Not in China or Korea: This Asian village was considered “the most secret place on Earth” 50 years ago

A lot can change in 50 years. And that’s no more evident than in Long Tieng in central Laos, once thought of as “the most secret place on the earth”.

The village of Long Tieng is only 80 miles northeast of Vientiane, the capital of Laos, although it takes eight hours to get there on a combination of bumpy dirt tracks and mining roads full of potholes.

Modern-day Long Tieng is home to a few thousand people, most of whom make a living from agriculture. There you’ll find what you might expect from a small village - a couple of restaurants and guesthouses, and a handful of shops - and something else you definitely wouldn’t - a 4,500ft runway.

Abandoned runway once one of the world’s busiest

Nowadays, children ride scooters, farmers herd cattle and villagers go for morning strolls on the long concrete strip. Go back five decades, however, and the runway was part of one of the world’s busiest - and most secret - airports.

During the Cold War (1947-1991), and the Vietnam War (1955-1975) in particular, Long Tieng played a crucial role in the United States’ fight to prevent communism from spreading to South East Asia.

The village was the secret headquarters of the Hmong anti-communist army, which was backed by the United States in their fight against the Lao People’s Liberation Army, referred to as Pathet Lao, a communist political movement and organization in Laos.

The “city” that never appeared on maps

At one time, it is estimated that the site had up to 40,000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in Laos. However, the nature of the activity taking place there meant it never appeared on maps. Hmong soldiers and their families, Thai soldiers, a small contingent of American CIA operatives and secret US Air Force pilots, known as “Ravens,” were among those who had made it their home away from home.

At its peak, there were 900 takeoffs and landings per day, with ammunition and food arriving from outside Laos before quickly being distributed around the country.

CIA’s largest ever paramilitary operation

It remains the largest paramilitary operation ever carried out by the CIA, yet even some involved in the war had no idea Long Tieng even existed, as Paul Carter, a Laos Secret War specialist, explained to CNN: “The war in Laos was so compartmentalized, I knew guys who participated in that war, they did not even know Long Tieng existed until the late 1960s when they started letting the reporters in there.”

From the village, guerrilla operations, backed by the U.S. were planned and implemented, as was a bombing campaign across Laos.

Nowadays, Long Tieng welcomes a modest number of tourists, presumably interested in history, mainly from the U.S., Australia and Europe. Also speaking to CNN, Chris Corbett, who owns Laos Adv Tours and Rentals, reveals he runs 10 motorbike tours a year to the former airport, whose control tower is still partly standing, albeit half the size it once was.

It is believed 270 million submunitions were dropped in Laos by the United States, an estimated 30% of which never detonated but could - and do - still go off at any time.

Since 1995, the U.S. has spent $391 million on a Conventional Weapons Destruction program, a clean-up operation of sorts designed to “make more land safe for agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism, and driving critical economic development across Laos”.

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