Postage stamps and postal history of Laos Postage stamps and postal history of Laos This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Laos. Laos is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Laos traces its history to the Kingdom of Lan Xang or "Land of a Million Elephants", which existed from the 14th to the 18th century. After a period as a French protectorate, Laos gained independence in 1953. A long civil war ended officially when the Communist Pathet Lao
Cambodia provided no protection to whistle-blowers, and whistle-blowers can be jailed for up to 6 months if they report corruption that cannot be proven. The foreign relations of Cambodia are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Prak Sokhon. Cambodia is a member of the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. It is a member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ASEAN, and joined the WTO in 2004. In 2005 Cambodia attended the inaugural East Asia Summit in Malaysia. Cambodia has established diplomatic relations with numerous countries; the government reports twenty embassies in the country including