Laos: Thirty years of Revolution, Twenty seven years of Corruption
I have a dream...
Born in That Panom, Nakon Panom, Thailand, Dad attended Preeya High School, the
best high school in Nakon Panom province. After
graduating from high school there, Dad found no job, except worked at rice
paddy. During this time, he
met Kaiseng Souksai, father of the Communist Party of Thailand who was
preaching the communist doctrine to youths in that province and try to recruit
them to join the communist vanguard. Dad liked what Kaiseng
preached.
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Young prince Souphanouvong planned strategies on how to win the
war over his half-brother and Lao Royal bourgeois. |
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In 1958, his relative who worked in Savannakhet said that the Lao Royal Forces were recruiting new personnels. Dad left
That Panom and crossed over to Savannakhet, Laos where he worked as a household
maid of a doctor, who was an older brother of General Phoumi Norsavan.
Less than a year, the doctor said the Lao Royal Air Force needed new fighter
pilots and told Dad to apply. Dad went for the test and went on to Bangkok
for another test. The outcome was that he was not tall enough to be a
pilot. Anyway, Dad got a job at the Supply Department of Lao Royal Air
Force.
By August 1960, neutralist Captain Kong Le seized Vientiane in a coup. Dad was
involved in the coup somehow. By December 1960, rightist General Phoumi
Norsavan retook Vientiane forcing Captain Kong Le to retreat to Long
Cheng. At the same time, many students as well as many followers
of Kong Le including Dad gathered there at Long Cheng. During this
time Pathet Lao used this opportunity to recruit the young men to join their
causes for Independence. Kong Le and his troops eventually retreated to
Xiengkhuang. Dad was recruited by Pathet Lao. Pathet Lao promised
Dad and many young men to be fighter pilots. That was tempting enough for
Dad to believe that he finally was able to become a pilot. Without
knowledge of where they were heading, many young men were
trucked from Long Cheng to Hanoi, Vietnam. Their trucks were covered with
military canvas so the young men could not see the outside. Asked why they
had to cover like that, Pathet Lao said it was used as a camouflage to U.S. planes.
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Kaysone Phomvihanh advocated the communist doctrine to villagers in the north of
Laos during the Revolution |
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By the time many young men arrived in Hanoi, they were transferred to Viet army
camps. For three months there, they were trained to fight the enemy and
given rifles. Ask why they had to carry rifles, why not be a fighter
pilot? Viet and Pathet Lao comrades said our nation needed them to fight the
Americans and the corrupt Lao Royal bourgeois. They were indoctrinated by the Marx, Lenin, Mao and Ho
ideologies. Dad was also
trained on big guns to shoot down American airplanes as well as learning
Vietnamese language. Finally, they moved out from the Viet army camps
accompanied by Lao and Viet comrades. They made their way through jungles
to Xiengkhuang.
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Factories equiped with Chinese-made machines were running
inside the caves to produce the war materials for the Pathet Lao |
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Dad with his comrades could only walk at night and transported weapons from
their base to the frontline. If they did during the day, they would be
bombed by American planes overhead. Even at night, when they drove the
Chinese army trucks, American planes could still pinpoint their trucks by using
heat-seeking bombs. When they heard the planes overhead, they had to stop
the truck engine and ran for a cover; otherwise, they would be bombed
alive.
Dad spent a lot of time transporting foods and weapons. Each comrade had
to be 10 meters apart when walking. So, if they were ambushed by the Lao Royal
Forces,
their casualties were greatly reduced. No food, they had to eat tree roots
and leaves. On the moonless night, they had to use some tree barks which grew in the darkness, so they could see their comrades while trekking through
jungle.
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Dad and his comrades drew up plans on how to attack the
U.S.-Lao Royal Forces in Xiengkhuang in 1970s. |
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By 1970, Dad went to many battles against the Lao Royal forces. One battle
in Nambak, Odomxai, with the help of thousands of Chinese and Viet army
soldiers they overran Lao Royal Forces. Some Chinese soldiers did not
carry gun, they carried drums and trumpets. The Lao Royal Forces were just
too scared to fight and laid down their guns because they could see miles of Chinese soldiers running towards them.
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Pathet Lao soldiers tried to shoot down American airplanes
in the north of Laos |
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A year later, then on one of those battles, Dad was injured. Shrapnels
from the explosion punctured his lower stomach. He was transfered to hospital which hid in the cave in Xiengkhuang. While he was injured for
four months, there were nurses who took care wounded soldiers. Dad felt in
love with one of those courteous and friendly nurses. That nurse turned
out to be my future-mom.
Mom was born in Hanoi by chance. Her parents (my maternal grandparents) were
both born in Hanoi. They migrated from Vietnam to Laos to make a better
living. They chose Xiengkhuang to be their new homes. They began to
raise families there, then a civil war in Laos started. Grandpa told pregnant grandma,
who visited
her relative in Hanoi, not to come back to
Xiengkhuang yet because the fighting here was worsening day by day. After
grandma gave birth to a girl (my mom), grandma and my new-born mom left Hanoi
and came back to Xiengkhuang to join my grandpa and her two kids.
Mom grew up in Xiengkhuang, but spoke Vietnamese at home. Her families
were traders by birth. They also helped Pathet Lao soldiers when they
needed food. They
were translators for Pathet Lao and Viet soldiers in the area. Mom
eventually was recruited to be a nurse taking care of the wounded Pathet Lao soldiers
as well as Viet soldiers. That was when Dad who was injured met her there.
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American plane was shot down by Pathet Lao and Viet comrades
in Xiengkhuang during the early 1970s. |
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After recovery from injury, Dad loved Mom and wanted to marry her, but the communist
authorities
did not approve yet. They said Dad did not have enough goodness to marry
her. Dad said he fought for more than ten years and got injured here in
stomach, not enough goodness to marry? Well, authorities told him to wait
after 1973, then they could marry.
In 1974, Dad happily married Mom. Dad did
not have any money. No dowry to give to mom's parents. Grandparents
did not like Dad much because he had nothing. On the
wedding night, they had only Chinese tea and cookies on the tables to serve guests and comrades, and the
Pathet Lao pronounced them to be a husband and wife. After one month
together, he left her to
go to frontline again while she nursed the wounded soldiers in the hospital cave.
Monarchy was abolished
By August 23, 1975, Laos was slowly changed from
capitalist to communist state. By the end of that year, Dad was transfered
from Xiengkhuang to Vientiane while mom was still in Xiengkhuang. He was
stationed as a high-ranking officer at Don Nang (Miss Island) in Vientiane. Don
Nang was a "re-education" camp for female prostitutes from Vientiane. All
prostitutes left over from the capitalist regime were rounded up and sent to Don
Nang. Dad, three officers and hundred of guards watched over Don
Nang. If anyone tried to escape, she would be punished severely. (Don Nang is an island located in the Nam Ngum reservoir in
Vientiane. Nowadays, you could see Don Tao [Mr Island for bad men] and Don
Nang when you visit Nam Ngum dam. Today, Don Tao is used to house the Ya
Ba-addicted sons of Lao high-ranking officials and Don Nang is also used to
house the bad daughters of Lao high-ranking officials).
In 1977, Dad picked up Mom in Xiengkhuang and took her to Don Nang. Mom often traveled back and forth between Vientiane and
Xiengkhuang doing illegal trading. She would buy fake Rado watches, fake
Levi jeans and Monosodium Glutamates (MSGs , or Peang Nouar in Lao), and boarded
a plane from Vientiane to Xiengkhuang and sold those to consumers in
Xiengkhuang without paying any taxes. Those consumers would trade their
gold necklaces for fake Rado watches or MSG. On the way back to Vientiane,
mom would stitched together about twenty to thirty gold necklaces to the waistband of her
underwear and the seam of her bra so the custom officers could not detect those gold
necklaces. That was her trademark.
By mid-1980s, Dad was slowly going downhill. Dad's big boss, General
Deuane Sounalath, was already dead. It was rumored that General Deuane was
injected with poisonous medicine when he was hospitalized in Moscow,
Russia. General Deuane Sounalath, a neutralist who joined Pathet Lao in
the early 1960s, wanted to see all
Laotians to be united as one Nation, but President Kaysone Phomvihanh did not
like this renegade's idea, so Kaysone ordered to get General Deuane poisoned.
Dad and his big-gun comrades from the Pathet Lao Revolutionaries were very
disappointed and heart-broken when they heard that their boss was
poisoned. They could do nothing except drink a lot of Lao alcohol.
Even worse, the Pathet Lao authorities removed Dad from his job at Don
Nang. They transferred him to work with odd jobs that nobody seemed to
do.
Mom left us and went to America
By 1990, Mom's illegal trading just got nowhere. She started losing
money. Then she borrowed some money from her older sister and decided to go to
America to visit her distant relative and planned to work there. I thought
Mom wouldn't leave us stranded here in Vientiane. Surprisingly, she did
leave my Dad, two younger sisters and me, and took off for America. Dad
kept saying to my sisters and me that mom left for a new husband, a new life and
a new place. Did she hate us because we were poor so she decided to leave? Or maybe Mom hates us because Dad was just alcoholic!
During this family turmoil, our family was poor; so I just quitted Vientiane High School
after the first year. Dad also was useless. Everyday he just kept drinking alcohol and
then he would break things in the house. Our family was split
apart. I went to live with my older aunt. My young sister stayed
with another aunt and my youngest sister stayed with Dad. Dad by this time
was forced to retire by the authorities, but luckily he was still on the
revolutionary pension. Each month when he got his money, he spent on his
alcohol. When that did not meet his thirst, he started to sell radio, TV,
motorcycle or anything in the house that was worth enough to have money for his alcohol.
The worst of all was when Dad ran afoul with Lao authorities. One day
when he was drunk, he kicked the hub of the car wheel of one high-ranking
official. Dad was jailed for one month at a local prison. While he was in
jail, he slapped his chest and said, "You know I've been in the Revolution for
30 years... You just..." Before he could utter those last words, the prison guard kicked him, beat him up badly and punched
him to the ground, and his body was bruised badly. When he was released from
jail, my youngest sister asked him, "Is it hurt, Dad?" He
cried. I also cried... Literally cried. My tear came down my cheeks and it could fill up
the
cup of coffee. This was the first time in my life I had ever cried.
Because bruise was all over his body. Imagine he must suffer through the pain in
the jail for one month!
While taking care of my dad from this jail incident, 6
months had passed and we still did not hear anything from Mom in America.
Dad kept saying she's gone forever and she forgot us. But I had not
totally given up hope yet. If she had a gut to forget us, then let it
be. Mom was mom. For me, I had to help my sisters, dad and myself. I
just could not think about Mom much. What good was it if our stomachs were
empty? Thinking did not help to fill up empty stomach. Had to
work. While living in aunt's house, I worked with Volvo International
(gardener) and a construction company (construction worker).
Eight months had passed, then we got a letter from Mom in America. Inside
an envelop was US$ 50 check. I was startled to see her letter and some small
money. In Arkansas, she said she did not work because no job there.
She said she made about US$ 165 a week in Connecticut while lived with relatives,
but worked illegally with a small company that packed potpourri for the retail
stores. Not bad. Then couple months later, we received another
letter from her and another US$ 50. She said she was in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. She
made about US$ 1,000 per month, but had to work 6 days a week as a cook at a Thai
restaurant.
During the time while mom was away, I joined gangs. My gangsters and I
were very bad boys. We tended to go in a group of five or six. No
underwear, just went to the Morning Market and stole, or just pulled one from the
rope that someone dried outside his resident. No food, just grap one
rooster from somebody's house. No money, just jump over the fence of
Wattay airport and cut those copper wires and aluminum parts from the left-over
American planes or Russian disabled helicopters parked in the junk yard and sold
those to the parts traders. No girlfriend, just rape her (that is
definitely wrong). Hey, in my Ban Akard, villagers said we were the worst!
Well, talking about a girlfriend, I liked one girl while mom was in America.
We only met at night during the English class. The reason I started to
learn English because I liked her. I wanted to date her, so I had to take
English class with her. When I saw her, it seemed I was in heaven.
Well, first love... I should thank her for what I am today -- Be able to
write, read, and listen -- English, not perfect though. Anyway, she's
already married to a smart Lao doctor, good luck for her.
Mom sent back home by the FBI
By 1993, another bad news erupted. Mom, two
Thai workers and an owner of a Thai restaurant were arrested by the FBI and local police in Philadelphia. Mom and her coworkers were accused of
working illegally in the U.S. and overstaying their visa. She was jailed
three nights there and forced to board the plane back to Laos. She said
Laotians in Philadelphia reported to the FBI that illegal Thais were working in
the restaurant.
Anyway, not seen her for three years I was so happy to see Mom again.
Along with her, an amount of US$ 10,000 was wire-transfered from U.S. bank to our
aunt account in Vientiane. She said she was a coolie in order to earn
that money. It was hell, she said. I asked her if she wanted to go
back to America. She said NO.
With that sum of money, Mom bought a small watch shop in the Morning Market and
expanded it. Today, if she sells it, she could fetch US$ 50,000
easily. Then what? Take the money, sleep at home and join Dad, who
still drinks. No, it is
better to keep it because we still make about US$ 80-120 in profits daily.
After Mom came back, our standard of living has been improving. I
could help her open the store in the early morning and close the store in late
afternoon, but I could not sell fake Rado (or Rolex) watches, fake Sony TVs,
fake Sony stereo systems or fake Sony VCD players. I was not good in trade,
period.
Well, I know I am good in two things - helping people and learning
English. From 1995 to 1999, I did not work much, rather I spent my time to
polish my English in private school because I wanted to do something about it.
I told Mom that I wanted to go to the land where the first man landed on the
moon.
I told Mom that I wanted to see the land where the Statute of Liberty stands.
I told Mom that I wanted to see the land where Internet was invented.
I told Mom that I wanted to see the land where George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy were born.
She asked "Where?"
I said, "America, America, America... I want to continue my education!" Mom was
startled. She said I was not finished even high school, how could I go on
to college? Oh, I told her, "Just pull out US dollars and bought that
stupid high school diploma." Anyway, I can read Lao better than some
of those recent high school graduates.
In 1999, with airline ticket in my hand, Dad and I crossed the Mekong River and stopped over his birthplace,
That Panom, Nakon Panom. We stayed there one week to absorb his boyhood.
Then we headed for Bangkok. Before
I departed him and boarded a flight at Bangkok International Airport to continue my journey to America, Dad said it took 30 years to get
rid of Americans from Laos, I told him it will take 60 years to get rid of those
crook and corrupt Lao government.
Dad shook his head.
I told him, "I want to help Lao people. Nothing more, nothing less."
"And I have a dream, Dad... I will come back... One day..."
I have a dream!...
My countrymen, I have a dream!......................One day...
I have a dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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