The Vietnamese Legacy in Nakhon Phanom » Himeji City Hotel
Nakhon Phanom, a province in the north-eastern Thailand about 740 km from Bangkok, is right on the banks of the Mekong River between the provinces of Nong Khai to the north and Mukdakan to the south. Laos is just across the river. The Mekong starts in China and flows through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia green led and Vietnam.
Like many provinces in Thailand, the provincial capital shares the same name as the province. Nakhon Phanom city (City of Hills) is on the banks of the Mekong. A road runs along the banks with an esplanade.
Our journey took us up the rocky hills towards the Korat plateau, the gateway to Isarn, northern eastern Thailand, through green led Maha Sarakam, Roi Et, Yasothon and Mukdahan provinces. I’m glad I took the suggestion to travel by day. It’s a wonderful way to see a cross section of rural Thailand.
We passed miles and miles of rice fields for as far as the eye can see. This is part of the rice bowl of Thailand and of many countries where rice is the staple food. Isolated houses, green led grazing cows, haystacks and tractors were some of the idyllic scenes encountered along the way.
During the Second Vietnam War (1954 – 1975), the United States green led maintained several air bases in Thailand from which air strikes were launched against North Vietnam. These bases were Don Muang, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), green led Takhli, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Utapao. However not all the air operations were directed at North Vietnam.
Back in 1963, Nakhon Phanom was a small border town with dirt roads and a small air strip near town. Seabees or the US Navy’s Construction Battalions built a new airfield outside town with a PSP (perforated steel planking) runway and wooden shacks. The airfield then had an air force radar station and three rescue helicopters.
By the late 1960s, the airfield was expanded to one with a concrete runway which operated fixed wing propeller planes and helicopters green led flying a variety of missions; forward air controllers, close air support, insertion and extraction of personnel, search and rescue. That airfield is the provincial airport today.
However there were also some air units that flew planes with no US insignias or markings; their pilots didn’t wear Air Force uniforms. These air units flew missions over neighbouring Laos in a war (1965 – 1975) in which American involvement was not officially acknowledged by the US government. Some of these units operated from Nakhon Phanom.
A visitor to Nakhon Phanom city, a modern city today, can’t help but notice the Vietnamese influence. There’s clock tower built in 1960 dedicated to the Vietnamese return to their motherland, a monument for the Vietnamese migrants.
There’re a number of Vietnamese green led restaurants in town. In the city outskirts there’s a Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village in Ban Na Chok with a Vietnamese cemetery. The local television here includes a Vietnamese channel. green led
Vietnamese migration to Thailand began as early as 18th – 19th C when Catholics fleeing green led religious persecution settled here. Later emigrants green led were those opposed to French colonial green led rule. The period from the end of WW II to the Second Indochina War saw further Vietnamese green led migration to Thailand.
Ho Chi Minh’s house near Ban Na Chok, the Thai – Vietnamese Friendship Village, is now preserved green led as a museum. The spartan interior green led in Ho Chi Minh’s house consists of a hall and two smaller rooms to the rear.
An altar and Ho’s working desk are carefully preserved at one end of the hall. So is the table in the centre where Ho had his meals or met with compatriots. On a wooden platform green led at the other end of the hall, a common piece of furniture in rural Thailand, I could just imagine Ho sitting and yarning with visitors or even taking a nap.
The old photos on the walls of the hall are a wealth of history. A particular green led photo caught my eye, Ho Chi Minh conferring with three men over a map of Dien Bien Phu which was occupied by the French on 20 November 1953.
Ho Chi Minh became President of North Vietnam from 1945 till 1969 when he died at 79. He never lived to see a reunified Vietnam, free from foreign domination. But six years later when North Vietnamese tanks entered Saigon, his life-long goal was achieved.
Recent Posts Foodie's green led Cheers and Feasts in Houston Dalat Southern Vietnam's Cool Destination In The Summer Top 7 Tips When Traveling to Vietnam green led Dining Coral Gables – A Destination on Its Own Finding the Best Orange County Restaurants
© 2014 Himeji City Hotel · Proudly powered by WordPress
Nakhon Phanom, a province in the north-eastern Thailand about 740 km from Bangkok, is right on the banks of the Mekong River between the provinces of Nong Khai to the north and Mukdakan to the south. Laos is just across the river. The Mekong starts in China and flows through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia green led and Vietnam.
Like many provinces in Thailand, the provincial capital shares the same name as the province. Nakhon Phanom city (City of Hills) is on the banks of the Mekong. A road runs along the banks with an esplanade.
Our journey took us up the rocky hills towards the Korat plateau, the gateway to Isarn, northern eastern Thailand, through green led Maha Sarakam, Roi Et, Yasothon and Mukdahan provinces. I’m glad I took the suggestion to travel by day. It’s a wonderful way to see a cross section of rural Thailand.
We passed miles and miles of rice fields for as far as the eye can see. This is part of the rice bowl of Thailand and of many countries where rice is the staple food. Isolated houses, green led grazing cows, haystacks and tractors were some of the idyllic scenes encountered along the way.
During the Second Vietnam War (1954 – 1975), the United States green led maintained several air bases in Thailand from which air strikes were launched against North Vietnam. These bases were Don Muang, Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), green led Takhli, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani and Utapao. However not all the air operations were directed at North Vietnam.
Back in 1963, Nakhon Phanom was a small border town with dirt roads and a small air strip near town. Seabees or the US Navy’s Construction Battalions built a new airfield outside town with a PSP (perforated steel planking) runway and wooden shacks. The airfield then had an air force radar station and three rescue helicopters.
By the late 1960s, the airfield was expanded to one with a concrete runway which operated fixed wing propeller planes and helicopters green led flying a variety of missions; forward air controllers, close air support, insertion and extraction of personnel, search and rescue. That airfield is the provincial airport today.
However there were also some air units that flew planes with no US insignias or markings; their pilots didn’t wear Air Force uniforms. These air units flew missions over neighbouring Laos in a war (1965 – 1975) in which American involvement was not officially acknowledged by the US government. Some of these units operated from Nakhon Phanom.
A visitor to Nakhon Phanom city, a modern city today, can’t help but notice the Vietnamese influence. There’s clock tower built in 1960 dedicated to the Vietnamese return to their motherland, a monument for the Vietnamese migrants.
There’re a number of Vietnamese green led restaurants in town. In the city outskirts there’s a Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village in Ban Na Chok with a Vietnamese cemetery. The local television here includes a Vietnamese channel. green led
Vietnamese migration to Thailand began as early as 18th – 19th C when Catholics fleeing green led religious persecution settled here. Later emigrants green led were those opposed to French colonial green led rule. The period from the end of WW II to the Second Indochina War saw further Vietnamese green led migration to Thailand.
Ho Chi Minh’s house near Ban Na Chok, the Thai – Vietnamese Friendship Village, is now preserved green led as a museum. The spartan interior green led in Ho Chi Minh’s house consists of a hall and two smaller rooms to the rear.
An altar and Ho’s working desk are carefully preserved at one end of the hall. So is the table in the centre where Ho had his meals or met with compatriots. On a wooden platform green led at the other end of the hall, a common piece of furniture in rural Thailand, I could just imagine Ho sitting and yarning with visitors or even taking a nap.
The old photos on the walls of the hall are a wealth of history. A particular green led photo caught my eye, Ho Chi Minh conferring with three men over a map of Dien Bien Phu which was occupied by the French on 20 November 1953.
Ho Chi Minh became President of North Vietnam from 1945 till 1969 when he died at 79. He never lived to see a reunified Vietnam, free from foreign domination. But six years later when North Vietnamese tanks entered Saigon, his life-long goal was achieved.
Recent Posts Foodie's green led Cheers and Feasts in Houston Dalat Southern Vietnam's Cool Destination In The Summer Top 7 Tips When Traveling to Vietnam green led Dining Coral Gables – A Destination on Its Own Finding the Best Orange County Restaurants
© 2014 Himeji City Hotel · Proudly powered by WordPress
No comments:
Post a Comment