Vietnamese border raids in Thailand explained

Conflict:Vietnamese border raids in Thailand
Partof:the Cambodian–Vietnamese War and the Cold War
Date:1979–1989
Place:Thai–Cambodian border, Gulf of Thailand
Result:
  • Destruction of numerous guerrilla bases and refugee camps along the Thai–Cambodian border
  • Isolated outbreaks of open hostility between Vietnamese and Thai troops
  • Withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from the border in 1989
Combatant1:
People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979–89)
State of Cambodia (1989)
Combatant2: Thailand
CGDK[1]
Commander1: Lê Duẩn
Trường Chinh
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Heng Samrin
Hun Sen
Commander2: Bhumibol Adulyadej
Prem Tinsulanonda
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh
Son Sann
Son Sen
Pol Pot
Khieu Samphan
Ieng Sary
Nuon Chea
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Ranariddh
Casualties1:~1,000–3,000
Casualties2:~5,500–8,000

After the 1978 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia and subsequent collapse 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 recognise. 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 led the Thai government to support United States objectives in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.[2]

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 co-operation, but a military coup in October 1976 ushered in a new Thai government 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.

In 1979, in retaliation for constant border raids on Vietnam’s border, Bangkok allied itself with the genocidal Khmer Rouge, an adversary of Vietnam, and looked to Beijing for security assistance. 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,[3] Thailand was foremost among the ASEAN partners opposing Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia.

Refugee camps on the Cambodia-Thailand border allowed the growth of several anti-Vietnamese guerrilla organizations dedicated to regaining power in Cambodia. In addition to the Khmer Rouge armed forces (known as the NADK), the MOULINAKA, the KPNLF and its armed forces, the KPNLAF, and the Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste supporting Norodom Sihanouk all recruited and trained troops in the border refugee camps, striking at Vietnamese military targets. Because Thailand was offering protection to these groups, the Vietnamese felt justified in attacking Thai military units as well as the refugee camps, which they shelled and assaulted with disregard to the safety of civilian refugees and international humanitarian aid workers.[4] Between 1986 and 1989, the Vietnamese enacted the K5 Plan, a massive network of trenches, wire fences, and minefields along the length of the Cambodia-Thailand border.[5]

Timeline

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. since 1982, the KR, the KPNLF and the ANS formed the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea.
  2. Encyclopedia: Vietnam: a country study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Washington, D.C.. Cima. Ronald J.. 1989. Cima. Ronald J.. 231. 40294997. . . Foreign relations: Thailand.
  3. http://www.yale.edu/cgp/thailand_response.html Puangthong Rungswasdisab, Thailand's Response to the Cambodian Genocide
  4. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Quality_of_Mercy/gsbPJEAc_7cC?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq= Shawcross W. The Quality of Mercy: Cambodia, Holocaust, and Modern Conscience. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984
  5. http://www.websitesrcg.com/border/documents/French-1994-Site-II-dissertation.pdf French LC. Enduring Holocaust, Surviving History: Displaced Cambodians on the Thai-Camobodian Border, 1989-1991. Harvard University, 1994, pp. 176-77.
  6. Web site: Cambodia Refugee Crisis: History. 27 June 2015. 3 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211003205444/https://forcedmigration.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/book/export/html/26. dead.
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=dcL6w-VmjWwC&dq=prachak+sawaengchit&pg=PA421 Pilger, John, Heroes, South End Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001, p. 421
  8. Web site: Thai / Cambodian Border Refugee Camps History. 27 June 2015.
  9. Henry Kamm, New York Times, 24 June 1980, cites Associated Press figures of 130 Thai soldiers, 72 Vietnamese, and up to 400 refugees killed; Time Magazine, 7 July 1980 claims 22 Thais killed and 100 Vietnamese.
  10. Mason L, Brown R. Rice, Rivalry and Politics: Managing Cambodian Relief. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983, p. 76.
  11. Web site: Star-News - Google News Archive Search. 27 June 2015. 8 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308215214/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1384&dat=19800625&id=QJcWAAAAIBAJ&pg=7061,5377431. dead.
  12. Web site: "Courage that Spelt Relief for the Starving," Coventry Evening Telegraph, March 10, 1981. . 6 April 2010 . 12 March 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200312202841/https://www.ashefamily.info/old/page91.html . dead .
  13. https://www.nytimes.com/1980/06/27/archives/vietnam-said-to-seize-photographers-and-relief-workers-at-thai.html?sq=thai%2520border%2520clash&scp=10&st=cse Vietnam Said to Seize Photographers and Relief Workers at Thai Border; U.S. Envoy Asks Halt Border Is Reported Crossed Repatriation Is Denounced
  14. Web site: Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search. 27 June 2015.
  15. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05EFD7163BF937A35752C0A967948260 Thais Report 2 Troops Slain Repelling Vietnamese Force
  16. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3DF173BF936A35752C0A967948260 Thai Troops Placed on Alert After Raid by Vietnamese
  17. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02EEDB153BF932A15753C1A964948260 Vietnam Attacks Thai Plane
  18. Van der Kroeff, J. "Refugees and Rebels: Dimensions of the Thai-Kampuchean Border Conflict", Asian Affairs, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring. 1983), pp. 19–36.
  19. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9407E7DC163BF932A35751C0A965948260 "Vietnam Troops Attack Cambodia Refugee Camp"
  20. The Bangkok Post, 1 April 1983, quoted in Justus van der Kroef, "Kampuchea: Southeast Asia's Flashpoint", Parameters, Journal of the US Army War College, Spring 1984, p. 62.
  21. News: THAIS SAY VIETNAM RAIDS CAMBODIANS . 9 February 2022 . New York Times . April 1, 1983 . Arthur Ochs "Punch" Sulzberger Sr. . April 1, 1983.
  22. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDA1139F930A35757C0A965948260 "Vietnamese Battle Thais"
  23. Kenneth Conboy, The NVA and Viet Cong, (1992) p. 29.
  24. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06EED81538F934A15751C1A965948260 "Vietnam Moves Troops Into Thai Border Area"
  25. https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPJIE9pX_joC&dq=number+vietnamese+troops&pg=PA153 Kampuchea Between China and Vietnam
  26. Asia: Non-PC Crises, p. 557
  27. Conboy, p. 29.
  28. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F01E4DA1438F936A25757C0A962948260&scp=27&sq=vietnam%20attack%20thai&st=cse "Vietnamese Attack Cambodian Rebel Base"
  29. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604140023/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA337878&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf "Kampuchean Villagers Flee for Shelter", Xinhua Radio News, Beijing, August 10, 1984, 14:31 GMT.
  30. "Thai Border Police Capture Vietnamese Soldiers", Bangkok Post, 29 October 1984, Section A.
  31. Another source cited 3 killed and 31 wounded.Thai/Cambodian Border History
  32. "Thailand Sends Troops To Counter Vietnamese", Reuters, 7 November 1984
  33. "Rebels at Nong Chan Hold Out: Assault by Vietnamese Troops on the Kampuchean Resistance Base", The Guardian, 26 November 1984.
  34. "Vietnamese Suffer Heavy Casualties Near Nong Chan," Xinhua General News Service, 10 December 1984.
  35. Web site: Site K. 27 June 2015.
  36. "VIETNAM ATTACKS CAMBODIAN REBELS NEAR THAI BORDER," Associated Press, 25 December 1984.
  37. "In Cambodia the Resistance Goes On", Letter to the Editor by Sichan Siv, The New York Times, 18 January 1985.
  38. Sichan Siv, 1985.
  39. https://web.archive.org/web/20080705104707/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956246,00.html "Southeast Asia dry-Season Rite", Time, Jan. 7, 1985
  40. "Vietnam Tries to Split Kampuchea Resistance", Christian Science Monitor, 28 December 1984 p. 1.
  41. "Cambodian Rebels Await Major Push by Viet Troops", LA Times, 7 January 1985, p. 10.
  42. "A Rebel Camp in Cambodia Awaits Attack," New York Times, 6 January 1985, p. 1.
  43. "Cambodian Rebels Reported Under Heavy Viet Shelling," LA Times, 4 January 1985, p. 13.
  44. "KPNLF says Vietnamese Using Suffocant Gas", Bangkok World, 4 January 1985, p. 1.
  45. "Ampil's State of Siege," Newsweek, 14 January 1985.
  46. "Fighting at Samet Continues", Bangkok Post, 30 December 1984, p. 1.
  47. "CAMBODIAN REBELS BATTLE HANOI'S TROOPS FOR 7TH DAY", New York Times, Barbara Crossette, 1 January 1985
  48. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19850102&id=zhIbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I0gEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6730,188774 "Vietnamese battle Cambodians as Thais Prepare Protest"
  49. One source states that 12 tanks and 20 APCs were used in the assault: "Vietnamese Troops Overrun Key Cambodia Rebel Base", William Branigin, The Washington Post, 9 January 1985, p. A1.
  50. "Hanoi Deals Blow to Guerrilla Camp," Paul Quinn-Judge, Christian Science Monitor, 8 January 1985, p. 9.
  51. "Guerrilla Losses are more Military than Political," Paul Quinn-Judge, Christian Science Monitor, 8 January 1985, p. 9.
  52. "Guerrillas Rally after Rout by Viets", Chicago Tribune, 9 January 1985, p. 3.
  53. "Vietnamese Attack Cambodia Camp," Barabara Crossette, New York Times, 8 January 1985, p. A1.
  54. "Hanoi Goes for the Jugular", Newsweek, 21 January 1985, p. 8.
  55. From Reuters, 8 January 1985.
  56. "Vietnamese Troops Shell Sanror Changan," Xinhua General Overseas News Service,27 January 1985, Item No: 012734.
  57. "Vietnamese Attack Cambodian Rebel Camp", Reuters, 26 January 1985.
  58. "Sihanouk Rejects Offer of Talks With Cambodian Regime", Peter Eng, Associated Press, 31 January 1985, Thursday, AM cycle.
  59. "Viets Accused of Using Gas Against Rebels", Associated Press, 19 February 1985.
  60. "Vietnamese Troops Battle Rebel Resistance", Associated Press, 18 February 1985, AM cycle
  61. "Thais Report a Clash with Vietnamese Troops", Associated Press, 20 February 1985.
  62. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFDD1239F932A15751C0A963948260 "Vietnamese and Thais Battle on the Border"
  63. US Department of State Bulletin, July 1985
  64. "Thais Strike by Air and Ground Against Intruding Viet Forces", Los Angeles Times, 7 March 1985, p. 19.
  65. News: THAI FORCES CLASH WITH VIETNAM (Published 1985) . The New York Times . 7 March 1985 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210929150304/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/03/07/world/thai-forces-clash-with-vietnam.html . 2021-09-29 . live .
  66. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-08-mn-32337-story.html "Thai Forces Still Trying to Drive Back Vietnam Troops; 3 Hills Retaken"
  67. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/06/world/thais-kill-vietnam-soldier.html?scp=45&sq=thai%20border%20clash&st=cse "Thais Kill Vietnam Soldier"
  68. Web site: Thai Jets, Artillery Pound Viet Intruders. Los Angeles Times. 12 May 1985 . 27 June 2015.
  69. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/17/world/around-the-world-thai-troops-force-vietnamese-soldiers-out.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/C/Civil%20War%20and%20Guerrilla%20Warfare&scp=39&sq=thai%20border%20clash&st=cse "Thai Troops Force Vietnamese Soldiers Out"
  70. https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/26/world/around-the-world-vietnamese-force-kills-5-thai-soldiers.html?scp=9&sq=thai%20border%20clash&st=cse "Vietnamese Force Kills 5 Thai Soldiers"
  71. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E4D61239F930A25755C0A963948260 "Thai-Vietnamese Clash"
  72. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE2DE1E38F936A15752C0A960948260&sec=&spon "Vietnamese Artillery Kills 3 at Thai Post"
  73. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-12-08-mn-1909-story.html "Stop Backing Rebels, Vietnamese Tell Thais"
  74. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-23-mn-761-story.html "2 Thai Deals Enlarge China's Asian Arms" Role
  75. https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD91039F933A05756C0A961948260 "Thai Border Clash"
  76. Web site: Thailand - Potential External Threats. 27 June 2015.
  77. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-23-mn-1532-story.html "4 Thais Killed in Border Clash with Vietnamese"
  78. https://web.archive.org/web/20121102202903/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-158423393.html VIETNAM SHELLS THAI VILLAGE.
  79. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-27-mn-1643-story.html "38 Killed, 42 Wounded in Fierce Thai Border Clash"