Xam Nua, Houaphanh Province, Laos

🇱🇦 Xam Neua (Lao: ຊຳເໜືອ,  Sam Nư̄a, Sam Nuea, Samneua, 'northern swamp'; Xam-Nua), is the capital of Houaphanh Province, Laos.

History After fleeing from Phrae, deposed king Phiriya Thepphawong escaped from Northern Thailand to Luang Prabang, residing in Xam Neua from 1903-1909.

Daily life It is said that there is a communist re-education camp in Xam Neua and that it was the Pathet Lao capital during the Laotian Civil War Battle of Lima Site 85 (LS-85), 11 March 1968. It is near the Pathet Lao refuges in the Viengxay caves, which the Lao government hopes to promote as a tourism destination similar to the Củ Chi tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and the Killing Fields Memorial near Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It is near Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (pronounced "naam et poo loo-ee").

Geography Houaphanh province covers an area of 16,500 square km (6,400 sq mi). The province is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east and south-east, Xiangkhouang province to the south and south-west, and Luang Prabang province to the west.

Forest forms most of the province, particularly on the western side. Settlements include Xam Neua, Muong U, Houamuang, Chomsan, Muang Pan, Muang Hom, Muang Peu, Muang Xon, Ban Muang-Et, Ban Nampang, Muong Vene, Xamtai, Muang Na, and Poungthak.

A road running through the province is Route 6. The principal rivers are the Sông Mã (which flows from and into Vietnam, passing the village of Ban Muang-Et) and the Nam Sam (which the town of Xam Neua lies on).

Protected areas Areas of Houaphanh province are in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA) and the Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area.

The Nam Neun IBA area of Nam Et is adjacent to the NBCA. Nam Neun is 85,450 ha in size, and is at an elevation of 800–1,500 metres (2,600–4,900 ft). The habitat is characterized as mixed deciduous forest, and dry evergreen forest, with stands of bamboo, and occasional conifers; cleared areas have been replaced by areas of secondary grassland. Avifauna include great hornbill (Buceros bicornis) and Blyth's kingfisher (Alcedo hercules).

The Phou Louey Massif IBA is in the Nam Et-Phou Louey NBCA and adjacent to the Nam Neun IBA. The Phou Louey IBA stretches beyond Houaphanh province into Luang Prabang province. It is 60,070 ha in size and is at an elevation of 700–1,800 metres (2,300–5,900 ft). The habitat is characterized as mixed deciduous forest, semi-evergreen forest, lower montane evergreen forest, upper montane evergreen forest, and secondary grassland. Avifauna include beautiful nuthatch (Sitta formosa), rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis), Blyth's kingfisher (Alcedo hercules), and yellow-vented warbler (Phylloscopus cantator). There are 4 confirmed species of turtles and 2 confirmed species of ungulate.

The 69,000 hectare Nam Xam IBA is in the 70,000 ha Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area (NBCA). The IBA's elevation varies between 300–1,800 metres (980–5,910 ft). The topography is characterized by hills and mountains. The habitat includes dry evergreen forest, Fokienia forest, mixed deciduous forest, and stunted, mossy upper montane forest. Avifauna includes beautiful nuthatch (Sitta formosa), brown hornbill (Anorrhinus tickelli), great hornbill (Buceros bicornis), red-collared woodpecker (Picus rabieri), and rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis).

Economy In 1998, 3 quarters of the population were classified as poor. In 2002 GDP per capita was US$50–204, compared to the national average of US$350. Socio-economic problems plague the province, with a higher infant mortality rate and lower access to safe water and medical facilities than the national average.

Bamboo is used as a principal building material. In Viengxay District there are 2 bamboo processing factories that produce items such as floormats, fences, chopsticks and toothpicks for the Vietnamese market.

Xam Neua, the provincial centre, is a market centre for regional trade. Villagers come here to sell their goods. Saleu and Nasala villages in Xiengkho District along Route 6 are noted for their skills at weaving and handicrafts. Samtay is noted for its textiles.

Rice farming is practiced in the province, while agriculture employs fewer than livestock farming. Cash crops include corn, sesame, soybean, and medicinal plants such as man on ling, duk duea, and kalamong, paper mulberry, styrax, cardamon and cinnamon. Up to 15% are involved in opium cultivation and up to 10% involved in making handicrafts. Attempts to control poppy cultivation have been made through the Narcotics Crop Control Project and the Houaphanh Project Agreement.

A tourism development plan has been created for the province, capitalizing on the caves as tourist attractions, providing information and services at the sites.

Asian Development Bank launched a project in 2006 specifically covering 31 villages of Xam Neua and Samtay Districts to wean people away from shifting cultivation practices and to eliminate opium addiction; as of 2006, opium was grown in the province in an area of about 30 ha. The project includes programs to increase income, conserve forest resources, eradicate opium, and experiment with pilot projects to enhance livelihood sources.

Landmarks Xanglot Cave is where weddings and traditional festivals were held during the war.

Wat Pho Xai or Wat Pho Xaysanalam is on the outskirts of Sam Neua. Hintang Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a pre-historic site in northern Laos, dotted with about 2,000-year-old menhirs (standing stones) or megaliths, which were unearthed in 1931. Locals refer to it as Sao Hin Tang, meaning "Standing Stone Pillars". It is known as the Stonehenge of Laos, with 2-metre-high (6.6 ft) stones. Apart from these finds, funerary burial sites with artifacts of trinkets, standing rock slabs and stone disks were found. These archaeological finds are older than the Plain of Jars and are seen along a 12-km mountain ridge in the southern part of the province. Local animists believe that the stone discs at the site once sat atop the megaliths and fed Jahn Han, the sky spirit. 11 km (6.8 mi) from Sam Neua is the Ban Tham Buddha Cave. Tat Saloei (Phonesai) Waterfall lies off the road to Nam Noen, about 35 km (22 mi) south of Sam Neua.

Nameuang Hot Springs is another landmark amidst the valley of paddy fields on the way to Xam Neua, where there is the Houaiyad waterfall. The springs are the source of a river. In Houaiyad village, crashed aircraft parts and cans of war relics are recycled into belts.