Thailand and The Secret War in Laos

Thailand is famous as the site of American airbase during the Vietnam War. However, the story I am about to tell is a rare tales about this country involvement in the Secret War in Laos against the forces of the North Vietnamese Army, told by several veterans of the conflicts who share their priceless experiences in this online discussion.

http://tatui.prohosts.org/a/a12….

Background

The Secret War in Laos is another major front in the North-South Vietnamese conflict. The NVA, in order to weaken the military position in South Vietnam, had established a secret supply line from the North to the Viet Cong fighters through the neutral territory in Laos who are officially forbidden from taking a side in this part of the conflict.

In response to this action, the American established a campaign to cut off this supply line and protect the Laotian royal government from the communist insurgent support by North Vietnam.

Thailand Involvement

Thailand first involvement in Laos started in 1961 with the request for assistance from the Laotian government. Thailand responded to this call with the development of PARU -POLICE AERIAL REINFORCEMENT UNIT. The PARU was a paramilitary unit, formed from the member of Royal Thai Police, and trained by CIA officer in the art of counter-intelligent and combat.

Bill Liar, CIA Officer, and father of Thailand militarised police unit

PARU Badge

The first batch of PARU consisted police officers who are trained in various advanced combat scenarios, including parachuting which earned them the “Aerial” title.

Their first mission in Laos was to create the similar combat police unit for Laos and General Van Pao’s Hmong army. In actual combat, PARU served as both adviser and elite fighting forces of the anti-communist coalition in Laos.

Thailand PARU Instructor (big guy on the left) and Hmong/Laos Student

Thailand PARU Instructor (big guy on the left) and Hmong/Laos Student*

As a heavily armed, militarized police unit, PARU was adept in both combat and peacekeeping operation. However, the unit also filled niche roles as communication corpse that connected every unit within the anti-communist forces in Laos together.

A squad of PARU consisted of 2 riflemen, 1 comm officer, and 1 medic. They were dispatched among the Hmong and the RLA (Royal Laos Army) units to create the 24/7 communication capability that was extremely vital for the coalition in this country.

First Deployment of Regular Thai Military

In 1963, the fighting in Laos begun to escalate but so did American operation in the region. The RTAF, begun to deploy a squadron of T-28 “Fire Fly” to assist the USAF in striking the Hochiminh Trail that delivered the supply to VC insurgents in S.Vietnam.

RTAF T-28 and US F-4 readying for Strike Mission in Laos

Both the American and Thai pilots performed exceptionally well in their mission against the NVA convoy. This is because the American had established the TACON (TACTICAL AIR CONTROL AND NAVIGATION) on the site known as L36 (Lima Site 36) which located in one of the Laos numerous mountains and allow the coalition air forces to strike with precision in all weather conditions.

While the bulk of American fighters do the strike, the L36 was protected by the coalition of Thai, Hmong, and Laotian on the ground.

L36, however, would soon become the bitter memory that both Thai and American will not forget

To be continued

*Thanks for reading, as a side note PARU is the reason why Thailand police today is potentially the single most heavily armed police formation in the world