Pakse is a 'one way' airport. You land on 15 and take off from 33.
There is a line of high ground on the Laos side of the Mekong.
It is parallel to the Mekong but with limited aids compared to a normal western commercial airport. It has an NDB and VOR.As I understand it the latter is still on test.
Add to that the fact the weather was extremely challenging plus Pakse having no radar or ILS and the holes in the cheese line up nicely.
The final component will be the captain. Been there,done it and 30 years flying.
No first officer in his right mind would ever question his senior whatever the potential outcome in Asia.
In this case the aircraft was below minima in bad weather. Talking to friends at Pakse the story is that this guy was ex military and had been in to Pakse many times. Tower suggested he divert to alternate.It appears he was trying to creep in under the weather using GPS along the Mekong when he hit an island
Just read the One Two Go thread at Phuket.