The Vang Tao Incident was a baffling episode broadcast live on Thai television, on July 3, 2000 a group of armed insurgents and mercenaries attacked a Lao customs outpost at the southern border town of Vang Tao. The raiders, as they came to be described, were easily routed leaving six of their own dead.
The attack followed a series of bombings in Vientiane attributed to Hmong rebels and coincided with a month-long lobbying visit by Princes Sauryavong Savang and Soulivong Savang to the United States. Analysts concluded that the raid was likely a demonstration to gain financial and political support from Laotians abroad.
