THAKHEK, APOSTOLIC PREFECTURE of. – It is located in Laos—a country governed as a constitutional monarchy—and comprises four civil provinces, namely Cammon, Savannakhet, Saravane, and Bassac.
It has a total area of approximately 100,000 sq. km., extending almost entirely along the demarcation line of the Mekong River. It was erected on 21 Dec. 1950, by separation from the present apostolic vicariate of Tharé, and is entrusted to the Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions. These Fathers went to Thailand from the foundation of their Society and attempted, from the time of Mgr. Pallu and repeatedly thereafter, to penetrate Laos; however, their permanent residence in that country dates from 1876. The first missionary, indeed the first European, to enter Laos appears to have been the Jesuit Giovanni Maria Liera, who arrived at Vientiane around 1630. The population consists of three principal races: Lao, sô, and khas. These indigenous peoples are more animist than Buddhist and readily converted: for some years now, several pagan villages have requested a priest. Out of a population of approximately 800,000 inhabitants, there are 5,617 Catholics, almost all practicing, and 529 catechumens. There are 19 Fathers of the Paris Foreign Missions and 3 indigenous priests, two of them Lao and one Vietnamese. Some Swiss Protestant pastors, who came there 50 years ago, have gained only a very small number of proselytes: at Kengkok, their center, they have barely 150 adherents. The government places no obstacle in the way of preaching the Gospel. Christians are scattered more or less everywhere. There are 30 catechists, 16 teachers, a convent of the « Amantes Crucis » (indigenous women) with 16 professed members; a convent of the Sisters of Charity with 30 professed members; 4 major seminarians and 18 minor seminarians. The mission possesses 23 elementary schools, 2 secondary schools, administered by the Sisters of Charity, at T. and Paks; and 2 orphanages. There are 34 sacred buildings; 15 districts; 16 principal stations and 18 secondary ones.