The 100,000 Kip note shows the statue of King Setthathilat in front of the That Luang. Setthathilat moved his capital from Luang Prabang to Vientiane 450 years ago and built this famous stupa. An oil painting in the Army History Museum shows Setthathilat observing the construction of the That Luang – the birth of Vientiane as the capital of Laos according to the official historiography. Moreover, Setthathilat brought the Emerald Buddha (Pha Kaeo) to Vientiane and erected the Ho Pha Kaeo to house the precious statue. The Ho Pha Kaeo, destroyed by the Siamese and rebuilt under the French colonial administration, can be seen on the reverse side of the banknote. This icon is ambivalent, though, since it represents both Lao cultural heritage and the loss of the Pha Kaeo to Bangkok. Here is a connection to the recent erection of the statue for Chao Anouvong. Lao history books suggest that one of the aims of his fateful military campaign against Bangkok had been to retrieve the Pha Kaeo to bolster his desired sovereignty.
the birth of Vientiane as the capital of Laos according to the official historiography. Moreover, Setthathilat brought the Emerald Buddha (Pha Kaeo) to Vientiane and erected the Ho Pha Kaeo to house the precious statue