P akxe or Pakse ( "Mouth of the river Se") (population 70,000) is a city in southern Laos, situated at the confluence of the Xedone and Mekong Rivers. It is the largest city in Champasak province and its capital. It is served by Pakse International Airport and is the gateway to the Bolaven Plateau. It was also the former capital of the Lao Kingdom of Champasak.

This city was founded by the French as an administrative outpost in 1905, and was formerly the capital of the Lao Kingdom of Champasak and residence of the King of Champasak at Champasak Palace, which was abolished in 1946 when the Kingdom of Laos was formed. Since the construction of a bridge over the Mekong (built with Japanese aid), allowing road traffic with Ubon Ratchathani in Thailand, Pakse has become the commercial centre of southern Laos. The Pakse airport finished construction on November 2, 2009, resuming flights to Vientiane and Bangkok.

Kingdom of Champasak (1713-1946) was a kingdom in southern Laos that broke away from the Lan Xang kingdom in 1713. The Kingdom of Champasak prospered at the beginning the 18th century, but it was reduced to a vassal state of Siam before the century had passed. Under French rule the kingdom became an administrative block with its royalty stripped of many of its privileges. The Kingdom of Champasak was abolished in 1946 when the Kingdom of Laos was formed.

The Champasak Provincial Museum is a local museum in Pakse, Laos. It holds the unique history of the province, which gathers all kind of artifacts and documents to chronicle the history of Champasak. The museum also holds historical photos of cultural events, foreign meetings and pictures of Kaysone Phomvihane, Nouhak Phoumsavan and Khamtay Siphandone, all from the south. There are displays of musical instruments, stelae in the Tham script dating from the 15th to 18th centuries, a water jar from the 11th or 12th century and pottery from around the province and plus a model of Wat Phu. On the higher level, it displays different ethnic clothing, along with textile and jewellery collections.