Sam Thong
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Sam Thong | |
|---|---|
 City of Sam Thong in 1962s–1970s | |
 Interactive map of Sam Thong | |
| Coordinates: 19°10′47″N 102°53′24″E / 19.17972°N 102.89000°E | |
| Country | Laos |
| Province | Xaisomboun |
| District | Longchaeng |
Sam Thong (Lao: ຊຳທອງ, sometimes spelled Samthong) is a town in Xiangkhouang province, Laos.[1] During the Vietnam War, it was the site of a USAID refugee operation center[2] and an administrative center for much of northern Laos.[3]
Chao means "prince", but is different when used with the words "Khueng" or "Muong, Mong, Mueang or Muang". Khueng means "province" and Muong, Mong, Mueang Muang is a "district". When Chao is combined with "Khueng" or "Muong", the meaning of Chao loses its "prince meaning" for follow the words of Khueng and Muong. Example, Chao Khueng means governor and Chao Muong means district head. As for others, Nai kong means "mini district chief", Tasseng means "county chief", Nai Ban means "village chief", and then Ban means "village".
History
In 1950 the Meo (Hmong) ethnic group, Mr. Sia Ying Vue as Nai Kong (mini district chief), the refugee leader, Tasseng (county chief) Navang, Muong (province-state-district) Vangsai, Xiangkhouang Province, lived in Sam Thong[4] with other ethnic groups. At that time, the Khmu, Lao Theung were the first inhabitants living there. All households were about 120 families there. People lived there until March 17, 1970, when Pathet Lao forces came to capture Sam Thong at 5 a.m.
During this period, particularly in early 1962, US forces established a refugee operation center in Sam Thong.[2] The town was attacked by People's Army of Vietnam forces in March 1970 as part of Campaign 139, causing US personnel and their allies to withdraw.[5] Royalist forces retook the town at the end of the month.[3][6] In the course of the fighting, the town was significantly damaged by both PAVN ground forces and US-Royalist bombardments.[6] Following the end of the Laotian Civil War in 1975, Sam Thong became part of the socialist Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Government and politics
In 1949 the governor of Xiangkhouang province was Chao Saykham Southakakoumane.[7] At that time, there were two deputy governors, one is Lao and the other is Hmong. For the Lao, it was Thongsavath Vongsavanthong. As for the Hmong, it was Touby Lyfoung. But he chose Youa Pao Yang to succeed him thereafter.
In December 1960, when Kong Le and his troops captured the Plain of Jars and Phonsavan, General Vang Pao and Xiangkhouang Governor Chao Saykham[8] decided to settle in Sam Thong in 1962.[9] This is where Xiangkhounag's administrative offices were later located. It was almost at the same time that the UDAID refugee operations center moved to Sam Thong.
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Sam Thong[10] became Xiengkhouang's main social-military-administrative office center during the CIA secret War. The offices[11] of the governor, Chao Saykham Southakakoumane, and deputy governor, Youa Pao Yang,[12][13] were about a mile and a half from the USAID warehouse[14] office. Besides Sam Thong, its neighbor was Long Tieng, where the US Central Intelligence Agency military was stationed during the Vietnam War of 1961–1975.
In Sam Thong there was not only the governor, the police, Chao Muong (district chief), Nai Ban (village chief) and those of the school offices, there was also a public and military hospital of 150-beds[15] built and equipped at Sam Thong in Xiengkhouang province which[16][17] was called San Sook (Lao: ແສນສຸກ) and was the largest hospital[18] serving all of northeaster Laos, especially in Xiangkhouang Province at the time. During this period, King Savang Vatthana (Lao: ຊະຫວ່າງ ວັດຖະນາ) and the Queen went to visit the Governor of Xiangkhouang and his people in Sam Thong to support the Lao and Hmong refugees, due to the war.