Laos P-41 2000 Kip 2011 UNC—Communist "Dad"—UNESCO Heritage—Hydroelectric

• Variety: Only one variety
• Color: Blue and green
• Front:
  • Portrait of Kaysone Phomvihane, "father" of Communist Laos
  • Xieng Thong Temple (Wat Xieng Thong), Luang Prabang
  • National Coat of Arms
• Back:
  • Seset 2 Hydroelectric Dam
• Security Features:
  • Watermark: Kaysone Phomvihane with electrotype design
  • Security Thread: Solid demetalized thread with Lao text
  • UV Activity: Yes
• Serial Number Prefix: AA (replacement notes)
• Currency: Lao PDR Kip (LAK), 1979–date
• Denomination: 2000 Kip
  
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 141 × 65 mm
• Printer: Bank of the Lao PDR
• Country: Laos — French Indochina (colonial era–1953); Kingdom of Laos (1953–1975); Lao People’s Democratic Republic (1975–present)

Kaysone Phomvihane (KAY-sawn pom-vee-HAHN)

The Father of Communist Laos

Kaysone Phomvihane (1920–1992) is the founding figure of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic — the communist state established in December 1975 after the Pathet Lao movement, backed by North Vietnam, overthrew the Royal Lao Government and abolished the 600-year-old monarchy. Born to a Lao mother and Vietnamese father, Kaysone studied law in Hanoi before joining the Indochinese Communist Party in the 1940s and dedicating his life to revolutionary politics.

He served as Prime Minister from 1975 until 1991, and then as President until his death in 1992 — effectively leading Laos through its most transformative and difficult decades: the consolidation of one-party rule, the exodus of much of the educated class, the isolation of the Cold War years, and the cautious economic opening of the late 1980s known as the Chinthanakan Mai (New Thinking). His image on Lao currency is ubiquitous — the Lao equivalent of Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam or Mao in China — a permanent fixture of the state’s visual identity.

Wat Xieng Thong, Temple of the Golden City

Wat Xieng Thong — the Temple of the Golden City — is the most celebrated Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital of Laos and a UNESCO World Heritage city. Built in 1560 by King Setthathirath, it served as the royal temple of the Lane Xang kingdom and remained closely associated with Lao royalty until the monarchy’s abolition in 1975. Its sweeping, multi-tiered roof — characteristic of Lao temple architecture — sweeps low to the ground in a gesture of elegant humility, and its walls are adorned with intricate glass mosaics depicting scenes from Buddhist cosmology and Lao mythology.

Its presence on this note — issued by a communist government that abolished the monarchy Xieng Thong once served — reflects the Lao state’s pragmatic embrace of Buddhist heritage as a pillar of national identity, even as it dismantled the political structures that heritage once supported.

The Seset 2 Hydroelectric Dam

The Battery of Southeast Asia

The reverse features the Seset 2 Hydroelectric Dam, one of many dams built on Laos’s rivers as part of the country’s ambitious strategy to become the “battery of Southeast Asia” — exporting hydroelectric power to Thailand, Vietnam, and China. Laos has more rivers per capita than almost any country on earth, and hydropower has become the cornerstone of its development model, generating the majority of government revenue and foreign exchange.

The strategy is not without controversy: large dams have displaced tens of thousands of people, altered river ecosystems, and raised concerns about Laos’s dependence on Chinese investment and debt. But for the Lao government, the dam on this banknote is a symbol of modernity, sovereignty, and economic ambition — a nation harnessing its geography to power its future.

A Final Reflection: The Quiet Country

Laos is one of the least-visited and least-understood countries in Southeast Asia — landlocked, sparsely populated, and still governed by the same party that took power in 1975. It is also one of the most heavily bombed countries in history: during the Vietnam War, the United States dropped more ordnance on Laos than was dropped on all of Europe during World War II, much of it still unexploded in the soil today. This 2000 Kip note, with its temple, its revolutionary leader, and its dam, offers a quiet portrait of a country navigating the distance between its ancient Buddhist heritage and its communist present — and doing so largely out of the world’s sight.

For the collector, it is an affordable and visually striking entry point into one of numismatics’ most overlooked corners.

Lao numbers

0 = ໐, 1 = ໑, 2 = ໒, 3 = ໓, 4 = ໔, 5 = ໕, 6 = ໖, 7 = ໗, 8 = ໘, 9 = ໙