Laos and Cambodia now are one of the poorest countries in SEA. It's well known that they suffered from their times under French rules and the cold war. My question is how were they before they were colonize?
Cambodia had been in decline for centuries and decimated by Vietnamese and Thai armies. Laos wasn't a state, it was 3 states which similarly had been decimated by the Burmese and Thais.
http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/searc/Resources/Paper/156%20-%20WP%20-%20Dr%20Puangthong.pdf