Tou Samouth also known as Achar Sok, was a
CambodiaCambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n Communist politician. One of the founder members of the Party in Cambodia, and head of its more moderate faction, he is mainly remembered for mentoring Saloth Sar, the man who later became
Pol PotSaloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
.
Career in the Khmer resistance
Samouth, one of the
Khmer KromThe Khmer Krom are Khmer people living in the Mekong Delta and the Lower Mekong River area. Under the Khmer Rouge regime- according to the conservative estimates are that 150,000. Under the rule of Vietnam from 1979-93, Cambodia may have lost 20,000 Khmer Krom...
of southern
VietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, was originally a Buddhist
monkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
. In 1945, he was professor of
Pali
at Unnalom Monastery in
Phnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
when an American
air raidStrategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability and public will to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces...
directed against Japanese military targets struck the building, causing several deaths. Samouth was so frightened by this event that he fled to the countryside, eventually making his way to
VietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, where he joined the
Viet MinhViệt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
. In the late 1940s, Samouth lectured groups of Khmer recruits on political awareness and economics.
Samouth went on to be a founder member of the Khmer People's Revolutionary Party, the precursor to the
Communist Party of KampucheaThe Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...
, along with
Son Ngoc MinhSon Ngoc Minh , also known as Achar Mean, was a Cambodian communist politician whose first notable career achievement was in 1950 when he was appointed the head of provisional revolutionary government of the United Issarak Front organized at Hongdan...
. He was also one of the leaders of the
United Issarak FrontThe United Issarak Front was a Cambodian anti-colonial movement 1950–1954., organized by the left-wing members of the Khmer Issarak movement. The UIF coordinated the efforts of the movement as of 1950, and waged war against the French Union forces...
, a broadly leftist affiliation of various disparate elements of the anti-French resistance, the
Khmer IssarakThe Khmer Issarak was an anti-French, Khmer nationalist political movement formed in 1945 with the backing of the government of Thailand. It sought to expel the French colonial authorities from Cambodia, and establish an independent Khmer state....
. When the Front formed its 'Khmer Resistance Government', Samouth was named as the Interior Minister.
Position in the KPRP
As head of the Vietnamese-sponsored 'urban' faction of the Cambodian Party, Samouth's presence helped to attract many Buddhist monks to the left-wing cause. The 'urban' communists, as opposed to Sieu Heng's 'rural' cadres, advocated generally more moderate policies; in particular, they supported the presence of the Cambodian king,
Norodom SihanoukNorodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
, as a figure of national unity and a useful ally in the North Vietnamese attempt to overcome the
SouthSouth Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. It was within Samouth's faction of the Party that Pol Pot, and the other recent returnees from Paris who would form the nucleus of the Party's later incarnation as the
Khmer RougeThe Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
, would gain experience. Samouth appears to have adopted Pol Pot as his protege, leading to the latter's rapid promotion within the Party subsequent to Cambodian independence.
The 'rural' cadres of the party were decimated by Sihanouk's security forces in 1959, following Sieu Heng's defection to the government. In the face of increasing repression from Sihanouk's government, the KPRP held a secret meeting in 1960 in Phnom Penh railway station. Samouth, who still advocated cooperation with Sihanouk, was elected General Secretary. Pol Pot was named as third in the Party's hierarchy behind Samouth and
Nuon CheaNuon Chea , also known as Long Bunruot , is a Cambodian former communist politician and former chief ideologist of Khmer Rouge. He was commonly known as "Brother Number Two" second in command to Pol Pot who was leader during the Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979...
.
Death
Samouth disappeared in disputed circumstances in July 1962; the event was a closely guarded secret until the later 1970s. Although he is usually assumed to have been murdered by Sihanouk's police, it has been suggested that Pol Pot may have arranged Samouth's death to ensure his own promotion to party secretary. Pol Pot denied this in one of the last interviews before his death, stating that Samouth, who had left his safe house to obtain medicine for his sick child, had been arrested by
Lon NolLon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
's men, interrogated, and killed: "If Tou Samouth had talked, I would have been arrested. He was killed at Stung Mean Chey pagoda. We loved each other." The historian
Ben KiernanBenedict F. Kiernan is the Whitney Griswold Professor of History, Professor of International and Area Studies and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. He is a prolific writer on the Cambodian genocide...
notes, however, that there is strong evidence that Pol Pot's circle was responsible for Samouth's disappearance: in particular a secret Party report on 'internal enemies', dating from 1978, accused
Kandal ProvinceKandal is a province of Cambodia. Its capital is Ta Khmao town . The province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital Phnom Penh...
Secretary Som Chea of killing Samouth. Chea, who was later executed, had been a courier for Pol Pot's group in 1962.
Pol Pot was elected Party secretary early in 1963, and subsequently broke decisively with the Vietnamese communists, securing instead the backing of
ChinaChina , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
Sources
- Kiernan, B. How Pol Pot Came to Power. London: Verso, 1985