With the fall of the South Vietnamese government to the North Vietnamese on 30 April 1975 and the fall of the Cambodian government to the Khmer Rouge on April 17, the non-communist elements of the national government decided that allowing the Pathet Lao to enter power would be better than to have them take it by force.
Med den sydvietnamesiska regerings kapitulation till den nordvietnamesiske og Viet Cong den 30. april 1975, og den kambodjanske regerings kapitulation til De Røde Khmerer den 17. april, besluttede de ikke-kommunistiske dele af den nationale regering at overdrage Pathet Lao magten frem for at risikere, at de tog den med vold.