Culture of Laos to connect Lao peoples on both the right and left banks. However, the political history of Laos has been complicated by frequent warfare and colonial conquests by European and regional rivals. As a result, Laos today has cultural influence from France, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Burma and Cambodia. The history of Laos is unique with a national character defined by its diversity in both culture and customs. , Laos has an estimated population of 6.5 million. The Lao government recognizes 47 distinct ethnicities, which are further sub-divided into 149 subgroups. Lao society is traditionally categorized into three broad groups based on
1958 Asian Games gold medallist and the first Asian Olympic champion in an individual event, Mikio Oda. A record total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 member nations of the Asian Games Federation participated in the Games. The number of participating countries was also greatest in comparison to the first two editions of the Games. The Thai delegation held a meeting on 22 May 1958 in Tokyo, and invitations were sent to the representatives of Malaysia, Burma and Laos. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of forming a regional multi-sport event on the lines of Asian Games for the countries