KIP NOTE

This is the 1976,  200 Kip note from Laos with a forest road on the front and a factory scene on the reverse. I love notes that a bit more challenging to identify and the lao language is both different and beautiful.

see more banknotes from LAOS HERE

LAOS

The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic is a country in South East Asia between Vietnam and Thailand with a capital city of Veintiane. The Ancient kingdom of Lan Xang was establishd din the 14th century and prospered until the 18th century when it came under the domination of Siam (Thailand). In the late 19th century it became part of  French Indochina. In 1975 the Communist Pathet Lao took control ending the 600 year old monarchy. In 1997 Laos became a member of ASEAN.

I've always been unclear whether the name of the country was Lao or Laos but the consensus is that it is Laos and the people are Lao ??

Monetary units: 1Kip = 100 At ( 1955 - 1978)
                       1 New Kip = 100 old Kip (1979 onward)

The Notes above are all from the 1979 issue (new Kip). The first is the 100 Kip in a dark blue/green with grain harvesting on the front and a bridge, storage tanks and a soldier on the reverse.
The 50 Kip Note is a sort of brown violet with rice planting on the front and a hydroelectric Dam on the reverse.
The 20 Kip note is a lighter red/brown than the 50 Kip. this time with a tank and a column of troops on the front and a textile mill on the reverse.
Finally the 10 Kip note , in green, with a lumber mill on the front and medical scenes on the reverse.