Kou Voravong
Kou Voravong grew up in Savannakhet and pursued a primary education there. He obtained the « certificat d'études primaires complémentaire indochinois » - Certificate of Indochinese Additional Primary Studies - (CEPCI) in 1930, went afterward to Vientiane and began his first-secondary-school year at the Collège Auguste Pavie. But because of a conflict which opposed him to French Colonial administration, his adopted father was sentenced to prison that same year. As reaction to this situation, Kou Voravong left school and returned to Savannakhet. As an out-of-school teenager, he practiced sports, especially soccer.
Kou Voravong
Early in 1950, when Bounkong and his band engaged in violent anti-government campaigns in the South of the country, Kou Voravong created the "Pacification of Southern Laos Mission" to combat internal subversion and border piracy. This organization whose headquarter was based in Pakse, was responsible to bring together supporters, volunteers and former members of the Lao Issara movement, to form units to combat subversion and banditry. Occupied with his ministerial responsibilities in Vientiane, he entrusted the command to his cousin and brother-in-law, the young lieutenant Phoumi Nosavan.