Setthathirath (Lao: ເສດຖາທິຣາດ; 1534–1572) is considered ane o the great leaders in Lao history. Throughout 1560s up till his daith, he successfully defendit his kinrick o Lan Xang against military campaigns o Burmese conqueror Bayinnaung, who haed awready subdued Xieng Mai (Chiang Mai) in 1558 an Ayutthaya in 1564. Setthathirath wis a prolific builder an erectit mony Buddhist monuments includin Wat Xieng Thong in Louang Phrabang an the That Luang in Vientiane.

In 1572, a conspiracy atween a Lord Phya Nakhon an the umwhile abbot o Wat Maximavat, who held personal grudges against Setthathirath, led tae the king's murther in the soothren frontier o the kintra. He wis 38 years o age.

Acause Setthathirath left ae a toddler as his heir, the child's maternal grandfaither, a military commander o common birth named Saensurin (or Sene Soulintha), declared hissel king. This began a period o turbulence, wi different men rulin unsteadily for short periods, which saw the kintra finally conquered bi Bayinnaung in 1574, wi a fratricide bi a croun prince; wi a rebellion led bi someane claimin tae be Setthathirath-resurrectit; an wi a nine-year period in which the kintra haed nae king. (The Burmese woud rule Laos for aichteen years.) Quarrels an conflicts amang the feudal nobility an their follaeins led tae disruptions an unrest athin the population. There wis little peace in Laos till King Sourigna Vongsa ascendit the throne in 1633 (possibly 1637).

Lorrillard, Michel (1999) "La Succession de Setthathirat : réappréciation d'une période de l'histoire du Lan Xang," Aseanie 4 December 1999, pp. 44–64.

Phothisane, Souneth. (1996). The Nidan Khun Borom: Annotated Translation and Analysis, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Queensland. [This is a translation of a Lan Chang chronicle]

Wyatt, David K. and Aroonrut Wichienkeeo (1995). The Chiangmai Chronicle. Chiangmai: Silkworm Books, pp. 118–127 [This source records the history of Setthathirath as a ruler of both Lan Chang and Chiang Mai]

Wyatt, David K., Thailand: A Short History, New Haven (Yale University Press), 2003. [Concise description of his reign]