The Champassak Principality and Prince Boun Oum
By the end of the nineteenth century the nobility in the Champassak were drawn more toward the powerful dynasty of Rama V in the Bangkok than towards any Laos entity.Thus,here,more than elsewhere ,opposition to French colonialism had a pro-Siamese hue.however,like Prince Nhouy,Prince Boun Oum's father,took their chances with the French.But neither the French,nor the newly unified Lao kingdom in 1946,were interested in restoring the southern kingdom's status,and Prince Boun Oum,whose large figure loomed over Laos politics in the 1950 s and 1960s,found himself appointed adviser to the newly established national monarchy.The former southern principality,however,was a platform for regionalist sentiment .Novertheless,national integration progressed and some intermarriage began between the southern and northern nobility .