Duthel Thailand Guide II. E-Book

Heinz Duthel

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Seitenzahl: 777

Beschreibung

Duthel Thailand Guide II. Education in Thailand - 16th. Edition 2015 Chet Ton Dynasty Chevalier de Beauregard Chi Tu Chiang Hung Kingdom of Chiangmai Crown Prince of Thailand Dien Del Pierre d'Espagnac Dusit Palace Dvaravati Early history of Thailand Claude de Forbin Free Thai Movement Front Palace crisis Grand Palace René Guyon Hariphunchai Haw wars History of Lopburi History of Thailand since 1973 Initial states of Thailand Japanese occupation of Thailand Javaka History of the Jews in Thailand Kap Mahachat Khao-I-Dang Khmer People's National Liberation Front Khmer Serei Khun Chang Khun Phaen Kingdom of Luang Phrabang Kingdom of Vientiane Louis Laneau Lanna Lavo Kingdom Anna Leonowens Francis Light List of monarchs of Laos List of the Kings of Lanna Ming Shilu Moulinaka Muang Phuan Nakhon Si Thammarat Kingdom Naksat city 8 Duthel Thailand Guide II Ngoenyang Nine Armies War Nong Chan Refugee Camp Nong Samet Refugee Camp Paknam incident Pan Pan Pattani Kingdom Peopling of Thailand Constantine Phaulkon Phaya Tani History of Phitsanulok Province Maria Guyomar de Pinha Peter L. Pond Prehistoric Thailand Raktamaritika Rattanakosin Kingdom Red Gaurs Royal Standard of Thailand Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp Savakanmaindan Sdok Kok Thom Siamese embassy to France (1686) Singhanavati Site Two Refugee Camp South Thailand insurgency Spirit Cave, Thailand Sri Thammasokaraj Srivijaya Sukhothai Kingdom Thao Thep Kasattri and Thao Sri Sunthon Syburi Tai–Kadai-speaking peoples Tak Bai Incident Tambralinga Thai Prophecy Verse Jim Thompson (designer) Thonburi Kingdom Treaty of Amity and Commerce (Siam–UK) United Nations Border Relief Operation Vichaichan Vietnamese border raids in Thailand Wisutkasat

Leseprobe

Table Of Contents

Startindex_split_041index_split_040index_split_039index_split_038index_split_037index_split_036index_split_035index_split_034index_split_033index_split_032index_split_031index_split_030index_split_029index_split_028index_split_027index_split_026index_split_025index_split_024index_split_023index_split_022index_split_021index_split_020index_split_019index_split_018index_split_017index_split_016index_split_015index_split_014index_split_013index_split_012index_split_011index_split_010index_split_009index_split_008index_split_007index_split_006index_split_005index_split_004index_split_003index_split_002index_split_001Copyright

Start

Duthel Thailand Guide II.

Education in Thailand - 16th. Edition 2015

Copyright Š 2015

All rights reserved.

index_split_041

15.

“Air of Intrigue”. Time Magazine. 1967-05-05. Retrieved 2007-03-25.

Kent, Jonathan (2007-03-25). “Mystery of missing Thai Silk King”. BBC

News. Retrieved 2007-03-25.

“Looking for the Silk King”. The Star. 2010-03-23. Retrieved 2010-09-23.

“Bones May Cast Some Light to Jim Thompson’s Mystery”. Ipoh Echo.

2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-09-28.

More Info’s on the Internet

The Thai Silk Company Jim Thompson House Jim Thompson Quiz

Jim Thompson disappearance in brief

Tracking the Legend: My Search for Jim Thompson by Francine

Matthews, former CIA agent

The Curious Case of Jim Thompson, Thai Silk King by Kenneth

Champeon

Jim Thompson, The Unsolved Mystery by William Warren

Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King www.YouTube.com

Jim Thompson: Down Memory Lane by Edward Roy De Souza

SOLVED! The “Mysterious” Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the

Legendary Thai Silk King by Edward Roy De Souza

Thonburi Kingdom

Kingdom of Thonburi

1768–1782 Ensign

Capital Thonburi

Language(s) Thai

Religion Theravada Buddhism

Government Monarchy

King

- 1768-1782 Taksin the Great

396

Duthel Thailand Guide II

History

- Established 1768

- Disestablished 1782

Thon Buri (Thai: ) was the capital of Siam (now Thailand) for a short time during the reign of King Taksin the Great, after the ruin of capital Ayutthaya by the Burmese. King Rama I removed the capital to Bangkok on

the other side of the Chao Phraya River in 1782. Thon Buri stayed an

independent town and province, and was merged into Bangkok in 1972.

Reestablishment of Siamese Authority

In 1767, after dominating southeast Asia for almost 400 years, the

Ayutthaya kingdom was destroyed. The royal palace and the city were burnt to the ground. The territory was occupied by the Burmese army and local leaders declared themselves overlords including the lords of Sakwangburi, Pimai, Chanthaburi, and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Chao Tak, a nobleman of Chinese descent and a capable military leader, made himself a lords and staged the legendary sack of Chanthaburi. Based at Chanthaburi, Chao Tak raised up the troops and resources and marched a fleet to the mouth of Chao Phraya taking Thonburi fort. In the same year, Chao Tak was able to retake Ayutthaya from the Burmese only seven months after the fall of the city.

Upon Siamese independence, Hsinbyushin of Burma ordered the ruler of Tavoy to invade Siam. The Burmese armies arrived through Sai Yok and laid siege on the Bang Kung camp - the camp for Taksin’s Chinese troops - in modern Samut Songkhram Province. Taksin hurriedly sent one of his generals Boonma to command the fleet to Bang Kung to relieve the siege. Siamese armies encircled the Burmese siege and defeated them.

Ayutthaya, the center of Siamese authority for hundreds of years, was so

devastated that it could not be used as a government center. Tak founded the new city of Thonburi Sri Mahasamut on the west bank of Chao Phraya river. The construction took place for about a year and Tak crowned himself in late

1768 as King Sanpet but he was known to people as King Taksin - a combination of his title and personal name. Taksin crowned himself as a King of Ayutthaya to signify the continuation to ancient glories.

Reunification and Expansion

There were still local warlords competing for Siam. Taksin marched first in 1768 to Pitsanulok to subjugate the Lord of Pitsanulok who ruled over Upper Chao Phraya Basin. Taksin was injured during the campaign and had to retreat. The war readily weakened Pitsanulok and then it was in turn

subjugated by the Lord of Sakwangburi. The same year Taksin sent Thong Duang and Boonma to tame the Prince Theppipit - the ruler of Phimai to the north of Nakhon Ratchasima on the Khorat Plateau. The prince was a son of Borommakot and was defeated by Thonburi armies. Theppipit fled to Vientiene but was captured and then executed.

397

In 1769, Taksin sent Phraya Chakri south to subjugate the Lord of Nakorn Si Thammarat. The lord fled to Pattani but was returned to Taksin, who reinstalled him back as the ruler of Nakorn Si Thammarat under Taksin’s governance.

Prince Ang Non the Uparaja of Cambodia fled to Thonburi in 1769 after his conflicts with King Narairaja for Siamese supports. Taksin then took this opportunity to request tributary from Cambodia, which Narairaja refused. Taksin sent Phraya Abhay Ronnarit and Phraya Anuchit Racha to subjugate Cambodia, taking Siemreap and Battambang. But Taksin’s absence from the capital (in wars with Nakorn Si Thammarat) shook the political stability and the two generals decided to retreat to Thonburi.

By this time, the only rival to Thonburi authority was the Sakwangburi

lordship led by the powerful monk Chao Phra Faang. Chao Phra Faang’s domain encompassed the northernmost territories bordering Lanna to Nakhon Sawan to the south as the result of annexation of Pitsanulok lordship in 1768. In 1770,Chao Phra Faang sent reinforcements southwards reaching Chainat. Taksin perceived this action as threats and decided to invade Sakwangburi beforehand. The royal fleet marched upstream the Chao Phraya River and took Pitsanulok with ease. Taksin then divided the armies into the east one led by Boonma and the west one led by Phraya Pichai to be joined at Sakwangburi. Sakwangburi quickly fell after three days and Chao Phra Faang went lost.

Taksin stayed at Pitsanulok to oversee the census and levy of northern population. He appointed Boonma to Chao Phraya Surasi as the governor of Pitsanulok and all northern cities and Phraya Abhay Ronnarit to Chao Phraya Chakri the chancellor.

Later in 1771, Taksin decided to finish off the Cambodian campaign by assigning Chao Phraya Chakri command of land forces with Prince Ang Non

and Taksin himself went by fleet. The Siamese took various Cambodian cities and drove Narairaja out of the throne. Ang Non was installed as Reamraja and Narairaja became the Uparaja with the Cambodian court paying tribute to Thonburi.

Wars with Burma

Taksin had consolidated the old Siamese kingdom with new base at Thonburi. However, the Burmese were still ready to wage massive wars to bring the Siamese down again. From their base at Chiang Mai, they invaded

Sawankalok in 1770 but the Siamese were able to repel. This realized Taksin the importance of Lanna as the base of resources for the Burmese to attack northern territories. If Lanna was brought under Siamese control then the Burmese threats would by annihilated.

At the time Lanna, centered on Chiang Mai, was ruled by a Burmese general Paw Myunguaun. He was the general who led the invasion of Sawankalok in 1770 but was countered by Chao Phraya Surasi’s armies from

398

Duthel Thailand Guide II

Pitsanulok. In the same year, the Siamese pioneered a little invasion of Chiang

Mai and failed to gain any fruitful results.

In 1772, Paw Thupla, another Burmese general who had been in wars in

Laos, headed west and attack Pichai and Uttaradit. The armies of Pitsanulok

once again repelled the Burmese invasions. They came again in 1773 and this time Phraya Pichai made his legendary sword break.

In 1774, Taksin ordered Chao Phrya Chakri and Chao Phraya Surasi to invade Chiang Mai. After nearly 300 years of Burmese rule, Lanna passed to the Siamese hands. The two Chao Phrayas were able to take Chiang Mai with the help of local insurgents against Burma and Taksin appointed them the local rulers: Phraya Chabaan as Phraya Vichianprakarn the Lord of Chiangmai, Phraya Kawila as the Lord of Lampang, and Phraya Vaiwongsa as

Lord of Lampoon. All the lordships paid tribute to Thonburi. Paw

Myunguaun and the Burmese authority retreated to Chiang Saen.

During Taksin’s northern campaigns, the Burmese armies took the opportunity to invade Thonburi through Ta Din Daeng. The Burmese encamped at Bangkaew but were surrounded by the Siamese armies commanded by Taksin. For more than a month the Burmese had been locked in the siege and thousand of them died. Another thousand became captives to the Siamese.

In 1776 there came the hugest invasion of the Burmese led by Maha Thiha Thura. Instead of dividing the forces invading through various ways, Maha Thiha Thura amassed the troop of 30,000 as a whole directly towards Pitsanulok whose inhabitants were only 10,000 in number. Paw Thupla and Paw Myunguaun from Chiang Saen attempted to retake Chiang Mai but were halted by the two Chao Phrayas, who after Chiang Mai hurried back to Pitsanulok to defend the city. The engagements occurred near Pitsanulok.

Maha Thiha Thura directed the troops at Pitsanulok so immensely that the

Siamese were about to fall. He cut down the supply lines and attacked the royal army. The two Chao Phrayas decided to abandon Pitsanulok. The Burmese entered the city with victory but all went dead due to the death of Hsinbyushin the Burmese king the same year. They had to retreat.

After the death of the Burmese king Hsinbyushin the Burmese were plunged in their own dynastic struggles. In 1776, the new monarch Singusa sent Maha Thiha Thura to invade Lanna again with such a huge army that Lord Vichianprakarn of Chiang Mai had to abandon the city. Chao Phraya

Surasi and Lord Kawila of Lampang retook Chiang Mai from the Burmese but decided to left the city abandoned as there was no population to fill the city. No further Burmese invasions came as Singu staged his dynastic purges on the princes and Maha Thiha Thura himself.

Expansions and economic problems

In 1776, a governor of Nangrong (modern Nakhon Nayok) had a row with the governor of Nakhon Ratchasima the head city of the region. The

399

governor then sought supports from King Sayakumane of Champasak. This became a casus bellum for Taksin to sent Chao Phraya Chakri to conquer Champasak. King Sayakumane fled but was captured and detained in Thonburi for two years until he was sent to rule his kingdom again in 1780 paying tribute to Thonburi. The Champasak campaign earned Chakri the title Somdet Chao Phraya Maha Kasatseuk. Taksin invented the title Somdet Chao Phraya for a mandarin with equal honor as a royalty.

In 1778, a Laotian mandarin named Phra Wo sought Siamese supports against King Bunsan of Vientiene but was killed by the Laotian king. Taksin then dispatched the troops in 1779 led by the two famous brothers

commanders, Phraya Chakri and his brother, Phraya Surasi to subjugate Vientiene. At the same time King Suriyavong of Luang Prabang submitted himself to Thonburi and joined the invasion of Vientiene. King Bunsan fled and hid in the forests but later gave up himself to the Siamese. The Vientiene royal family was deported to Thonburi as hostages. Thonburi forces took two valuable Buddha images, the symbolic icons of Vientiane – the Emerald Buddha and Phra Bang to Thonburi. Then all of the three Laotian kingdoms became Siamese tributaries and remained under Siamese rule for another hundred years.

Years of warfare and the Burmese invasions prevented any peasants to engage in agricultural activities. Majority of people had been deported to Burma in the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 and the lack of manpower became the source of problems. Taksin had tried his best to encourage people to come out of forest hidings and promote farming. He promulgated the Conscription Tattooing in 1773 to left a permanent mark on commoners’ bodies, preventing them from fleeing or moving. The practice continued well into Rattanakosin times until the abolition of levy itself by King Chulalongkorn later. As Taksin was from a Chinese merchant family, he sold his both royal and familial properties and belongings to subsidize the production by giving money off to people. This proved to be a temporary relief for such an economic decline. Nevertheless, the Siamese economy after the catastrophes needed time to rehabilitate.

Taksin himself also commissioned trade missions to the neighboring

countries to bring Siam back to outside world, mainly with China. He dispatched several missions with tributes to the Qing in 1781 to resume diplomatic and commercial relationships.

Political and economic troubles

Thonburi began forming its society. Taksin gathered resources by wars and dealts with Chinese merchants. Major groups of people in Thonburi were

local Thais, phrai,or ‘commoners’, Chinese, Laotians, Khmers, Mons. Some powerful Chinese merchants trading in the new capital were granted officials titles. After the king and his relatives, officials were powerful. They held

400

Duthel Thailand Guide II

numbers of phrai, commoners who were recruited as forces. Officials in

Thonburi mainly dealt with military as well as ‘business’ affairs.

Despite Taksin’s successes, by 1779 King Taksin was in trouble. He was recorded in the Rattanahosin’s gazettes and missionaries’s accounts as

becoming maniac, insulting the senior Buddhist monks, proclaiming himself to be a sotapanna or divine figure. Foreign missionaries were also purged from times to times. His officials, mainly ethnic Chinese, were divided into factions, one of which still supported him but the other did not. Economic was also in turmoil. Famine attacked the kingdom. Corruption and abuses of the officials were rampant. The monarch attempted to restore order by harsh punishments. Numbers of officials and merchants, mostly ethnic Chinese, were reportedly executed. Discontent among officials was growing.

In 1782 Thonburi sent a huge army to subjugate nearby kingdoms such as Cambodia and Lao principalities again, but while they were away, a rebellion led by a powerful official broke out. The rebels eventually controlled the capital, forcing the king to step down. It is said that Taksin was allowed to be a monk. Later, the general, Phraya Chakri, the commander-in-chief of the army in Cambodia, who had wide popular support among officials, was offered the throne to King Taksin’s commander in chief as he marched back from Cambodia and officially deposed king Taksin from monkhood. Taksin was secretly executed shortly after.

Rattanakosin establishment

After the execution, the commander in chief assumed the throne of Thonburi kingdom as King Ramathibodi or Rama I. King Rama I removed his royal seat across the Chao Phraya river to the village of Bang-Koh (meaning “place of the island”) which he had built. The new capital was established in 1782, named Rattanakosin. Then Thonburi diminished and became a part of the Bangkok metropolitan area.

United Nations Border Relief Operation

United Nations Border Relief Operation

UNBRO Logo Abbreviation UNBRO Formation 1 January 1982

Extinction December 2001

Purpose/focus Humanitarian aid

Location Bangkok, Thailand

Region served Thai-Cambodian Border

Special Representative for Coordination of Cambodian Humanitarian

Assistance Programs Sir Robert Jackson

Parent organization United Nations

The United Nations Border Relief Operation (UNBRO) was a donor-nation funded relief effort for Cambodian refugees and others affected by

401

years of warfare along the Thai-Cambodian border. It functioned from 1982 until 2001.

Establishment

In January 1979, following the ouster of the Khmer Rouge from power by

invading Vietnamese forces, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians sought food and shelter along the Thai-Cambodian border, triggering calls for international relief efforts. Initially a consortium of international agencies known as the “Joint Mission” and consisting of UNICEF, the ICRC, UNHCR, and the WFP took responsibility for food distribution, health care, camp construction and sanitation along with considerable support from the Royal Thai Government . However it soon became clear that humanitarian aid provided at camps such as Sa Kaeo would permit the Khmer Rouge to recover from their near-defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese, with a protracted civil war as the likely result. Because of this and ongoing conflicts with other aid agencies, ICRC and then UNICEF reduced their role in the management of refugee relief services on the border . UNHCR worked only with residents of holding centers such as Khao-I-Dang and Phanat Nikhom and provided no services in the border camps .

In January 1982, UNBRO was established to coordinate border relief

operations under the direction of the Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations for Coordination of Cambodian Humanitarian Assistance Programs (OSRSG), then headed by Sir Robert Jackson . Known originally as “WFP-UNBRO”, its first director was the UNDP’s Resident Coordinator in Bangkok, Winston R. Prattley, who also served as WFP representative. Because the operation had no staff at the beginning, UNICEF agreed to a six-month loan of its Kampuchean Emergency Unit until UNBRO could hire its own people .

UNBRO was a temporary agency, created by the UN General Assembly

to address a specific crisis. It had a mandate but no charter or independent governing council. Nor did it have an independent budget; it had to rely on the support of donor countries from the General Assembly, solicited through pledges at donor meetings twice a year . UNBRO received its monetary and in-kind donations primarily from the United States, the European Commission, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Scope of operations

Guiding principles

UNBRO operated on the basis of five working principles, laid out in an internal memo on policy guidelines dated July 1982 . These principles were revised and updated in an internal memo on policy guidelines dated 2 August

1989 [71].

First, UNBRO was a humanitarian operation which remained neutral in areas of religion, politics and nationalistic alignment. This meant that

402

Duthel Thailand Guide II

assistance was to be provided equally to all full-time residents of UNBRO-assisted camps, regardless of their political affiliation.

Second, UNBRO camps were to be managed by the Khmers as much as circumstances on the border allowed. UNBRO recognized a civilian administration consisting of a chief administrator and his deputies, the Khmer Women’s Association, section leaders, and various administrative committees.

Third, the Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were to

be used as much as possible as a guideline for all aspects of camp life. This meant that no one was to be removed by force from an UNBRO camp for any reason; free thought, free speech and free access to education and

information should be guaranteed for all; the camps should be free of political or any other kind of coercion; and protection and justice for camp residents should be provided by the Khmer Police and an internal justice system.

Fourth, UNBRO assisted civilians only. This meant that UNBRO

expected the camps to be free of military influence of any kind, and that no military activity was to take place in or through UNBRO camps at any time.

The fifth principle concerned UNBRO’s equal commitment to upholding operational efficiency as well as humanitarian principles .

Services

In its first few years of operation UNBRO was essentially a logistics organization but, over time, it took on other activities as well :

Distribution of basic humanitarian relief supplies: Documented residents

of the camps received a daily water ration and a weekly food and firewood ration. Mosquito nets, mats, blankets, buckets, and basic cooking utensils were provided upon registration with the camp adfministration, in addition to a limited amount of bamboo, thatch, wire, and nails with which to build a small house ;

Maintenance of a central border pharmacy;

Primary level education;

Information on human rights, landmines awareness and repatriation information;

Assistance to affected Thai villages;

Material support for Cambodian-run social service facilities for needy families and for community-based programs such as adult literacy, early childhood development, Buddhist education and youth activities and sports .

Protection and Security

The concept of protection was central to UNBRO’s purpose in Thailand, as it was the victimization by war of Cambodian civilians that motivated the establishment of the border relief operation in the first place. While acknowledging that “physical safety is impossible to ensure and constantly at risk” in the border camps, UNBRO nevertheless outlined a broad definition of protection as a goal toward which all its activities would be oriented. This included protection from persecution by any military source, physical or

403

political coercion, criminal victimization, extortion and/or the threat of violent revenge, as well as protection from the negative effects of severe overcrowding, unemployment, limited educational opportunities, etc .

UNBRO oversaw the internal security of the camps, although theft and violence plagued camps that were not under the control of the Khmer Rouge

. UNBRO coordinated the different organizations providing protection on

the border: ICRC was specifically concerned with war crimes, political crimes, and human rights violations, and the Khmer Police took care of traditional police functions within the camps. Between 1980 and 1987 security in the camps was the responsibility of a special Thai Rangers unit known as Task Force 80, however this unit violated human rights so extensively that it was disbanded and replaced by the DPPU (the Displaced Persons Protection

Unit, a specially trained paramilitary unit created in 1987 expressly to provide security for the border camps). It was responsible for protecting camp boundaries and preventing bandits from entering the camps .

UNBRO also maintained a small team of Protection Officers, whose job it was to monitor the human rights situation in the camps, follow up cases in which people were victimized either deliberately or through poverty, neglect, or “system failure”, and encourage people to come to them when they felt their human rights had been abused . UNBRO assumed responsibility for

field communications and security coordination for UN and voluntary agency personnel officially working at the border (i.e. working on programs under agreement with UNBRO)[72].

Food distribution and health care

UNBRO took charge of food distribution to refugees along the border, where previously there had been widespread diversion of supplies to the Thai military and to Khmer resistance units . By the late 1980s UNBRO had standardized its basic weekly food ration so as to provide adequate daily

caloric intake established by the World Health Organization. On a per person basis rice, canned or dried fish, one egg and a vegetable were distributed weekly; dried beans, oil, salt, and wheat flour were given once a month . Exact amounts for the weekly and monthly rations in 1990 were as follows:

Rice: 3.4 kilograms/week Eggs: 100 grams/week Vegetables: 500 grams/week Fish products: 210 grams/week

Dry beans: 500 grams/month

Oil: 700 grams/month

Salt: 280 grams/month

Wheat flour: 700 grams/month

This ration was designed to meet a minimum daily average of 2457 calories per person, the emergency caloric requirement set by the UN according to a 1985 WHO report on protein and energy requirements . When

404

Duthel Thailand Guide II

the direct distribution system was initiated in 1987, the energy supplied by a basic UNBRO ration was 2237 calories per person per day. In 1991 budgetary constraints forced UNBRO to reduce this basic ration to 2027 calories per person per day . Food distributions included 120 grams a month of soap.

UNBRO also supervised the provision of water in the border camps, few of which had access to natural sources of potable water. Each week trucks supplied by the Thai government transported 650,000 liters of chlorinated water to storage tanks in the camps . In addition, UNBRO supplied building materials to refugees and implemented an agricultural program to produce fresh vegetables in the camps .

UNBRO delegated responsibility for basic medical services, sanitation, public and environmental health programs, supplementary feeding and other services to numerous nongovernmental aid agencies operating on the border at that time .

Education

In 1988, with the agreement of the Royal Thai Government, UNBRO launched a major new educational assistance program, focusing at the primary level and providing support for curriculum development, the printing of educational materials, primary education, special education, adult literacy, and teacher training and the training of teacher trainers, the provision of supplies

and the construction and equipment of classrooms. It also greatly expanded its support for social service programs targeting vulnerable and neglected groups and initiated new programs aimed at the development of life skills that would be useful in Cambodia upon repatriation. In all of these programs it strove to exclude political content and ensure that services would be provided equitably to all camp residents regardless of their political orientation. It promoted an ethic of egalitarianism and a system of reward based on merit .

Beneficiaries

As of January 1982, UNBRO provided services to 290,000 beneficiaries in three groups:

• 155,000 Cambodians in nine camps in the border’s Central sector stretching from Ban Sangae to Tap Prik. In five camps in the Central (or

Northwestern) sector (Ban Sangae, Kok Tahan, Phnom Chat, Nong Samet and Nong Chan) UNBRO was permitted to carry out frequent headcounts and direct distribution of food. UNBRO also distributed food in two of the Khmer Rouge camps to the south of Aranyaprathet (Nong Prue and Tap Prik) although initially it was not permitted to carry out headcounts. The Central sector also included NW82, a subcamp located at Nong Samet housing 800 Vietnamese land refugees assisted by ICRC.

• 70,000 Cambodians in the Northern and Southern sectors. The eight camps in the Northern sector (Ban Baranae, O’Bok, Naeng Mut, Chong

Chom, Ban Charat, Samrong Kiat, Paet Urn and Nam Yuen) totalled 28,000

405

people. The three Southern sector camps comprising 42,000 aid recipients were Sok Sann, Borai and Ta Luan.

• 65,000 Thai border residents living in villages affected by conflict also received UNBRO food aid through the Affected Thai Village Program .

Following the 1984-1985 Vietnamese dry-season offensive the number of refugee camps administered by UNBRO was reduced from 21 to 11 as the refugee population was consolidated into larger camps such as Site Two .

Administration

The organization was initially run with WFP; in 1988 UNDP took over the administration of UNBRO from WFP. In 1991 the UN Secretary General

decided that UNHCR would replace UNDP as the administrative agency. The UNHCR Representative in Thailand had the title of Director of UNBRO, but the UNBRO Deputy Director, whose sole responsibility was UNBRO, administered the day-to-day operations. UNBRO was phased out in December 2001 .

Historical legacy

UNBRO staff provided humanitarian aid under difficult and dangerous conditions in what was frequently an active war zone. In early 1983, Director Winston Prattley described the situation for donors in New York:

“The Khmer civilian administration and leadership…has rapidly given way to military or paramilitary leadership, whose visible and active presence has transformed most major settlements into armed camps. Weapons and military equipment are in plain evidence and are brandished amongst the UNBRO and voluntary agency personnel as they attempt to provide relief assistance. As a consequence, the control and direction of food distribution and provision of medical services has become less efficient, more precarious and often dangerous. UNBRO officials have been abused and held at gun-point. During the offensive, UNBRO and voluntary agency personnel have been subject to grave personal risk as a consequence of artillery bombardment and other military action… “

Critics concluded that UNBRO served a purpose beyond humanitarianism

— namely as a vehicle to deliver support to anti-Vietnamese factions operating out of the refugee camps located in UNBRO’s area of operations, thereby complicating Vietnam’s efforts to play a decisive role in Cambodia’s internal politics . UNBRO was also extensively criticized for failing to provide adequate protection for refugee camp residents from theft and violence . Furthermore, a portion of the food and monetary aid, totaling US$3–4 million at the height of the operation, was administered by local Thai military

and civilian authorities. Scant outside monitoring of these resources led critics to question if it was not in fact used to “buy” unhindered access to the border and the cooperation of the Thais.

Most United Nations member states and nongovernmental agencies still consider UNBRO to have been a model UN operation that efficiently and

406

Duthel Thailand Guide II

cost-effectively provided essential support to more than 350,000 Cambodian civilians and played a major role in saving the lives of thousands living under the harsh control of the Khmer Rouge or who were subject to shelling by Vietnamese forces .

Between 1994 and 2001, UNBRO sent 252 cartons of records to the off-site storage center used by UN organizations in Bangkok. On three occasions, in 1998, 1999, and 2001, the Deputy Director of UNBRO authorized the destruction of these records .

More Info’s on the Internet

Thai-Cambodian Border Camps: UNBRO

Article from United Nations website

UNBRO Staff Website

Forced Migration Digital Library

Vichaichan Vichaichan Front Palace

Photograph of Vichaichan on his throne

Vice King of Siam

Tenure 2 October 1868 - 28 August 1885

Appointed By the Ascension Council on behalf of Chulalongkorn (Rama

V)

Predecessor Pinklao

Successor Title abolished

Spouse Princess Pik Lek

Issue

28 sons and daughters with various consorts

House Chakri Dynasty Father Pinklao Mother Princess Aim Born 6 April 1838

Bangkok, Siam

Died 28 August 1885 (aged 47)

Bangkok, Siam

Krom Phra Rajawang Bovorn Vichaichan (Thai: ) or

Phra Ong Chao Yodyingyot (or Yingyot) ( ) (6 April 1838 – 28

August 1885) was a Siamese Prince and member of the Chakri Dynasty. He was the eldest son of King Pinklao and Princess Aim, and thus nephew to King Mongkut (Rama IV). Vichaichan succeeded his father by being appointed the Front Palace and Vice King of Siam in 1868, during the reign

407

of his cousin King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). During his tenure the office of Front Palace was extremely powerful and rivalled that of the monarch’s own. Inevitably the two forces clashed in the Front Palace crisis. Vichaichan was defeated and the power of the Front Palace was greatly diminished. After his death in 1885, the last vestiges of the title were abolished in favour of a Crown Prince.

Early life

Phra Ong Chao Yodying Prayurayot Bovorn Rachorod Rattana

Rachakumarn ( ) was born on the 6 April

1838, the eldest son of Prince Chutamani and Princess Aim. It was said that his father gave him an English name in honour of his personal hero, the first President of the United States, George Washington. Therefore he is sometimes referred to as Prince George Washington or Prince George. In May 1851 Prince Yodyingyot’s father was elevated as Second King Pinklao or the Front Palace by his older brother King Mongkut (Rama IV). Pinklao also received from his brother all the styles, titles and honour of a monarch, despite never having been crowned himself. During his childhood the Prince received a modern education, including the English language and modern sciences. It was said that he became an extremely skillful engineer.

After King Pinklao’s death in 1866, King Mongkut decided not to appoint another Front Palace due to the fact that his own son Prince Chulalongkorn was only 12 years old. This meant that the position which was also that of the heir presumptive was left unoccupied (Siam had no law of succession at the time, but the Vice King was seen as the strongest claimant). Fearing instability, Chao Phraya Si Suriyawongse (Chuang Bunnag) the Kalahom (one of the Prime Ministers of Siam) tried to persuade the King to appoint Prince Yodyingyot to succeed King Pinklao. Si Suriyawongse was a member of the powerful Bunnag family, which had dominated the running of the Siamese government since the reign of King Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (Rama II). The King refused to appoint Yodyingyot, instead he elevated the Prince to Krom Muen Bovorn Vichaichan or Prince Bovorn Vichaichan in 1867. This meant Vichaichan was only made a Prince of the Front Palace but not the actual title of Front Palace. Since 1865 the Prince was also the commander of the Front Palace’s naval forces.

Vichaichan was a great friend of the British Consul-General to Siam: Thomas George Knox, he was originally recruited by Pinklao to modernize the Front Palace’s armed forces. Knox greatly preferred the mature and

experienced Vichaichan — who was also the son of one of the most westernized member of the elite to ascend the throne — over the young Chulalongkorn.

Reign

In August 1868 King Mongkut contracted malaria whilst on an expedition to see a solar eclipse in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, six weeks later he died

408

Duthel Thailand Guide II

on 1 October. The young Chulalongkorn (who was only 15 years old at the time) was unanimously declared King by a council of high-ranking nobility, princes of the Chakri Dynasty and monks. The council was presided by Si Suriyawongse who was also appointed Regent for the young King.

During the meeting when one of the Princes nominated Vichaichan as the next Front Palace, many in the council objected. The most notable objection of this nomination came from Prince Vorachak Tharanubhab. The Prince argued that the appointment of such an important position was the sole prerogative of the King and not of the council. Furthermore the position was not hereditary and the appointment of the son of the former could set a dangerous precedent. The nomination of Vichaichan however was supported by Si Suriyawongse who wanted to secure a line of succession by appointing an able and experienced Front Palace (as the second-in-line to the throne). Si Suriyawongse was determined, he retorted by accusing the Prince of wanting to be appointed himself (” “). The Prince replied

wearily “If you have ask me to permit it [the appointment], then I will have to permit it” (” “). As a result Prince Vichaichan was appointed Front Palace (Krom Phra Rajawang Bovorn Sathan Mongkol) and Vice King

without the full consent of the incoming Monarch. The relationship between

Chulalongkorn and the Vichaichan would remain difficult for the rest of the latter’s life, based on this fact. On 11 November 1868 Vichaichan’s cousin Chulalongkorn was crowned Supreme King of Siam at the Grand Palace.

Since the elevation of King Pinklao twenty years earlier the office of Front

Palace had gained considerable amount of power and prestige. The Vice-King had his own army of over 2,000 men, western trained and western armed. He also controlled a naval forces of several steam powered gunboats. The Prince also had a large share of state revenues over one-third of which is given directly to him for the maintenance of his officials, retinue, court, concubines and advisors.

Front Palace crisis

When Chulalongkorn came of age in 1873 he and his western educated brothers were intent on creating a modern absolutist state. Siamese government during previous reigns were dominated by the aristocracy with many elements of feudalism still in existence. In order to modernize and centralize the state Chulalongkorn must consolidate the Royal government’s control over finances and the bureaucracy. First he created the Auditing Office and then a year later the Privy Council of Siam. These two reforms

quickly drew the ire of the aristocracy and Vichaichan, whose powers were slowly being eroded.

The conflict between Chulalongkorn and Vichaichan over these reforms erupted in open confrontation, after Vichaichan received an anonymous letter threatening his life. On the 28 December 1874 a fire erupted in the Grand Palace, Vichaichan’s reluctance to help quell the flames gave Chulalongkorn

409

the excuse he needed to lay siege to the Front Palace. As a result on the night of 2 January 1875, VIchaichan fled to the British Consulate to the south of Bangkok to seek refuge from the King. Negotiations between the two cousins began, however no clear conclusions were reached, with Vichaichan under the impression that his life was in danger, he refused all reconciliation.

By February the crisis has reached stalemate. Si Suriyawongse decided to

advise the British acting-Consul to invite an influential person to intervene and end the crisis. Invitations were made to Sir Andrew Clarke the Governor of the Straits Settlements. Clarke arrived in Bangkok on 18 February, after some deliberations with various factions he decided to supported the young King over Vichaichan. On the evening of 24 February Clarke forced the humiliated Vichaichan to accept Chulalongkorn’s terms in full.

The terms of the settlement stripped Vichaichan of all of his powers, he was able to keep only 200 guards of small weaponry, he was also forced to abdicate his title of Vice King. Despite this he was able to remain Front Palace and keep his residence. Chulalongkorn also promised to take responsibility for his finances and safety. He lived the rest of his life quietly as an educated gentleman, being consigned to his palace. The role and influence of the Front Palace and the nobility was greatly diminished and Chulalongkorn was able to continue his reforms in peace without opposition. In 1881 Vichaichan met King Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands, who made a stop in Siam on his world tour. The King noted that Vichaichan was well educated and spoke English fluently.

Death

Vichaichan died on 28 August 1885 at the age of 47. Prince Bovorn Vichaichan was cremated with great ceremony on the field of Sanam Luang on 14 June 1886. The Front Palace compound itself was partly demolished, parts that remain were given to Vichaichan’s consorts, daughters and sisters as

residences (sons were excluded).

After his death the office of Front Palace was left vacant until On 14

January 1886, when Chulalongkorn’s son with Princess Consort Savang Vadhana was made Crown Prince Maha Vajirunhis or Somdet Phra Boromma-orasathirat Sayam Makutrajakuman. The title of Front Palace, which was first created in 1688 by King Petracha of Ayutthaya was thus abolished and replaced with an heir apparent, whose succession is to be based on the principle of male primogeniture. The new invented title brought

Siamese succession in line with the European tradition.

Family

During his lifetime Vichaichan fathered 28 children with various consorts

and concubines. With Chao Chom Manda (Princess Consort) Prik Lek he fathered: Prince Karnchananophas Rasmi, the Prince Chanchai Bovornyod ( ), whose descendants use the surname:

Karnchanavichai ( ). And with Consort Leam: Prince Rajani

410

Duthel Thailand Guide II

Chamcharas, the Prince Bidyalongkorn ( ), whose descendants use the surname: Rajani ( ). One of Prince Rajani Chamcharas’ descendants is Mom Chao Bhisadej Rajani, the President of the

Royal Projects of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), a grandson of King

Chulalongkorn.

Royal Titles and Decorations

Titles

1838 - 1867: Phra Ong Chao Yodying Prayurayot Bovorn Rachorod

Rattana Rachakumarn (Yodyingyot, Yingyot & George Washington)

1867 - 1868: Phra Ong Chao Yodying Prayurayot Krom Muen Bovorn

Vichaichan

1868 - 1885: Phra Ong Chao Yodying Prayurayot Krom Phra Rajawang

Bovorn Vichaichan

Decorations

Prince Vichaichan received the following honours from the Siamese honour system:

Knight of The Most Illustrious Order of the Royal House of Chakri

Knight of The Ancient and Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems

Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of The Most Illustrious Order of Chula

Chom Klao

Ancestry

Ancestor of Prince Bovorn Vichaichan

Prince Bovorn Vichaichan

(Front Palace of Siam) Father:

Pinklao (Second King of Siam) Paternal Grandfather:

Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (King Rama II) Paternal Great-grandfather: Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (King Rama I)

Paternal Great-grandmother: Queen Amarindra

Paternal Grandmother:

Queen Sri Suriyendra Paternal Great-grandfather: Chao Krua Ngern

Paternal Great-grandmother:

Princess Sri Sudarak (younger sister of Rama I) Mother:

Princess Aim Maternal Grandfather:

Phraya Siri Aiyosavak Maternal Great-grandfather:

unknown

Maternal Great-grandmother:

unknown

Maternal Grandmother:

411

unknown Maternal Great-grandfather:

unknown

Maternal Great-grandmother:

unknown

References

Bowring, Sir John (2003 (originally 1857)). The Kingdom and People of Siam: With a Narrative of the Mission to That Country in 1855. (Volume 1). United Kingdom: Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 0-543-88704-9. Full text also at Google Books: The Kingdom and People of Siam

Englehart, Neil A. (2001). “Culture and Power in Traditional Siamese Government” (Southeast Asia Program Series) (Southeast Asia Program Studies, 18). United States: Cornell University Southeast Asia Program Publications. ISBN 0-877-27135-6.

Kesboonchoo Mead, Kullada (2004). The Rise and Decline of Thai

Absolutism. United Kingdom: Routledge Curzon. ISBN 0-415-29725-7.

Vetch, Robert Hamilton (2005). Life of Lieutenant General the Honorable

Sir Andrew Clarke. United Kingdom: Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-417—

95130-3. Full text also at ‘archive.org’: Life of Sir Andrew Clarke

Vietnamese border raids in Thailand

After the 1978 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and defeat of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979, the Khmer Rouge fled to the border regions of Thailand, and with assistance from China Pol Pot’s troops managed to regroup and reorganize in forested and mountainous zones on the Thai-Cambodian border. During the 1980s and early 1990s Khmer Rouge forces operated from inside refugee camps in Thailand, in an attempt to de-stabilize the pro-Hanoi People’s Republic of Kampuchea’s government, which Thailand refused to recognize. Thailand and Vietnam faced off across the Thai-Cambodian border with frequent Vietnamese incursions and shellings into Thai territory throughout the 1980s in pursuit of Cambodian guerrillas who kept attacking Vietnamese occupation forces.

Causes

Thailand’s suspicion of Vietnamese long-term objectives and fear of Vietnamese support for an internal Thai communist insurgency movement had led the Thai government to support United States objectives in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In 1979, after Vietnam’s military

occupation of Cambodia had raised these same concerns again, Bangkok allied itself with the Khmer Rouge, an adversary of Vietnam and looked to Beijing for security assistance. In both instances, Thailand’s actions hardened Hanoi’s attitude toward Bangkok. As the ASEAN member most vulnerable to a hypothetical Vietnamese attack for having given shelter to the Khmer Rouge in camps within its territory, Thailand was foremost among the ASEAN partners opposing Vietnam’s 1978 invasion of Cambodia.

412

Duthel Thailand Guide II

In 1973 a new civilian government in Thailand created a chance for some degree of reconciliation with North Vietnam, when it proposed to remove United States military forces from Thai soil and adopt a more neutralist stance. Hanoi responded by sending a delegation to Bangkok, but talks broke down before any progress in improving relations could be made. Discussions resumed in August 1976, after Hanoi had defeated the South Vietnamese and united the country under its rule. They resulted in a call for an exchange of ambassadors and for an opening of negotiations on trade and economic cooperation, but a military coup in October 1976 ushered in a new Thai government that was less sympathetic to the Vietnamese communists. Contact was resumed briefly in May 1977, when Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos held a conference to discuss resuming work on the Mekong Development Project, a major cooperative effort that had been halted by the Vietnam War. Beginning in December 1978, however, the conflict in Cambodia dominated diplomatic exchanges, and seasonal Vietnamese military offensives that included incursions across the Thai border and numerous Thai casualties particularly strained the relationship.

Timeline

1979

October: A major offensive by the Vietnamese against Khmer Rouge hideouts in their mountain sanctuaries pushed thousands of Khmer Rouge soldiers, their families and the civilians under their control to the Thai border.

November 8: Thai artillery fire hit Nong Chan Refugee Camp , killing

about 100 refugees.

November 12: Vietnamese attacks opposite Ban Laem drove 5,000 Khmer Rouge troops and villagers into Thailand. About half went to Kamput Holding Center.

1980

June 23: In response to the organized repatriation of thousands of refugees, 200 Vietnamese troops crossed the border at 2 a.m. into the Ban Non Mak Mun area, including Nong Chan Refugee Camp, setting off a three-day artillery battle that left about 200 dead, including between 22 and 130

Thai soldiers, one Thai villager, scores of refugees and up to 72 Vietnam People’s Army (PAVN) troops. Hundreds of refugees were reported killed, many by a Thai artillery barrage that struck one of the camps. Others were caught in the crossfire. Several hundred refugees who resisted the

Vietnamese were bound and executed . Vietnamese troops temporarily seized two Thai border villages including Ban Non Mak Mun and shelled others.

June 24: Still controlling Nong Chan, Vietnamese forces fought artillery

and small arms duels with Thai troops and attacked guerrilla strongpoints. The Vietnamese shot down two Thai military aircraft.

June 26: Vietnamese troops seized two relief officials (Robert Ashe and

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Medical Coordinator Dr.

413

Pierre Perrin) and two American photographers at Nong Chan Refugee Camp

.

1981

January 4: Vietnamese forces stormed across the border, opened fire with

rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons, and battled with Thai troops before being pushed back. It was Vietnam’s first reported incursion into Thailand since June 1980. Two Thai soldiers were killed and one was wounded during the early morning, 90-minute battle. Between 50 and 60

Vietnamese soldiers reportedly opened fire on a Thai patrol half a mile inside

Thailand. Vietnamese casualties are unknown.

January 5: Thai troop reinforcements were rushed to the tense border with Vietnamese-occupied Cambodia and put on alert against another cross-border raid by Hanoi’s troops. The military action followed a Vietnamese attack the previous day.

1982

Early March: A spate of incidents along the border, culminating in the intrusion of 300 Vietnamese troops and the killing of a number of Thai Border Patrol Police.

October 21: Vietnamese gunners opened fire on a Thai reconnaissance

plane near the border, but did not hit the aircraft. The plane returned to its base inside Thailand.

1983

January: Cambodian government troops, backed by Vietnamese units, conducted a major offensive against the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea, which united three resistance factions. The fighting spilled over onto Thai soil. More than 47,000 Cambodians flee to Thailand.

January 16: Vietnamese troops recaptured the hamlet of Yeang Dangkum, east of Nong Chan. Insurgents from the non-Communist Khmer People’s

National Liberation Front (KPNLF) captured the hamlet on December 26 and held it as part of a series of initiatives at year’s end.

January 21: Vietnamese artillery attack forced the KPNLF base in the

0’Bok pass to move into Thailand. Non-combatants return at the end of the month.

January 31 – February 1: With heavy artillery support, 4000 armor-led Vietnamese troops launched an assault against Nong Chan, one of the largest refugee camps on the border, destroying it. Ground fighting was reported

outside the camp between Vietnamese troops based in Cambodia and about

2000 KPNLF guerrillas . At the same time the Vietnamese kept up a steady barrage of shells, rockets and mortars. At least 50 shells landed in Thai

territory, killing a 66-year-old farmer and damaging several houses and a Buddhist temple. The refugee population of about 24,000 fled with unknown casualties while MOULINAKA units were brushed aside, and KPNLF forces

414

Duthel Thailand Guide II

withdrew after a 36-hour fight. The Khao-I-Dang ICRC hospital received over 100 civilian wounded.

March 31: Hanoi launched a new round of fierce attacks when 1,000

Vietnamese troops, augmented by about 600 PRK “people’s volunteers,”

attacked the Khmer Rouge refugee settlements of Phnom Chat and Chamkar Kor, aided by artillery, rocket, and Soviet T-54 tank fire. Thai officials claimed that the Vietnamese attacks again had resulted in “spillovers” of Vietnamese artillery and mortar shells falling into adjacent Thai territory . Vietnamese groups did not hesitate to fire artillery shots, began spraying bullets into the Khmer Rouge headquarters on Thai territory, and clashed with Thai forces for several days, drawing Bangkok into a defensive campaign. Intense exchange of artillery and tank fire killed 30 civilians and injured some 300 persons. Approximately 22,000 Cambodian civilians fled to Thailand for refuge.

Early April: PAVN destroyed the camp of Phnom Chat, civilians evacuated to Red Hill. Sihanouk’s Camp David was attacked and civilians moved to Green Hill. One Thai jet was shot down.

April 3: At least 100 Vietnamese troops crossed into Thailand and fought hand-to-hand with a Thai border patrol, killing five Thai soldiers and wounding eight . An assault on Ampil Camp, the KPNLF headquarters, failed

because KPNLF sabotage units had blown up several fuel depots in the weeks prior to the attack, leaving the division short of diesel and unable to mobilize its armor.

December 27: Vietnam moved troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers into an area near the eastern border of Thailand and was apparently preparing to attack Cambodian guerrillas. About 350 Vietnamese troops with several T-54 tanks and armored personnel carriers arrived in Thmar Puok village in western Cambodia from Phnom Penh. Thmar Puok is 14 miles

southeast of the major base of the non-Communist Cambodian rebels and 16 miles from the Thai frontier. Thai military and security officials expected Vietnamese forces to begin a dry-season offensive against Cambodian guerrillas next month.

December: Vietnamese troops clashed with Thai troops repeatedly on land while Vietnamese gunboats opened fire on a fleet of ten Thai fishing trawlers about 20 miles off the southern Vietnamese coast, seizing five trawlers and capturing 130 fishermen.

1984

March 25-early April: Hanoi, in a third major incursion in five years, launched a 12-day cross-border operation and intruded into Thai territory in

pursuit Khmer Rouge rebels, using Soviet-made T-54 tank, 130-mm artillery, and some 400–600 troops. As a result, Thai artillery and air power had to be called into action, resulting in dozens of casualties on both sides and the downing of another Thai military airplane. Vietnam’s cross-border raid, along

415

with Thai military and civilian casualties, was reviewed as seriously undermining Thailand’s security. The minor clashes in the area of the Khmer Rouge camp, the Chong Phra Palai Pass linking Cambodia and Thailand.

April 15: Six hundred Vietnamese troops of the 5th Division and the 8th Border Defense Regiment first shelled, then entered Ampil Camp, a guerrilla base on the border, killing 85 and wounding about 60 Cambodian civilians. The dawn attack was supported by tanks and artillery. About 50 artillery shells landed on Thai territory near the base of KPNLF guerrillas. In a broadcast monitored in Bangkok, guerrillas loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk said Vietnam had eight battalions within striking distance of their stronghold at Tatum, a settlement just inside Cambodia’s northern border. Thai troops had been put on full alert to prevent a spillover of the fighting.

Late May-early June: Vietnamese Navy repeatedly attacked Thai fishing trawlers off the Vietnamese coast, resulting in the death of three Thai fishermen.

August 10: Vietnamese infantry, APCs and artillery stationed north of Ampil Camp shelled Nong Chan and Ampil, forcing 10,000 KPNLF troops and civilian refugees to flee into Thailand. Since the April 15 battle for Ampil, the KPNLF had regained control of the camp .

October 28: Thai Border Patrol Police capture 5 unarmed Vietnamese infantry regulars who had entered Thailand near Ban Wang Mon southeast of Aranyaprathet, reportedly looking for food .

November 6: Vietnamese troops attacked a lightly manned Thai Border

Patrol Police Outpost near Surin on the border. Two Thai soldiers were killed, 25 wounded and 5 missing in fighting for control of Hill 424 at Traveng, 180 miles northeast of Bangkok . About 100 soldiers from the PAVN’s 73d Regiment pushed about a mile into Thai territory but were later forced back into Cambodia by Thai forces. A Thai military source said the

Vietnamese crossed the border in pursuit of Khmer Rouge guerrillas .

November 18–26: Nong Chan Refugee Camp attacked by over 2000 soldiers of the PAVN’s 9th Division and fell after a week of fighting , during which 3 Vietnamese captains and 66 Cambodian soldiers of the PRKAF were killed . 30,000 civilians were moved to evacuation Site 3 (Ang Sila) then to Site 6 (Prey Chan).

December 8: Nam Yuen, a small camp in Eastern Thailand near the border with Laos, was shelled and evacuated.

December 11: Sok Sann was shelled and evacuated.

December 25: Nong Samet Refugee Camp attacked at dawn . The entire

Vietnamese 9th Infantry Division (over 4000 men) plus 18 artillery pieces and

27 T-54 tanks and armored personnel carriers participated in this assault . The Vietnamese deployed both 105mm and 130mm howitzers, Soviet-built M-46 field guns with a range of up to 27 kilometers. During the fighting KPNLAF guerrillas claimed 14 Vietnamese tanks and APCs were destroyed . An

416

Duthel Thailand Guide II

estimated 55 resistance fighters and 63 civilians died in the assault and 60,000 civilians were evacuated to Red Hill . Approximately 200 war wounded were evacuated to Khao-I-Dang. Numerous KPNLAF soldiers and officers, including General Dien Del, reported that during fighting at Nong Samet on December 27 the Vietnamese used a green-colored “nonlethal but powerful battlefield gas ” which stunned its victims and caused nausea and frothing at the mouth . Over 3500 KPNLAF troops held portions of the camp for about a week after this , but in the end it was abandoned .

December 31: Vietnamese troops ambushed two Thai Ranger units in

Buriram Province, wounding six and pinning them down with small arms fire

for over 24 hours .

1985

January–February: A powerful Vietnamese offensive overruns virtually all key bases of the Cambodian guerrillas along the frontier, putting the Thais and Vietnamese in direct confrontation along many stretches.

January 5: Paet Um attacked and evacuated.

January 7–8: Five to six thousand Vietnamese troops, backed by artillery and 15 T-54 tanks and 5 APCs , attacked Ampil (Ban Sangae). Vietnamese troops were supported by 400–500 Cambodian PRKAF troops . The attack was preceded by heavy artillery bombardment, with between 7000 and

20,000 shells falling over a 24-hour period. Nong Chan and Nong Samet were also shelled . Ampil camp fell to the Vietnamese after a few hours of fighting in spite of General Dien Del’s predictions . KPNLAF troops disabled

6 or 7 tanks but reportedly lost 103 men in combat . San Ro civilian population evacuated to Site 1. A Thai fighter plane, an A-37 Dragonfly, was shot down over Buriram Province during the fighting , killing one of the two crew members. During the assault on Ampil, Thai troops defending Hill 37 near Ban Sangae sustained 11 killed and 19 injured .

January 23–27: Dong Ruk and San Ro camps shelled, 18 civilians were killed . Population of 23,000 fled to Site A .

January 28–30: Vietnamese artillery fired about one hundred 130mm

shells, mortars and rockets at positions of the Khmer Rouge’s 320th Division near the Khao Din Refugee Camp about 34 miles south of Aranyaprathet. This was followed by an infantry assault on Khao Ta-ngoc .

February 13: Nong Pru, O’Shallac and Taprik (South of Aranyaprathet)

attacked and evacuated to Site 8.

February 16: In a skirmish with non-communist rebel forces near Ta Phraya, four Vietnamese rockets containing toxic gas were fired, causing Thai villagers in the area to complain of dizziness and vomiting. A Royal Thai Army laboratory confirmed that the rockets contained phosgene gas .

February 18: 300 Vietnamese troops assaulted Khmer Rouge positions near Khlong Nam Sai, 19 miles southeast of Aranyaprathet. Fighting began with small arms exchanges and escalated into a Vietnamese barrage with

417

heavy artillery and mortars. Thai troops fired warning shots at Vietnamese soldiers as they crossed the border in pursuit of fleeing Khmer Rouge guerrillas. One Thai villager was killed .

February 20: Vietnamese and Thai soldiers fought on a hill near the frontier that winds 450 miles between Thailand and Cambodia. Vietnamese forces tried to storm Hill 347, about half a mile inside Thailand’s northeastern province of Buriram . A Thai officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which included an artillery duel across the border .

March 5: Tatum attacked. Green Hill population evacuated to Site B.

Dong Ruk, San Ro, Ban Sangae, and Vietnamese Land Refugees are all

moved to Site 2. Some 1000 Vietnamese troops were regularly intruding into Thai territory in attempts to outflank units of the Cambodian resistance groups. As these groups received support through Thailand and even had possible escape routes through Thai territory, their backs were kept free – as long as Vietnamese troops attacking the resistance factions respect Thai territory. .

March 6: Thai troops and aircraft forced Vietnamese troops to retreat

from one of three hills on Thai territory which the Vietnamese had captured during preceding days. Royal Thai Air Force fighter-bombers flew missions

against about 1,000 Vietnamese who crossed the Thai-Cambodian border in two places . The Thai counter attack against the intruding Vietnamese troops left some 60 people dead.

March 7: Thai army troops supported by artillery and U.S.-supplied A-37

Dragonfly aircraft recaptured three hills seized May 5 by intruding Vietnamese soldiers. Hundreds of Vietnamese were said to have been driven back across the border into Cambodia. However, the Vietnamese counterattacked against Hill 361 on Thai soil behind the besieged Cambodian guerrilla base at Tatum, and the results of the battle were not immediately

clear. 14 Thai soldiers and 15 Thai civilians had been killed.

April 4: A clash occurred at Laem Nong Ian, a restricted area 15 miles southeast of this Thai border town, after five Vietnamese intruded about 875 yards into Thailand.

April 6: Border policemen killed a Vietnamese soldier in Thailand during a

10-minute fight near the border.

April 20: At southeastern Thailand’s Trat Province, some 1,200

Vietnamese troops attacked Thai positions situated 3 to 4 km from the Gulf

of Thailand. Instead of withdrawing the Vietnamese set up a permanent base on a hill in Thailand, about a half mile from the border, where they laid mines and built bunkers. Later, escalating Thai attacks had pushed some of the Vietnamese back into Cambodia, but the Hanoi government dispatched a fresh battalion of 600 to 800 men to reinforce the hilltop half a mile inside Thailand.

418

Duthel Thailand Guide II

May 10: A Thai soldier was killed after stepping on a land mine while on patrol.

May 11: Thailand’s American-made jet fighters and heavy artillery pounded Vietnamese troops occupying a hill half a mile inside Thailand, and Thai soldiers poised for an assault on the heavily mined position. The Thais bombed and shelled the Vietnamese before an infantry operation was to be launched in the Banthad Mountain range, 170 miles southeast of Bangkok. The Vietnamese were dug in along the hill and had laid a string of mines to counter any Thai ground assaults. Seven Thai soldiers have been reported killed and at least 16 were injured. Radio Hanoi reported a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry statement denying the latest reported incursion into Thailand. Thailand had accused Vietnam of at least 40 cross-border forays in search of Cambodian guerrillas since November 1984, but the Vietnamese government had denied the charges.

May 15: Vietnamese and Thai soldiers clashed for about eight hours with

mortars, antitank cannons and machine guns.

May 17: Thai soldiers drove intruding Vietnamese soldiers back into Cambodia in intense fighting along Thailand’s southeastern border. After more than a week of fighting, Thai rangers and marines seized part of a Vietnamese-occupied hill just inside the Thai border the previous days.

May: An approximate 230,000 Khmer civilians were in temporary evacuations in Thailand after a very successful Vietnamese dry season offensive.

May 26: Vietnamese soldiers crossed into the Thai province of Ubon Ratchathani from northern Cambodia, apparently searching for Cambodian guerrillas. A Vietnamese force killed five Thai soldiers and a civilian in a one-hour clash with Thai border patrols in northeast Thailand. The fighting prompted Thai provincial authorities to evacuate about 600 civilians from two

border villages to safer areas in the Nam Yuen district.

June 13: Thai forces battled 400 Vietnamese troops who crossed into

Thailand.

1986

January 23: The barrage was aimed at a Thai marine outpost in Haad Lek, a village at the southern tip of the border. The Vietnamese fire came from a hill overlooking Haad Lek, inside Cambodian territory. “This appears to be a deliberate provocation by the Vietnamese,” a Thai Navy spokesman said. “It

does not look like a spillover of fighting inside Cambodia.” A Thai warship in the Gulf of Thailand responded by shelling the Vietnamese artillery base. The warship fired more than 100 shells and the Vietnamese more than 70 shells.

January 25: Vietnamese heavy guns pounded a Thai border post, killing three marines and causing an artillery battle with a Thai warship offshore.

December 7: Vietnamese troops warned Thailand against continuing to support Cambodian guerrillas. A loudspeaker broadcast and leaflets shot from

419

cannon near Amphoe Aranyaprathet appealed to Thailand to refuse sanctuary to the guerrillas and warned that it would bear the “consequences” if it refuses.

1987

March 25: Army Commander-in-Chief General Chavalit announces an all-out offensive against Vietnamese troops who have intruded into Thai territory beyond the set 5 km limit.

April 17: Thai forces tried to oust Vietnamese infantry from Chong Bok, a mountainous region where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia converge. Casualties in double figures have been reported on both sides.

May 30: Thai Rangers patrol the Chong Bok region where fighting has raged to dislodge Vietnamese from entrenched positions just inside Thai territory.

Mid-1987: The 800-kilometer Thai-Cambodian border was fully

garrisoned by Vietnamese and Cambodian forces.

1988

April 22: Vietnamese troops crossed the border and ambushed a company of border police, killing four of the Thai soldiers and wounding another in the first clash between the two sides since last spring. The company of five Thai police was patrolling a strategic point near the border in Buriram Province,

174 miles east of Bangkok, when a Vietnamese soldier hurled a grenade into the group and opened fire with rifles. The Vietnamese soldiers were more than 500 yards inside Thai territory when they staged the attack.

June 12: At about 9 a.m., Vietnamese 105mm and 85mm artillery shelled a Thai village, killing two villagers and wounding two others. Six artillery shells struck four miles deep inside Thailand.

August 4: The leader of the Chart Thai Party, General Chatichai

Choonhavan, becomes the 17th Prime minister of Thailand, he promises “to

turn battlefields into market places”.

1989

April 26: Vietnamese troops fired four artillery shells into Site Two, the largest of the Cambodian refugee camps with a population of more than

198,000. Three people were severely wounded. After the shelling, the camp was reportedly closed to Western aid officials, including members of the United Nations Border Relief Operation, which provided aid for the camp.

September–December: Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the [[Library of

Congress] July 1994, Retrieved on June 11, 2008].

More Info’s on the Internet

Wars of Vietnam: From the Beginning of the 20th Century to the Present

Thai-Cambodian Border History in detail

Wisutkasat

Duthel Thailand Guide II

Phra Wisutkasat (Thai: ), was a Siamese Queen and Princess during the Ayutthaya period in the 16th century, born Phra Sawatdirat ( ) to Prince Thianracha (later King Maha Chakkraphat) and

Suriyothai. She was a mother of two kings (Naresuan and Ekathotsarot, and the maternal ancestor of the Sukhothai Dynasty, which ruled Ayutthaya from

1569-1629.

Life

In 1548 she married Maha Thammaracha, a cousin on her mother’s side. He was made Lord of Phitsanulok, soon after helping Maha Chakkraphat to

the throne through a palace coup. She bore Thammaracha three children, two sons: Phra Naretsuan born in 1555, Phra Ekathotsarot (both became Kings) and one daughter Phra Suphankanlaya. In 1563, King Bayinnaung of Burma invaded Siam. The city of Phitsanulok was forced to surrender and her husband switched his allegiance from her father to his enemy. In 1568, she took part in the kidnapping of her younger sister Phra Thepkassatri, who was betrothed to King Setthathirath of Lan Xang, in order to thwart an attempted alliance between Ayutthaya and Laos against her husband. In 1569 her husband ascended the throne with the help of Bayinnaung as King Maha Thammarachathirat or Sanphet I, and together they became the founders of the Sukhothai Dynasty.

Children

Princess Suphankanlaya, later became a consort of Bayinnaung

Prince Naret or Naresuan, later King Sanphet II Prince Ekathotsarot, later King Sanphet III References

Wood, William A. R. (1924). History of Siam. Thailand: Chalermit Press. ISBN 1931541108.

Women in Thailand

Women in Thailand were among the first women in Asia who were

granted the right to vote in 1932. However, they are still underrepresented in Thai politics. The roles of women in Thailand’s national development has not yet been fully established. Factors that affect women’s participation in the socio-economic field include “inadequate gender awareness in the policy and planning process” and social stereotyping.

Politics

Despite of the absence of legal limitations to women participating in the politic arena of Thailand, the factors that impeded the rise of women in

political activities include structural barriers, cultural impediments, lower educational attainments, lower socio-economic status, and power-sharing issues with the opposite sex. It was only on June 5, 1949 that Orapin Chaiyakan became the first Thai woman to be elected to hold a post in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Thailand.

Business

In the realm of entrepreneurship, Thailand’s female population comprised

47% of the country’s workforce, which makes up the highest percentage of

working women in the region of the Asia-Pacific. However, these women are

also confronted by hiring discrimination and gender inequality in relation to wages because of being “concentrated in lower-paying jobs”. In relation to women’s welfare, somen women of Thailand are prone to becoming victims of spousal or marital rape, human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of domestic abuse and sex crimes.

Marriage

According to the National Statistical Office of Thailand, female Thailanders marry at an earlier age than male Thailanders, and that 24% of Thai households have women identified as “heads of households”. In 2007, The New York Times reported that after the Vietnam War, Thailand became the main “rest and recreation” and “sex tourism” destination of male foreigners, resulting to some marriage arrangements with Thai women. Among those who establish such marriage arrangements are men from Europe and the United States seeking companionship and economic relief particularly during retirement age. The Thai women, on the other hand, enter into the marriage arrangements in order to redeem themselves from their former life as prostitutes, from abandonment by former partners, and as an escape from “poverty and unhappiness”. But not all Thai women who entered into this type of marriage were former prostitutes.

Further readings

Macan-Markar, Marwaan. Battered Women, No Longer Alone, Rights-Thailand, ipsnews.net, November 24, 2005

Praparnun, Yada Gender Sensitivity & Accountability in Thai

Government Policy Formulation, Implementation & Evaluation from an

Historical Perspective, Paper for presentation at the IAFFE 2009 conference in Boston, USA

More Info’s on the Internet

Women’s Organisations Thailand

Education in Thailand

Ministry of Education

Minister of Education Prof. Dr. Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech

National education budget (2005)

Budget ?262,938.3M (21.91% national budget)

General details

Primary languages Thai System type National Literacy (2005)

Duthel Thailand Guide II

Total 92.6

Male 96

Female 92

Enrollment

Total N/A Attainment

Secondary diploma N/A

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

, Master in Philosophy on behalf: IAC Society Thaland