| Nakhon Phanom, a province in the north-eastern | | | | missions over neighbouring Laos in a war (1965 - |
| Thailand about 740 km from Bangkok, is right on the | | | | 1975) in which American involvement was not |
| banks of the Mekong River between the provinces | | | | officially acknowledged by the US government. Some |
| of Nong Khai to the north and Mukdakan to the | | | | of these units operated from Nakhon Phanom. |
| south. Laos is just across the river. The Mekong | | | | This is where our story begins. |
| starts in China and flows through Thailand, Laos, | | | | A visitor to Nakhon Phanom city, a modern city |
| Cambodia and Vietnam. | | | | today, can't help but notice the Vietnamese influence. |
| Like many provinces in Thailand, the provincial capital | | | | There's clock tower built in 1960 dedicated to the |
| shares the same name as the province. Nakhon | | | | Vietnamese return to their motherland, a monument |
| Phanom city (City of Hills) is on the banks of the | | | | for the Vietnamese migrants. |
| Mekong. A road runs along the banks with an | | | | There're a number of Vietnamese restaurants in |
| esplanade. | | | | town. In the city outskirts there's a Thai-Vietnamese |
| To get there, we took a morning bus from Mor Chit, | | | | Friendship Village in Ban Na Chok with a Vietnamese |
| the northern bus terminal in Bangkok. Once on the | | | | cemetery. The local television here includes a |
| highway, we leave the congestion of Bangkok behind | | | | Vietnamese channel. |
| and get into open country. | | | | Vietnamese migration to Thailand began as early as |
| Our journey took us up the rocky hills towards the | | | | 18th - 19th C when Catholics fleeing religious |
| Korat plateau, the gateway to Isarn, northern | | | | persecution settled here. Later emigrants were those |
| eastern Thailand, through Maha Sarakam, Roi Et, | | | | opposed to French colonial rule. The period from the |
| Yasothon and Mukdahan provinces. I'm glad I took | | | | end of WW II to the Second Indochina War saw |
| the suggestion to travel by day. It's a wonderful way | | | | further Vietnamese migration to Thailand. |
| to see a cross section of rural Thailand. | | | | Of those Vietnamese who sought political asylum in |
| We passed miles and miles of rice fields for as far as | | | | Thailand during their struggle for independence from |
| the eye can see. This is part of the rice bowl of | | | | the French, some settled in Nakhon Phanom owing to |
| Thailand and of many countries where rice is the | | | | its proximity. |
| staple food. Isolated houses, grazing cows, haystacks | | | | About 4 km from Nakhon Phanom city, is a wooden |
| and tractors were some of the idyllic scenes | | | | house where a Vietnamese in exile stayed in the |
| encountered along the way. | | | | 1920s as he continued with his quest for freedom for |
| But it hasn't always been this peaceful. In the 20th | | | | his country. |
| century, Nakhon Phanom played host to two of the | | | | Ho Chi Minh's house near Ban Na Chok, the Thai - |
| major adversaries in the Vietnam War. The legacy of | | | | Vietnamese Friendship Village, is now preserved as a |
| that period remains to this day. | | | | museum. The spartan interior in Ho Chi Minh's house |
| During the Second Vietnam War (1954 - 1975), the | | | | consists of a hall and two smaller rooms to the rear. |
| United States maintained several air bases in Thailand | | | | An altar and Ho's working desk are carefully |
| from which air strikes were launched against North | | | | preserved at one end of the hall. So is the table in |
| Vietnam. These bases were Don Muang, Nakhon | | | | the centre where Ho had his meals or met with |
| Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), Takhli, Udon | | | | compatriots. On a wooden platform at the other end |
| Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Utapao. However not all | | | | of the hall, a common piece of furniture in rural |
| the air operations were directed at North Vietnam. | | | | Thailand, I could just imagine Ho sitting and yarning |
| Back in 1963, Nakhon Phanom was a small border | | | | with visitors or even taking a nap. |
| town with dirt roads and a small air strip near town. | | | | In one of the small rooms to the rear, Ho's hats and |
| Seabees or the US Navy's Construction Battalions | | | | clothing are neatly placed in two small cupboards. |
| built a new airfield outside town with a PSP | | | | The old photos on the walls of the hall are a wealth |
| (perforated steel planking) runway and wooden | | | | of history. A particular photo caught my eye, Ho Chi |
| shacks. The airfield then had an air force radar station | | | | Minh conferring with three men over a map of Dien |
| and three rescue helicopters. | | | | Bien Phu which was occupied by the French on 20 |
| By the late 1960s, the airfield was expanded to one | | | | November 1953. |
| with a concrete runway which operated fixed wing | | | | Vietnamese victory in that battle on 7 May 1954 put |
| propeller planes and helicopters flying a variety of | | | | an end to French colonisation of Vietnam since the |
| missions; forward air controllers, close air support, | | | | Treaty of Saigon in 1862. But this only brought in a |
| insertion and extraction of personnel, search and | | | | new adversary and the Second Vietnam War. |
| rescue. That airfield is the provincial airport today. | | | | One of the men with Ho in the photo started life as |
| However there were also some air units that flew | | | | a history teacher, General Vo Nguyen Giap |
| planes with no US insignias or markings; their pilots | | | | Commander-in-Chief of the Vietminh forces and later |
| didn't wear Air Force uniforms. These air units flew | | | | Minister of Defence of North Vietnam. |