The oldest extant form of Lao puppetry or lakhon tukkata may be found in Luang Prabang, where a troupe based at Wat Xieng Thong preserves the ipok rod-puppet tradition associated with the former royal court. The Ipok Puppet Troupe of Luang Prabang performs with the original puppets carved for King Sakkarin (1895-1904) in the Siamese hun style; held from below on sticks, with jointed arms manipulated by strings, they are used to recount stories from the Lao Ramayana and from local traditions.

Each show is preceded by a ceremony to honour the spirits of the ancestors embodied in the puppets, which are stored at the wat when not in use. Unfortunately the puppeteers are now very old and the provincial government is urgently seeking outside assistance to preserve this dying art form.

In 1978 a group of Lao arts practitioners spent six months studying and performing with the Central Puppet Theatre in Sofia, Bulgaria. While they were there they created puppets and also developed stories based on original Lao material. On their return in the following year the Ministry of Information and Culture established the Central Puppet Troupe, which still operates today. In recent years the company has widened its repertoire and now performs various styles.

At the core of the company’s work is hand/rod puppetry; both the original Bulgarian-style and more recently-constructed Lao-style puppets are utilised to present 10-minute ‘social theatre’ playlets on development issues aimed to amuse, entertain and educate.

In 1990 a foreign expert working with UNICEF personally sponsored the creation of exact copies of the Luang Prabang Ipok puppets, in order that the Central Puppet Troupe could perform the ancient Lao stories Karaket, Sithong Manora and Linthong in traditional style.

Unfortunately since that time the company has rarely used its duplicate Ipok puppet set, mainly because a full traditional Ipok performance takes one and a half hours and the art form is not popular outside Luang Prabang. Shortened and simplified versions of the Ipok stories have been devised in order to make them easier to understand in the capital, but these days funds to present Ipok puppetry are rarely available.

In recent years the company has become known internationally for a new style of puppetry known as Hun kabong, developed with French assistance and support, which uses a combination of actors in costume and hand puppets made from recycled materials. The demand for hun kabong performances – particularly from international organisations working in Laos – has led the company to set up a dedicated troupe, Théâtre d'objets Kabong Lao, to perform this popular style.