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What if the Franco-Siamese war of 1893 is avoided, and French Indochina remains limited to Vietnam and Cambodia? I would think Laos would be under Siamese vassalage going into the 20th century.

Not sure what the simplest PoDs for avoiding the Franco-Siamese war of 1893 are.

An alternative PoD could be there still is a Franco-Siamese war, but France is uninterested in collecting Laos as a prize. Instead it finagles a larger indemnity or some form of greater economic concessions from Siam. It might find the Kra Isthmus an interesting alternate territorial gain, but I think the British would veto that as it is too close to comfort for the Burma and Malaya colonies.
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