Champasak is a small town in southern Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, on the west bank of the Mekong River about 40 km south of Pakxe

Pakxe

Pakxe or Pakse is a city of 70,000 in southern Laos, situated at the confluence of the Xedone and Mekong Rivers. It is the largest city in Champasak province and its capital. It is served by Pakse International Airport and is the gateway to the Bolaven Plateau...

, the capital of Champasak Province.

The town was once the seat of the Kingdom of Champasak

Kingdom of Champasak

The Kingdom of Champasak , in southern Laos, broke away from the Lan Xang kingdom in 1713. The Kingdom of Champasak prospered at the beginning the 18th century, but it was reduced to a vassal state of Siam before the century had passed. Under French rule the kingdom became an administrative block...

, an independent Lao state which was abolished by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1945 when they created the Kingdom of Laos, but the last King of Champasak had his palace in Pakxe

Pakxe

Pakxe or Pakse is a city of 70,000 in southern Laos, situated at the confluence of the Xedone and Mekong Rivers. It is the largest city in Champasak province and its capital. It is served by Pakse International Airport and is the gateway to the Bolaven Plateau...

. Today the town is very small, consisting mostly of guesthouses along the riverbank, catering to tourists visiting the Wat Phu temple ruins some 10 km away.