Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-07-29
ThaiIand Takes Steps
To Guard Against
InfiIfrafion by Reds !

- 49,
Infilfrafion by Reds !
BANGKOK, Thailand. July 20.
"A critical situation is develop
ing today in Trailand's six
northeastern provinces. which
are areas Of serious Communist
inf1ltration and penetration into
this country.
To meet this threat, Field
Marshall Pibul Songgram's gov,
eminent is paying special at
tention to this region. Each of
the northeastern provinces has
contiguous border relationship
with Laos, in which the Com
munist-led Wet Mimi rebels OPP
Grated during the Indo-C China
war.
Two thousand troops Of the
Laotian Communist resistance
government" were allowed under
the Indo- China peace treaty to
retain areas in Laos for regroup-
ment purposes. The rebel soldiers
will be concentrated in two prov
inces that do not have contigu-
GUS borders with Thailand.
Next Line Of Defense.
American specialists on South
east Asia believe, now that
northern Wet Nam is lost, Thai
land is the free worlds next line
Of defense in the area. Thai
lands potential is such that it
might with United States sup
plies. put up a good fight If Com
munist China started a war
against Thailand by proxy.
The That's have a century old
tradition Of conflict with the
Wet Namese and fear that just
such a war might be started by
the Wet Mimi in northern Wet
Nam.
In recent weeks, under the d.
rection of Police General Phao
Sriyanon. Thai police have car
ried out q series Of surprise re-
gional raids, arresting q score
Of persons for alleged Commu-
mist activity and seizing large
quantities Of Communist pamph-
lets and literature.
Ex-Officials Detained.
Two northeastern p political
leaders, q former deputy educa-
ton minister, Forng Sithitham,
and a former member Of Parlia-
ment, Thongpoon Ajkhan. also
have been detained.
For the first time, too. the
government has launched an
anti Communist information
campaign In the region, aimed
at revealing the Trojan Horse
nature Of Communist inflltra-
ton.
Government concern with the
situation has been slowly build
ing up during the past six
months or more. Last December,
for example, the Thai Cabinet
announced state Of emergency
In the six provinces following
Wet Mini thrust into neighbour
ing Laos. This decree Is still In
force.
Thai fears at that time were
justified when the Wet Mini
slashed their way across the
Laotian jungle terrain to oc-
cupy Thaxhek. q border town
on the Mekong River which
forms the Thai-Laotian frontier.
After holding the town for sew
eral days, the Wet Mimi with
drew under French Laotian
pressure.
Conduct Meneuvers..
AS q partial display Of force
and also In preparation for fu-
ture eventualities, the Thai
armed forces conducted their
biggest postwar field exercises in
this area during March and
April. These defensive maneu-
vers promptly drew violent radio
Peiping accusations that Thai
land, with q population Of about
20 million, was converting itself
into a war base for an assault
upon China's 400 million people.
For q variety of reasons the
northeast has proven Thailand's
weak spot.
The region has little topsoil
and is therefore the least pro-
ductive area in Thailand, the
chief rice granary for Asia. Its
4 million inhabitants live in
great poverty.
The inhabitants of the north
east also consider themselves q
race apart from the bulk Of the
more prosperous That peoples
who dwell on the central plain.
This racial feeling has been ag-
gravated by the traditional ex-
penditure of the country's
wealth around Bangkok, the
capital, to the detriment Of the
poorer, outlying provinces.
Refugees Scattered.
Scattered in small pockets
throughout the region are some
10000 Wet Namese refugees who
fled from do-China in the
early days of the war during
1946 and 1947. They provide the