Uncle in Phnom Phen is a general. Who for? Sianouk?
More about everyone’s crush on Shinanouk. Wher were you when you heard about the overthrow?
Who was fighting in the late 60s? Were Cambodian forces fighting the Vietnamese or were the Khmer Rouge already gathering strength?
WHen were you aware that the US was bombing Cambodia? When did people start moving into the city from rural areas?
Did all men have to serve in the army under Sianouk or did that only happen after Lon Nal?
All the soldiers coming into the restaurant… were they coming from active battles? or just stationed there?
what did they say about the war? Feelings about Lon Nal?
when did you first become aware of Khmer Rouge and the name Pol Pot?
Did Cambodians in the 60s know about the Vietnam war? What did people think about the US?
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May 27, 2008 at 9:50 pm
boatsie
sion between Vietnam and Thailand, countries that were wary of each other’s regional intentions, further complicated the Cambodian crisis. Cambodia had traditionally acted as a buffer between Thailand and Vietnam. For hundreds of years the Vietnamese and Thais vied for influence and control in Cambodia. With the recent expulsion of the United States from Indochina and the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia Thailand feared Vietnam’s expansionist intentions. With the Cambodian buffer removed, the threat of a direct conflict between Vietnam and Thailand loomed large.
Amidst these tensions, the Joint Mission’s attempted to create a humanitarian space to operate a relief program. Throughout 1979, the Joint Mission negotiated for greater operational presence in Cambodia, something that Vietnam and the new Cambodian government resisted. On August 9, 1979 UNICEF and ICRC delivered their first shipment of relief supplies by plane to Phnom Penh. From August onwards a slow but steady amount of relief aid began to enter the country by plane and boat. The logistical and operational capacity of the Cambodian authorities to manage the relief aid was a source of constant debate.
Separate from the Joint Mission operation, Oxfam and a consortium of several other NGOs reached an agreement with the Heng Samrin government to deliver humanitarian aid to Cambodia. Unlike UNICEF and ICRC, Oxfam agreed to channel all aid through the Phnom Penh government and not operate on the Thai-Cambodian border. Jim Howard, the head of the Oxfam operation in Phnom Penh, was a vocal advocate for expanding the relief operation in Cambodia.
The Border Camps
Throughout 1979 tens of thousands of Cambodians fled to the Thai border. Barred by the Thai military from entering the country a vast number of them—combatants, traders, farmers and many others—accumulated in several makeshift camps along the ill-defined border. Many were starving, had malaria, and were in very poor health. Several of the largest camps, including Nong Chan, Nong Samet, and Mak Mun, grew into vast open-air markets, each controlled by a different faction of Khmer Serei. Conditions in the border camps were very poor: most of those who settled in the camps lived in squalor with access to no basic services.
After lengthy negotiations with Thai officials UNICEF and ICRC began a border relief operation. One key consideration for the Joint Mission was the need to balance border relief activities with the on-going attempts to deliver and distribute food and other humanitarian assistance inside Cambodia. The new Cambodian government was extremely sensitive to activities at the border, claiming publicly that humanitarian agencies were aiding the perpetrators of genocide, i.e., the Khmer Rouge, at the border, rather the millions of victims of the genocide inside Cambodia.
Throughout the establishment of the border relief operation the United States exerted significant political and financial influence, both overt and subtle. As the largest contributor to the relief operation the US frequently flexed its political muscle. The US embassy in Bangkok set up the Kampuchean Emergency Group (KEG) to monitor activities at the border. Consisting of current and former military and political attaches KEG was seen by many aid workers at the border as an extension of the US foreign policy agenda in Southeast Asia. US embassy in Thailand did not hide the fact that it thought aid should be distributed all Cambodians at the border, including the Khmer Rouge and Khmer Serei armed groups.
There was no doubt that the border camps contained large numbers of combatants. Both the perpetrators and victims of the Cambodian genocide flocked to the border area and into Thailand. Along with the Khmer Rouge and anti-communist Cambodian resistance groups known as the Khmer Serei (free Khmer), tens of thousands of refugees lived in the border camps, most of whom were noncombatants. In general, the Khmer Serei controlled the border camps north of Aranyaprathet, a small border town in eastern Thailand on the main road to Cambodia, while the Khmer Rouge controlled the camps south of Aranyaprathet. Some of the camps had only a few thousand people while others had over a hundred thousand people. Because of its location Aranyaprathet quickly became the nuclei of the border relief operation, as international agencies set up offices to coordinate aid to the camps.
The border was a dangerous, chaotic place. Far from being a safe haven many of the border camps were subject to attack. Conflict raged just across the border in Cambodia, as remnants of the Khmer Rouge fought Vietnamese forces. At times the border area became a battleground and the refugees were caught in the middle. A different military faction controlled each of the border camps. Frequently these groups fought one another. A wild array of black marketers and other traders sprout up in and around the camps. Corruption was rife along the border, and the black market trade in food and other essential items was widespread. Gold, hidden away by many Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge era, was one of the most common forms of currency.
The Thai military controlled most activity along the border and exerted tremendous power in some of the border camps. Though the Thai military’s primary concern was the threat of the Vietnamese army and a potential invasion, they also ensured that the Cambodians did not cross the border. This policy was not consistent though: large groups of Cambodians were periodically allowed into Thailand and given aid by local Tha
June 1, 2008 at 3:06 am
boatsie
moutains 78 and food ….locate
locate where they went to other camp.
add history
break chapters