Thai/Laos Border War

[LifeOverHere]

The Thai/Laos border war of the late 1980's has almost completely been erased from the Thai history books. Possibly due to the huge loss of face that happened.

Also, there was a near complete media blackout instituted by the government of the time.

Started off with a Thai generals logging interests and his arrogance nearly causing a massive conflict. Thailand receieved a pretty severe ass whipping from their "inferior" neighbor.

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai%E2%80%93Laotian_Border_War

The Thai–Laotian Border War (December 1987 – February 1988) was a short confrontation between Thai and Laotian forces. It was caused by a dispute involving the map made by French surveyors in 1907 to mark the borders between Siamand French Indochina in the southern Luang Prabang Range mountain area. Ownership of the village of Ban Romklao on the border of Phitsanulok Province and three small border villages on the edge of Uttaradit Province was left unclear. (This is the same map underlying the Cambodian–Thai border dispute. The agreed factor in determining ownership was the natural watershed, but the French map makers at times ignored this.^[2])

A series of minor shooting incidents had occurred between Thai and Laotian forces in 1984. In December 1987, however, Thai armed forces occupied the disputed village of Ban Romklao, raising the Thai flag over it. The government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic protested strongly, insisting the village was part of Botèn district of Xaignabouli province. Thailand replied that the village belonged to Chat Trakan district (amphoe) of Phitsanulok Province. Laotian Army forces staged a night attack on the small Thai garrison, driving the Thai soldiers from the village and replacing the Thai flag with that of the Lao PDR. Serious fighting followed, continuing for weeks until a cease-fire was declared on February 19, 1988.

The brief war claimed a total of about 1,000 casualties, the Thais suffering more heavily since for much of the war they were attacking entrenched Laotian positions. Gen. Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was the commander of the Royal Thai Army at the time of the war and was criticized for engaging in it against the wishes of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Vietnam had assisted its communist ally, sending troops from the Second Vietnamese Infantry Division to Baan Nakok air field in Xaignabouli to support the Laotian military operations, amidst the border clashes with Thailand along the Thai–Cambodian border.^[3]

[96tehtarp]

I got my first visa for The Lao PDR in '87. It was an interesting period. Their embassy in Washington DC held my passport for almost 4 months before I was able to get the visa.

As mentioned in the OP not much information is available regarding this period. I wonder if it is even mentioned in the Thai school history curriculum.

[samran]

Almost erased from the history books? So the OP has gone off and studied what is online in Thai about it?

http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

[Norrad]

Almost erased from the history books? So the OP has gone off and studied what is online in Thai about it?

http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

The link seems to have been deleted

[CMHomeboy78]

Almost erased from the history books? So the OP has gone off and studied what is online in Thai about it?

http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

It's not a defeat if they fight to the last man... like at the Alamo... it's a victory.

In 1987-8 my brother-in-law's brother-in-law was a young soldier in the RTA.

He took part in the counter-assault on Ban Rom Klao where his eyebrows were burned off by a flash-grenade, or some kind of incendiary device.

The OP is slightly mistaken in saying that the conflict was "...erased from the Thai history books" - it was never in them to begin with.

The short war was not only undeclared, it was unreported.

[samran]

Almost erased from the history books? So the OP has gone off and studied what is online in Thai about it?

http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

The link seems to have been deleted

works on my iphone but not on the browser, strange.

just google สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า anyway

[h90]

Almost erased from the history books? So the OP has gone off and studied what is online in Thai about it?

http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/สมรภูมิบ้นร่มเกล้า

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

Germany and Austria celebrate that they lost the second worldwar....

[fatmoose]

_{Just like other countries. They tend to leave out any defeats in their history books or in some cases, change the actual history to suit them in order to make them look "the good guys" in the war.}

_{The Thais always had a hatred for the Laos anyway. Just another excuse to pick a fight. The hatred must have started during the era where the Burmese were all high and mighty within the region.}

Edited August 25, 2014 by fatmoose

[Norrad]

Found an old thread about the border war: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/123698-laothai-border-war/

[AussieGuy50]

I was in the Aussie Army and in Tailand in the mid 80's. We operated out of RAAF base Butterworth in Malaysia. We conducted 60 odd day border patrol 'around' Tailand, led by a contingent of Tai MP's. We had 3 magazines blank and 3 live, 7.62 SLR's. We were told "If you come into contact with Laos troops, try to scare them off with blanks first." One fine day, a bunch of Laos troops opened-up on us... ...we were told not to say anything more about that day. Wish I could... Politics...

[simon43]

What Thai/Laos border war?

[laolover88]

It is not just that little fracas that is erased. There is hardly any "Thai" history. Lots of "periodss" Sukothai, Rattanakosin etc.. Lanna, Laos, "Hill tribe" provinces, Khmers, Mons even FujianHokkien Teochew speaking people have a real history that is far more significant that the ersatz Thai hisstory invented in the 1930s

Anyone interested in the past of Thailand should read

• Thongchai Winichakul. Siam Mapped. University of Hawaii Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8248-1974-8

[gomangosteen]

The only countries that i know which celebrate, let alone mention, a defeat in war are australia and New Zealand.

Commemorate. There is a difference.

This year marks 100 years since the first Anzac Day services were held, after the Massey Government declared 25th April 1916 a half-day holiday in recognition for the dead of Gallipoli.

Prime Minister William Massey said in 1916:

We do honour to the men our men who have perished the men who fell fighting, the men who have fallen for the honour of their country their memory will never be forgotten, so long as the Southern Cross looks down on Australia and on the islands of New Zealand.

[CMHomeboy78]

It is not just that little fracas that is erased. There is hardly any "Thai" history. Lots of "periodss" Sukothai, Rattanakosin etc.. Lanna, Laos, "Hill tribe" provinces, Khmers, Mons even FujianHokkien Teochew speaking people have a real history that is far more significant that the ersatz Thai hisstory invented in the 1930s

Anyone interested in the past of Thailand should read

• Thongchai Winichakul. Siam Mapped. University of Hawaii Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8248-1974-8

History isn't taught very well in Thai schools.

Sources do exist for those who are interested. A good start might be D.G.E.Hall's A History of South-East Asia, which puts Siam/Thailand in a regional context. First published in 1955, it has been revised in many editions and has never been surpassed as an overview of Southeast Asian history from paleolithic times until the modern era.

Historical chronicles began to be studied and translated into pah-sah glahng and some European languages during the reign of King Chulalongkorn [Rama V] and continued throughout the 20th century by Prince Damrong Rajanubhab, Camille Notton, Hans Penth, and David K.Wyatt among others.

The Journal of the Siam Society is a wealth of information about Thai history, art, and culture that can be accessed online beginning with the first volume published in 1904.

There is no shortage of primary sources from the early 19th century when Americans and Europeans settled in the kingdom in large numbers and began to write about their experiences.

Disabuse yourself of the mistaken notion that there is hardly any "Thai" history. There most certainly is and it makes a fascinating study.

Edited April 18, 2016 by CMHomeboy78