Introduction

The anti-French policy of the postwar Thai Government was demonstrated in their close connection with the Indo-Chinese nationalist movements. The Thais initially regarded these movements as nationalists and anti-colonial and had covertly supported them on the principles of Asia-for-the Asians. Among the three Indo-Chinese nationalist movements was Lao Issara or Free Lao.

Thailand and Free Lao Movement

Thailand and Lao Issara Movement

Prince Phetsarath, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang, is generally considered to be the father of the Lao nationalist movement. In October 1945, the Prince declared Laos independence of France and organized a “Lao Issara (Free Lao) Provisional Government in Vientiane with Phaya Khammao as Prime Minister.

The  Prince’s declaration of independence was welcomed by the Thai rulers in Bangkok for they waned to use the Free Laotians as a counter for the King of Luang Prabang who had refused to recognize the new state of Laos. He declared his kingdom free and expressed a desire for a Lao state which would include the territory ceded in 1941, as well as the northern provinces of Chiangmai and Chiangrai, and the northeastern provinces of Thailand. The Thai rulers believed that the King’s aspiration would be supported by France.

The Thais also took into account the Chinese factor in formulating Thailand’s Indo-China policy. Prince Phetsarath’s declaration of independence had been celebrated by Chinese K.M.T. occupying troop waving Chinese and Laotian flags. The Chinese troops promised to help the Free Laotians to gain independence from France.

The Thais for their part viewed with concern their presence close to the Thai border. Pridi Banomyong, then the Regent of Thailand, believed that the Chinese troops would not leave when the so-called occupation of Indo-China was over, but would simply take off their uniforms. Thailand’s fear of China lasted until February 1946. In that month China signed an agreement with France for the withdrawal of all Chinese occupying troops from northern Indo-China, including Laos.

Thailand’s desire to strengthen relations with the Free Lao Government matched that of Prince Phetsarath. After the declaration of independence, the Prince sent Pridi a message of greeting for the Thai Government and included a list of Cabinet members, many of whom Pridi knew personally. Although Pridi did not answer the message officially, he took an initiative to win the Lao Prince and his followers to Thailand’s side.

Thai representatives were present at a conference of Lao anti-French ministers in the house of Phetsarath at Vientiane in November 1945. They offered arms and money to the Laotian nationalists to assist their scheme of preventing the French from returning to the Kingdom of Laos. The Laotians accepted Thailand’s assistance for this reason.

Moreover, Prince Phetsarath was himself pro-Thai and anti-Vietnamese. He was certain that all Thais people wanted independence for Laos without wishing to make it part of Thailand. Also, within the newly-established Free Lao Government was a pro-Thai faction led by Thao Oun Sananikone, who had worked in Thailand with the Free Thais and the Allies during the Pacific War. Furthermore, Thai-Lao relations were underpinned by a strong ties of blood and common culture in existence before the coming of the French to Indo-China.

Of all the Indo-Chinese nationalists with whom they had contact, the Thai leaders liked the Laotians best, probably because they were most like the Thais. Laos borders on north and northeastern Thailand, and the Thais from that part of the country were Laotian linguistically, if not nationally. Movement back and forth across the border was a relative simple matter and a common one too since almost everyone in the North and Northeast had relative in Laos.

Before the signing of the Anglo-Thai Formal Agreement on January 1, 1946, the Thais had become suspicious of British designs on Thailand and Indo-China and anti-French and British sentiment went side by side. Close Thai-Lao co-operation was deemed necessary should the British not withdraw its occupying troops from Thailand. Statements which were frequently made by Thai local officials in the Mekong area indicated this prospect:

Laos are the same on both sides of the Mekong. Why should the British help the French? Let the Laos have their king and the Vietnamese free country. When the Laos are strong enough they will throw the British out of Siam.

After the signing of the Anglo-Thai Agreement, however, anti-French propaganda decreased considerably and was replaced solely by anti-French feeling. Determined to prevent the French from staging as easy a comeback in Laos as they had in Cambodia, the Thais worked with the Laotian military wing of the Free Lao Government both in Thai occupied territory (opposite Luang Prabang and Pakse) and on Thai soil along the Mekong River.

From May 1946, after the Chinese had withdrawn their occupying troops the French returned to Laos, and entered such towns as Savannakhet, Takhaek and Vientiane with a considerable display of force. They bombed towns, used artillery fire, and burned house belonging to local Vietnamese and Free Lao resisters. This display of force may have been due partly to the rather stubborn character of the Vietnamese and Free Laotians who though beaten by superior forces continued to carry on the war by small raids and guerrilla tactics for some time.

By the end of April 1946 some Laotians and Local Vietnamese seemed to have tired of the whole affairs. They had settled down peacefully again, joined the French Forces, or as in the case of the Lao Issaras and their Vietnamese allies through fear or hatred of the French had crossed the border or the Mekong and taken refuge in Thailand. Their total number was estimated at 50,000. Apparently these crossings occurred all the way from the Cambodian territories up as far north as Luang Prabang in Laos.

As the unsettled situation concerning the ceded territories had made the Thais unsympathetic towards the French, the Thai Government afforded asylum in Northeastern Thailand to those political refugees and provided quite substantial financial support both to them and to the Viet Minh movement generally. Thai officials gave them considerable aid and relief in varying forms. They supplied them with inoculations to prevent epidemics, with temporary shelter, assisted them with food and offered them work on the highways.

The Free Lao and the Viet Minh political refugees, however, expressed no willingness to settle down peacefully in Thailand. Instead they continued fighting the French. They persisted with their guerrilla activities and whenever the Thais had the chance to help they would do so. Even though Thai higher officials, on whom the British and American Governments applied some pressure, put out order to disarm all refugees entering Thailand and conveyed the communications of the French regarding the return of refugees to Indo-China, the Thais did not make any real attempt to disarm the majority of the political refugees. Instead they shut their eyes to much that went along the border. The long-standing tradition of anti-French feeling and sympathy and friendship especially for their Lao brethren encouraged some Thais to take part in raids on French strongholds across the Mekong.

Nuisance raids, while small in themselves, exasperated the French, who realized that they would have to develop a large degree of patience. No doubt the French attack on the Northern Province of Nakhon Phanom in May 1946 came as a result of complete exasperation at the petty raids culminating in rather fierce attacks on French military strongholds in addition to the lack of any real co-operation from the Thais.

Thailand for its part took the calculated risk of allowing the rebels to use its territory as a base for attacking the French in the hope that any French transgression on Thai soil would strengthen Thailand’s position in the eyes of the world and provide good cause for the French to modify the terms of their negotiations with the Thais regarding cession of territories.

On the other hand, however, the Thais could not afford to provoke the French into massing troops under the pretext of hot pursuit of rebels into Thai territories. Hence, after the French attack on Thai soil in May the Thai leaders invited the Free Lao Provisional Government to Bangkok. The Thai Government found houses where the Lao Issara could stay, which would show foreigners that the Laotians were all living in Bangkok and that there were no movements that could be deemed dangerous physically to the French.

Ban Chaiyo, near the Bangkok Hualamphong Raiway Station, was the headquarters of the Free Lao Provisional Government. At fist Phaya Khammao Vilay, ex-governor of Vientiane, headed the Lao Government-in-exile but later in December 1, 1946 he was replaced by Prince Phetsarath. The Prince was supported by his two half-brothers, Prince Souvannaphouma, more friendly to the French than the others, and Prince Souphanouwong, commander of the Free Laotian guerrillas, who was pro-Vietnamese. Another wing of the Lao Issara was led by Oun Sananikone, who had worked with the Allies against the Japanese and joined with the Free Thais in the Lao-pen-Lao movement during the war.

From the outset, the leaders of the Lao government-in-exile declared themselves to be thoroughly traditionalist and royalist and profoundly Buddhist, and stated that there were struggling and would struggle so long as France did not actually and sincerely grant and guarantee the unity and independence they claimed for the Laos people and nation.

During his stay in Bangkok, Prince Souvannaphouma worked for the Thai Electric Company as a technician, whereas Thao Oun Sananikone helped Lt.Col. Jim Thompson, a former American officer in the OSS, set up the Thai Silk Company. Prince Phetsarath himself was married to a Thai Woman, Mom Aphinaphon, who represented the Prince as though she were his Secretary and Foreign Minister.

To work for his country, the Prince arranged to secure weapons with which to fight for national liberation. To buy guns he borrowed money from Thai politicians such as Luang Seriroengrit, who was then involved in the management of the Thai Niyom Phanict Company and was a member of the appointed Upper House of the Thai National Assembly.

On the diplomatic front, the leaders of the Lao Issara, especially Souvannaphouma, Souphanuvong and Thao Oun Sananikone, contacted American diplomats in Thailand to request that the United States mediate with the French for the restoration of Lao independence. But there were no result. The United States, in the opinion of the Laotian nationalist leaders, was reluctant to press the French and would do nothing to make the French lose face.

On the military front, Prince Phetsarath assigned his brothers Suophanouvong to be commander of the exiles’ military forces, in close relations with the Vietnamese and Cambodian resistance movements. Agreements were reached among three groups. Anyone from any of the three countries could hide within the other two, but they had to be under the authority of that country’s resistance movement.

The Vietnamese, with their large population, took whatever opportunity arose to use their strength on the battlefield to destroy the French in Vietnam and other areas in Indo-China. Whenever the Vietnamese fought a large battle, the Cambodians and Laos, with their smaller populations, would begin guerrilla warfare to harass the French as much as possible.

More than once, Souphanuvong and Thao Oun Sananikone visited Vietnam to plan a common offensive against the French with Ho Chi Minh and General Giap. Fifteen mixed Lao-Viet Minh companies were raised in Thailand. Throughout 1947 the Lao-Viet Minh groups based on the Thai bank of the Mekong harassed the French with raids and propaganda.

When Phibunsonggram returned to power after the coup of November 8, 1947, he showed himself increasingly inhospitable to the Free Laotians. The latter were well aware of the Thai pro-Western and anti-Communist stance. In May 1948 the Free Lao Provisional Government in Bangkok drafted a four-point statement, declaring the Free Laotians to be thoroughly traditionalist and royalist and profoundly Buddhist and their Government to be a purely nationalist movement. The statement made it clear that they would never go communist in the present as well as in the future.

Despite being satisfied with the Free Lao Government’s anti-Communist attitude, Phibunsonggram could not see eye to eye with some Free Kao leaders. Among them was Thao Oun Sananikone, who worked for Jim Thompson in his silk business. This constituted the main link with the ex-OSS people about whom Phibunsonggram was so worried.

The latter’s dislike of Oun rose considerably following the so-called “Grand Palace Rebellion” in February 1959. Pridi and the Free Thais staged a comeback in an attempt to overthrow Phibunsonggram’s Government. This rebellion was backed by the Navy but it was crushed by joint counter-action by the Army and the Police.

Subsequently, harsh measures were taken against the Navy and Pridi’s civilian supporters. The most tragic episode occurred when four of Pridi’s staunchest supporters(Thong-in Phuriphat, Thawil Udol, Chamlong Daoreung and Thongplaew Chalaphum) were shot dead.

As Oun had a close friendship with three of them, namely, Thong-in, Thawil and Chamlong, with whom he had worked in the wartime Free Thai underground movement in the Northeast, he felt too insecure to stay on in Thailand and fled to Laos.

Phibunsonggram then ordered all of the Free Lao soldiers out of Thailand so as to isolate them from the Free Thais. They returned across the Mekong to Laos, while the Free Lao Provisional Government remained in Bangkok.

The backbone of the Free Lao movement in Thailand was finally broken when Laos concluded a treaty with France on July 19, 1949. This was followed by the formation of a new Lao Government under Souvannarath (Phetsarath’s half-brother).

Phaya Khammao Vilay, Katay Don Sasorith and Prince Souvannaphouma proclaimed themselves satisfied that Laos had now achieved genuine independence and, in consequence, dissolved the Issara Government on October 24, 1949.

The arrangement for their return were made by Souvannaphouma’s French wife, who had contacted the French Government. The French agreed to restore the status of all leaders who wished to return and provided them with funds and transportations for their trip in November.  But two of the Free Laotians—Prince Phetsarath and Prince Souphanouvong—were not among those who returned to Laos.

Prince Phetsarath remained in Bangkok with his Thai wife, Mom Aphinaphon, whereas Prince Souphanouvong, a few month before most of the Free Laotians returned to Laos, embarked on a course different from that taken by either of his brothers. He led his faction to eastern Laos and co-operation with the Viet Minh.