Tham Piew Cave

Caution this may distress some people.

During the "Secret War", the US essentially declared the east of Laos as a "free fire zone", bombing all the buildings and attacking any people spotted. I should add that this area was under the control of the Pathet Lao, who eventually won power in Laos. Many people became refugees in the west of the country, but some villagers stayed, living in caves by day and tending their rice fields at night.

The Tham Piew cave was such a refuge, until 24 November 1968 when it was attacked by three fighter aircraft. The bombs from the first two cleared the jungle from in front of the cave, the third sent its bomb load into the cave, incinerating all 374 of the villagers inside. Only one was outside at a safe distance to witness the atrocity and give a report. The cave is now a national memorial and the date is a national Lao Day of Remembrance.

PiP1 - the statue of a soldier, holding a dead child, near the entrance area
PiP2 - the view from the cave, looking in the direction from which the bombers came
PiP3 - the blackened rocks at the cave entry, with little memorials to the people lost
PiP4 - the stairway down from the cave, on the walkway built since the event.