Chaiyaphums Role During Vietnam War

[dee123]

can anyone enlighten me on the role of the us military base in the town of chaiyaphum,where my dear wife used to pilfer scraps of food with her 9 brothers and sisters as they lived next door to it.....thanks

[thaibites0]

can anyone enlighten me on the role of the us military base in the town of chaiyaphum,where my dear wife used to pilfer scraps of food with her 9 brothers and sisters as they lived next door to it.....thanks

Yes we can , it was there to carpet bomb innocent civillians in Laos and Coambodia - read the papers and maybe do a rethink about the quagmire in Iraq!

[dee123]

what im really looking for thaibites is some who knows the truth which is slighty different from what you might read in papers,

[dee123]

it was a thai airbase i believe which the u.s visited on occassions,what i wanted to know was the point you did raise were bombing raids covertly carried out ,my wife thought they were training thai pilots but i dont read newspapers i wipe my arse with them

[phibunmike]

it was a thai airbase i believe which the u.s visited on occassions,what i wanted to know was the point you did raise were bombing raids covertly carried out ,my wife thought they were training thai pilots but i dont read newspapers i wipe my arse with them

They were covert in the sense that the US government lied to the American people (and to lower levels of the government), denying that any such operation was taking place.

edit> typo

Edited January 10, 2007 by phibunmike

[Mai Krap]

The history experts are making a bad show again. If the experts want to bash America they should include her allies and something a little more recent like the United Nations supporting the Khmer Rouge and the U.K. supplying them with landmines and antitank weaponry. How about British support of the Bhurmese Government and U.K. arms manufacturing in Bhurma thats happening this very moment as I type.

Back to Vietnam, You should ask on some Vietnam History websites or find a VFW in Udon, Khorat, or where some the guys hang around that were there, for the most part there is not much information on this on Thai Visa and it just brings out the "experts" to ask about it here, sorry.

[phibunmike]

The history experts are making a bad show again. If the experts want to bash America they should include her allies and something a little more recent like the United Nations supporting the Khmer Rouge and the U.K. supplying them with landmines and antitank weaponry. How about British support of the Bhurmese Government and U.K. arms manufacturing in Bhurma thats happening this very moment as I type.

Back to Vietnam, You should ask on some Vietnam History websites or find a VFW in Udon, Khorat, or where some the guys hang around that were there, for the most part there is not much information on this on Thai Visa and it just brings out the "experts" to ask about it here, sorry.

Jai yen yen

The question asked was whether the US carried out covert bombing operations from Chaiyaphum during the Vietnam War - I think the so-called "secret war" is quite well documented and, as far as I recall, no longer even denied by the US. To mention UK or Burma etc. would be off-topic and irrelevant, although I definately agree that the UK, amongst others, has committed many atrocious acts too. The fact that the American people did not know about the bombings seems to be more a case of letting them off the hook rather than bashing them. But my response was in any case intended to be a clarification of a point of history, not a judgemental remark.

Cheers,

Mike

[dee123]

The history experts are making a bad show again. If the experts want to bash America they should include her allies and something a little more recent like the United Nations supporting the Khmer Rouge and the U.K. supplying them with landmines and antitank weaponry. How about British support of the Bhurmese Government and U.K. arms manufacturing in Bhurma thats happening this very moment as I type.

Back to Vietnam, You should ask on some Vietnam History websites or find a VFW in Udon, Khorat, or where some the guys hang around that were there, for the most part there is not much information on this on Thai Visa and it just brings out the "experts" to ask about it here, sorry.

Jai yen yen

The question asked was whether the US carried out covert bombing operations from Chaiyaphum during the Vietnam War - I think the so-called "secret war" is quite well documented and, as far as I recall, no longer even denied by the US. To mention UK or Burma etc. would be off-topic and irrelevant, although I definately agree that the UK, amongst others, has committed many atrocious acts too. The fact that the American people did not know about the bombings seems to be more a case of letting them off the hook rather than bashing them. But my response was in any case intended to be a clarification of a point of history, not a judgemental remark.

Cheers,

Mike

thanks mike i just thought it would be great to trace the kind american guys who gave food for my wifes family .politics is not an issue here as you have pointed out.

[dee123]

hey...... i will tell you a little bit more although my wife is now a big fat lady back then her mother was all alone to take care of 10 kids as her father used to dissapear to korat after each child was conceived to drink lao kao, and my wife tells me for two years her only pair of shorts had a massive hole on her backside that she used to cover up with whatever she could find, and later at the age of 12 she was sold to a chinese lady for housework in bangkok ,i love my wife so much i just want to shake that american mans hand and say thanks.

[phibunmike]

hey...... i will tell you a little bit more although my wife is now a big fat lady back then her mother was all alone to take care of 10 kids as her father used to dissapear to korat after each child was conceived to drink lao kao, and my wife tells me for two years her only pair of shorts had a massive hole on her backside that she used to cover up with whatever she could find, and later at the age of 12 she was sold to a chinese lady for housework in bangkok ,i love my wife so much i just want to shake that american mans hand and say thanks.

Hi dee123,

If you search the internet under "ravens" and "ubon" and "b66" (I think - I'm not an expert on aircraft types) you should find some sites run by the guys who were stationed at these various bases and who try to keep some of their memories alive.

[dee123]

thanks mike

[thaibites0]

My wife and her family befriended by an Australian Major that just wanted to chat to real people - he was stationed in Ubon during that fiasco and wanted something other than the NAAFI or the girly bars, he writes to the whole family often and there is always a Christmas card for all of the extended family.

We have been to visit him in Sydney but at 86 years old he is joining the other vietnam vets - just memories now. One would have to wonder just why so many American servicemen were stationed at chiayaphum if it was just a Thai airforce base and visited 'rarely' by the American airforce!

Sorry, no real info on chiayaphum as an American airbase but then again I guess it is very deeply buried - much like Saddam now - bad news needs a VERY big shovel.

Our resident expert (so easy to be an 'expert' on the key board - mai pen rai Chai krup?) has given you the best lead - talk to the guys that were there, they might be few and far between now but there were a lot of them stationed there!

There are VFW stations here in Thailand but you would be looking for the older members. I guess VFW is a growing business everywhere - what a pity that they never actually go home when the war is over. Still, lots of money to pay for all those bases isn't there?

[NovaBlue05]

We have been to visit him in Sydney but at 86 years old he is joining the other vietnam vets - just memories now.

At 86, he is likely a veteran of the Pacific theatre during WWII. Most Vietnam vets are 25- 30 years younger

[Nignoy]

hey...... i will tell you a little bit more although my wife is now a big fat lady back then her mother was all alone to take care of 10 kids as her father used to dissapear to korat after each child was conceived to drink lao kao, and my wife tells me for two years her only pair of shorts had a massive hole on her backside that she used to cover up with whatever she could find, and later at the age of 12 she was sold to a chinese lady for housework in bangkok ,i love my wife so much i just want to shake that american mans hand and say thanks.

Hi dee123,

If you search the internet under "ravens" and "ubon" and "b66" (I think - I'm not an expert on aircraft types) you should find some sites run by the guys who were stationed at these various bases and who try to keep some of their memories alive.

One of our interpreters was from chaiyaphum, we went home with him a couple of times in 63/64 at that time the base was thai airforce with a small force of american advisors, but there were always large planes from korat or Ubon,landing there as far as I can remember they were transport planes practising circuits and bumps, there were lots of this type of small airfield all over the northeast. Nignoy

[Aujuba]

Would it have been some kind of emergency landing place should Korat or the other local airbases have problems? Has Thailand's provincial map changed since then? Was Chaiyapum even a province at that time? I'm just throwing up ideas; I'm not seeking to distract anyone.

[dee123]

thanks everyone for your comments,well it looks like chaiyaphums (town of)was a thai base occasionally used by western services during the vietnam war,funny though both my next door neighbour "tong" and another local "suton"were employed by the US during the war.not sure excatly what they did but one day suton turned up at my house without his buddists robes which he had been wearing for the past 25 years he said to me "i had a dream for the past 25 years it was that when i walked out of the monastry i would walk out with a falang,well i was honoured to accompany him on the first day of his new life,and we spent the hole day walking round all his friends houses surprising them of his new status,then eventually buying vast amounts of gold then getting stupendously drunk.he then onwards took on a tour guides job in chaing mai.

[farangatm]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines. I have met (and know personally) several Vietnam Vets who spent time in Udon, but most of these were Special Forces, electronic spying experts, etc. The Laotian (Hmong) leader Vang Pao, a US ally, conducted a lot of his operations through Thailand too. Don't forget too that the Laotian PDR was a puppet state of the of the Soviet Union during this cold war time. Aren't you glad it's over?

[ChiefBEM]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines.

Sorry to differ,

however,

Utapao, Thailand was the home base to a squadron of B-52s.

I was a spotter for "High Value Targets" in Vietnam, western Cambodia and Laos.

Ubon Royal Thailand AirBase was home to 134 F-4s, a squadron of C130 Gun Ships, and other misc aircraft.

[ChiefBEM]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines.

Sorry to differ,

however,

Utapao, Thailand was the home base to a squadron of B-52s.

I was a spotter for "High Value Targets" in Vietnam, western Cambodia and Laos.

Ubon Royal Thailand AirBase was home to 134 F-4s, a squadron of C130 Gun Ships, and other misc aircraft.

For some reason the system says I am not authorized to edit my post.

So here is a bit more information about Utapao.

In the spring of 1967, B-52Ds were sent to U Tapao Airfield in Thailand, from which they were able to complete their missions without inflight refuelling. U Tapao was initially more of a forward field than it was a main operating base, with responsibility for scheduling missions still remaining on Guam. Small numbers of aircraft were drawn from each SAC B-52D unit to support the effort in Thailand, which was vested in the 4258th Strategic Wing. By 1970, U Tapao had assumed sole responsibility for the Arc Light campaign and was home for over 40 B-52s, and it became a main operating base with a much greater degree of self-sufficiency. In 1970, the 4258th SW was eliminated and replaced by the 207th SW.

[Nignoy]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines.

Sorry to differ,

however,

Utapao, Thailand was the home base to a squadron of B-52s.

I was a spotter for "High Value Targets" in Vietnam, western Cambodia and Laos.

Ubon Royal Thailand AirBase was home to 134 F-4s, a squadron of C130 Gun Ships, and other misc aircraft.

Phantom jet fighters also flew from ubon as early as 1964 , they always used to beat up our camp on their way back from patrol Nignoy

[lopburi3]

Wikipedia says below and that is how I remember it.

During the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force operated seven Major Air Bases in Thailand. They were:

Don Muang RTAFB

Korat RTAFB

Nakhon Phanom RTAFB

Takhli RTAFB

U-Tapao RTNAF

Ubon RTAFB

Udon RTAFB

[Nignoy]

Wikipedia says below and that is how I remember it.

During the Vietnam War, the United States Air Force operated seven Major Air Bases in Thailand. They were:

Don Muang RTAFB

Korat RTAFB

Nakhon Phanom RTAFB

Takhli RTAFB

U-Tapao RTNAF

Ubon RTAFB

Udon RTAFB

All the above mentioned Bases and others were fully operative and being used By US and Commonwealth Air Forces in 1963 for Active Service which was long before the Vietnam War Started Nignoy

[lopburi3]

Actually by 1963 the US was at the Special Forces stage in Viet Nam from my understanding.

[Tywais]

I was stationed at the Utapao Royal Thai Air Force Base and the Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base during the Vietnam war. I'm not familiar with a force stationed there (Chaiyaphum) and suspect it was a covert operations base (small contingency) so information may be difficult to obtain. There are Vietnam Veterans of Thailand forums around so you could search for one and ask there. Here is a map and some info on the US bases in Thailand at that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States...rce_In_Thailand

Details on the bases > http://www.tlc-brotherhood.org/bases.htm

[tso310]

On this site http://www.thai-aviation.net/ you can see details all a/c accidents that have happen on Thai soil. This includes numerous ones from the Vietnam War era. Perhaps the most interesting one is the SR-71A on 10 May 1970 near Korat. Also in the 1980s a few a/c were shot down by the Vietnamese on the Cambodian border in Buriram and Surin provinces.

[ChiefBEM]

"USAF Withdrawal From Thailand

The United States ended its involvement in Southeast Asia by treaty and disengagement rather than by military victory. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, relations between Washington and Bangkok turned sour. In May 1975, the Royal Thai Government asked the United States to remove all of its combat forces (27,000 troops, 300 aircraft) by 1976.

The USAF bases were closed and the last USAF personnel left Thailand in June 1976."

One important fact in relation to the USA pulling its military forces out of Thailand in 1975 has not been stated.

In 1975 Thailand experienced a political coup!

The Thai Government was taken over by military and civilian personnel that were fearful of Vietnam invading Thailand. They had even met with North Vietnam officials and pledged their allegiance to the Communist Government of North Vietnam.

The USA military was kicked-out of Thailand.

Some bases that were primary USA operated looked out the doors and saw they were surrounded by Thai tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry. USA personnel on these bases were given 48 hours to get out of Thailand!

History shows that the leadership in the new Thai Government did not (as customs require) seek an audience with the King. Finally, the King sent a message to the coup leaders that he would like to talk to them before he addressed the people of Thailand on his perspective on the coup and the new leaders of the Thai Parliament.

It was a short meeting.

The King of Thailand was not happy with the coup.

Before the King addressed the people of Thailand the following day, the senior leaders of the coup had already departed the Thai Kingdom.

With direction/advice from the King of Thailand, a new government was formed that was not pro-communist.

One of the first actions taken by the new government was to invite the USA back to the Kingdom of Thailand.

A liaison office was re-opened. However, the office was less than 20 personnel.

Yes. We (USA) did start annual war games in Thailand with joint USA, Thai, and SEATO military forces.

[Kujah]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines. I have met (and know personally) several Vietnam Vets who spent time in Udon, but most of these were Special Forces, electronic spying experts, etc. The Laotian (Hmong) leader Vang Pao, a US ally, conducted a lot of his operations through Thailand too. Don't forget too that the Laotian PDR was a puppet state of the of the Soviet Union during this cold war time. Aren't you glad it's over?

Talking about the good old days, , there were B-52s at the U.S. Air Force Base at Utapo.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Kujah

[ChiefBEM]

I'm not sure where the base is of which you speak, but America most certainly did not carpet-bomb fro Thai bases -- they did that with B-52s flying out of Okinawa, Japan, or the Phillipines. I have met (and know personally) several Vietnam Vets who spent time in Udon, but most of these were Special Forces, electronic spying experts, etc. The Laotian (Hmong) leader Vang Pao, a US ally, conducted a lot of his operations through Thailand too. Don't forget too that the Laotian PDR was a puppet state of the of the Soviet Union during this cold war time. Aren't you glad it's over?

Talking about the good old days, , there were B-52s at the U.S. Air Force Base at Utapo.

Everyone has been addressing the US Air Force in Thailand.

The US Army ran telecommunications sites throughout Thailand.

Some of these sites were staffed with 10 or less men.

The US Army was assigned the primary responsibility for all Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence operations in Thailand. In excess of 500 Intelligence Operators were stationed in Bangkok and several hundred in Udorn. Additionally, small detachments were located in Ubon, Chaing Mai, NKP, Korat, and other locations.

The Army also was in the lead for supply and logistics in support of all the USA Forces in Thailand.

[Gary A]

I think if you do some research you will find that the US built U-Tapao specifically for the B-52's. At that time U-Tapao had the longest runways in all of Asia, and maybe they still are. That said, I really hate to see politics and hate involved in our little peaceful Issan section of Thai Visa. History is history.

[thaibites0]

Politics and hate Gary? Surely it is just history here, might not be taught in the schools now but US bases in Thailand was a fact - the only thing that is hidden is what those bases did.

For a country that has never been invaded (except the invasion 400 years ago) there seems to be a lot of US bases around the world.

Should we tar the UK government with the same brush (I do - Mr Blair needs to be on the same gallows) as we do our beloved leader?

Try making a list of US military bases and start with the arch enemy 'Cuba' - just how do you get a military base in a country you hate?

Edited January 13, 2007 by thaibites0