Khun Borom: The Founding Myth of the Lao People
The Khun Borom myth is the foundational creation story of the Lao and Tai peoples, detailing their origins after a great flood. According to the legend recorded in the Nithan Khun Borom chronicle, in ancient times humanity became wicked and corrupt. A powerful sky deity (Phaya Thaen) destroyed them with a great flood, sparing only three righteous chiefs who were preserved in heaven. The deity sent the chiefs back to earth with a sacred buffalo to help them cultivate the land. They descended at Muang Then (modern Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam). After the land was prepared for rice cultivation, the b