I would like to start by first thanking everyone for their help with this unusual and perplexing spear and apologies for not replying until now. The wife and I went out last night and after a few to many drinks AFTER returning home I did sleep in rather late this morning. Someone needs to add a hangover smiley to the rest of the ones we have.
A good friend has suggested to me that this spear is from French Indochina, and is a traditional piece to the more tribal areas of Laos bordering Vietnam. I have used this information and been able to find more spears with the exact style and placement of metal banding on their shafts as this one. Unfortunately they are all for sale so photos of them cannot be posted. If anyone has any reference to spears from this area that they could share with me it would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Robert