PAKX

also spelled Pakse, town, in the southern panhandle of Laos at the confluence of the Xdn and Mekong rivers. Before 1966 Pakx functioned as the chief port of entry of Laos. East of Pakx begins the rolling Bolovens Plateau, nearly 3,300 feet (1,000 m) high, for whose productsteak, tea, cinchona, kapok, and cardamomPakx is the distributing centre. The town's industries include several sawmills, manufacture of bricks and tiles, and an ice plant; there is also an agricultural experimental station, a criminal court of appeals, and a secondary school. In 1970 the Selabam Dam of the Mekong River Valley Plan opened on the lower Xdn, providing electricity for Pakx and irrigation for the surrounding region. Pakx is linked by road to the Thailand border and to Cambodia. Pop. (1985) 47,000.