Different partition of Indochina

How could French Indochina have been differently devolved?

I don't think there were many options, given its ethnic composition. Cambodia and Laos would go their separate ways, and you might have Tonkin and Annam exist as separate Vietnamese entities the way North and South Vietnam did.

There's no gain to be made to the north, into China, so that leaves Siam as the only area when France could win/lose territory. That would require a pre-1900 POD, though.

France could also decline to unite the 3 Lao Kingdom into one single Laos, but that's pretty unlikely IMHO.
 
You might be able to get three Viet states-Tonkin, Annam and Cochin China, or CC might be given to Cambodia. That's about it I think
 
You might be able to get three Viet states-Tonkin, Annam and Cochin China, or CC might be given to Cambodia. That's about it I think

The latter most certainly means war, a war that Vietnam is likely to win. This would have a huge effect on relations in the region though.
 
Why did Laos get independence as Laos and not Luang Prabang?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

Luang Prabang was one of the three Lao kingdoms that got united during the French Conquest in the late 19th century. Its royal dynasty got to rule over their neighbors, certainly because they had sided with France earlier than the two over kingdoms.
 
I see 5 openings:

(1) There are a lot of Lao in northeastern Thailand - they're called Isan - and one Lao prince asked for expansion in that region in 1945.

(2) Thailand annexed parts of Cambodia and Laos after an opportunistic war with France (1940-41) and had to give them back in 1946 to obtain UN membership. They may be able to retain some or all of what they had gained.

(3) The French did try to make Cochinchina a separate state, since it was a colony while Annam and Tonkin were protectorates.

(4) There are Khmers living in Cochinchina, so it's possible for Cambodia to annex some of it if it plays its cards right. This one works best combined with (3): first the French try to keep Cochinchina out of Vietnam, then they compromise with the Vietnamese to allow provincial or zonal referendums on whether the people want to join Vietnam or (presumably pro-French) Cambodia.

(5) There was talk of an Indochinese union in the late '40s, even among the communists.
 
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