SuwanakhetTownship is located in the central region of Laos, opposite Mukdahan Province of Thailand. Formerly, it was a small town called Tha Rae. Residents of Suwanakhet and Mukdahan believe that they had the same ancestors, the only difference being located on different banks of the Mekong River. From 1893 to 1954, when Laos was colonized by the French, Suwanakhet was inaugurated as an important city because the French wanted to develop the city as the center of local and federal administration, and post and telegraph. However, there were insufficient labor due to under-population. Consequently, the French carried out a policy to increase the population by encouraging Laotians, on the Thai side, to emigrate to the city in exchange for holding French citizenship. Furthermore, other nationalities under French colonization in the Indo-China region, such as Laotians, Cambodians, and Vietnamese, were relocated to the city, with the Vietnamese being the most numerous. The consequence was that the city became multiracial. Each group attempted to adapt to one another and participate in developing the city from a small Lao community to a westernized multiracial city. The migration and relocation brought about a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society and it became a social foundation for the city up to the present day.