Culture and history info

he 8th century Thai locality of Muang Then is believed to have been centered here.

Nineteenth and early twentieth century

Điện Biên Phủ was rather politically removed from central Vietnamese control until 1841. In this year, under the Nguyễn dynasty, Điện Biên Phủ was directly incorporated into the Vietnamese political system when they established the town as an administrative district. This was partly done for more direct control of the region and to stop bandits who were exploiting the opium trade.[3]

In 1887, Điện Biên Phủ became a French protectorate. To ensure that the French would control the local opium trade, they appointed a sole administrator to supervise the trade and control the town. Other than a Hmong rebellion in 1918, the town was under French control until the Japanese occupied it during World War II. By early May 1945, the Japanese occupied Điện Biên Phủ and planned to convert it into a large military base. However, with an airstrip barely being enlarged, Chinese nationalist troops took the town in August of the same year. Subsequently, the nationalist forces then gave way to returning French troops