Vietnamese border raids in Thailand
Encyclopedia
After the 1978 Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia
and defeat of Democratic Kampuchea
in 1979, the Khmer Rouge
fled to the border regions of Thailand
, and with assistance from China Pol Pot's troops managed to regroup and reorganize in forested and mountainous zones on the Thai-Cambodian border. During the 1980s and early 1990s Khmer Rouge forces operated from inside refugee camps in Thailand, in an attempt to de-stabilize the pro-Hanoi
People's Republic of Kampuchea
's government, which Thailand refused to recognize. Thailand and Vietnam faced off across the Thai-Cambodian border with frequent Vietnamese incursions and shellings into Thai territory throughout the 1980s in pursuit of Cambodian guerrillas who kept attacking Vietnamese occupation forces.
during the Vietnam War
. In 1979, after Vietnam's military occupation of Cambodia had raised these same concerns again, Bangkok was compelled once again to ally with, an adversary of Vietnam and looked to Beijing for security assistance. In both instances, Thailand's actions hardened Hanoi's attitude toward Bangkok.
In 1973 a new civilian government in Thailand created a chance for some degree of reconciliation with North Vietnam, when it proposed to remove United States military forces from Thai soil and adopt a more neutralist stance. Hanoi responded by sending a delegation to Bangkok, but talks broke down before any progress in improving relations could be made. Discussions resumed in August 1976, after Hanoi had defeated the South Vietnamese and united the country under its rule. They resulted in a call for an exchange of ambassadors and for an opening of negotiations on trade and economic cooperation, but a military coup in October 1976 ushered in a new Thai government that was less sympathetic to the Vietnamese communists. Contact was resumed briefly in May 1977, when Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos held a conference to discuss resuming work on the Mekong Development Project
, a major cooperative effort that had been halted by the Vietnam War. Beginning in December 1978, however, the conflict in Cambodia dominated diplomatic exchanges, and seasonal Vietnamese military offensives that included incursions across the Thai border and numerous Thai casualties particularly strained the relationship.
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea. The war began with isolated clashes along the land and maritime boundaries of Vietnam and Kampuchea between 1975 and 1977, occasionally involving division-sized military formations...
and defeat of Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
in 1979, the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The 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...
fled to the border regions of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and with assistance from China Pol Pot's troops managed to regroup and reorganize in forested and mountainous zones on the Thai-Cambodian border. During the 1980s and early 1990s Khmer Rouge forces operated from inside refugee camps in Thailand, in an attempt to de-stabilize the pro-Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
People's Republic of Kampuchea
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
's government, which Thailand refused to recognize. Thailand and Vietnam faced off across the Thai-Cambodian border with frequent Vietnamese incursions and shellings into Thai territory throughout the 1980s in pursuit of Cambodian guerrillas who kept attacking Vietnamese occupation forces.
Causes
As the ASEAN member most vulnerable to a Vietnamese attack, Thailand was foremost among the ASEAN partners opposing Vietnam's 1978 invasion of Cambodia. Thailand's suspicion of Vietnamese long-term objectives and fear of Vietnamese support for an internal Thai communist insurgency movement led the Thai government to support United States objectives in South VietnamSouth Vietnam
South 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...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In 1979, after Vietnam's military occupation of Cambodia had raised these same concerns again, Bangkok was compelled once again to ally with, an adversary of Vietnam and looked to Beijing for security assistance. In both instances, Thailand's actions hardened Hanoi's attitude toward Bangkok.
In 1973 a new civilian government in Thailand created a chance for some degree of reconciliation with North Vietnam, when it proposed to remove United States military forces from Thai soil and adopt a more neutralist stance. Hanoi responded by sending a delegation to Bangkok, but talks broke down before any progress in improving relations could be made. Discussions resumed in August 1976, after Hanoi had defeated the South Vietnamese and united the country under its rule. They resulted in a call for an exchange of ambassadors and for an opening of negotiations on trade and economic cooperation, but a military coup in October 1976 ushered in a new Thai government that was less sympathetic to the Vietnamese communists. Contact was resumed briefly in May 1977, when Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos held a conference to discuss resuming work on the Mekong Development Project
Mekong River Commission
The Mekong River Commission is an intergovernment body charged “to promote and co-ordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being by implementing strategic programmes and activities and providing...
, a major cooperative effort that had been halted by the Vietnam War. Beginning in December 1978, however, the conflict in Cambodia dominated diplomatic exchanges, and seasonal Vietnamese military offensives that included incursions across the Thai border and numerous Thai casualties particularly strained the relationship.
1979
- October: A major offensive by the Vietnamese against Khmer Rouge hide-outs in their mountain sanctuaries pushed thousands of Khmer Rouge soldiers, their families and the civilians under their control to the Thai border.
- November 8: Thai artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
fire hit Nong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee Camp was one of the earliest organized refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, where thousands of Khmer refugees sought food and health care after fleeing the Vietnamese invasion of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979...
, killing about 100 refugees.
- November 12: Vietnamese attacks opposite Ban Laem drove 5,000 Khmer Rouge troops and villagers into Thailand. About half went to Kamput Holding Center.
1980
- June 23: In response to the organized repatriation of thousands of refugees, 200 VietnamVietnamVietnam – 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 –...
ese troops crossed the border at 2 a.m. into the Ban Non Mak Mun area, including Nong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee Camp was one of the earliest organized refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, where thousands of Khmer refugees sought food and health care after fleeing the Vietnamese invasion of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979...
, setting off a three-day artillery battle that left about 200 dead, including between 22 and 130 Thai soldiers, one Thai villager, scores of refugees and up to 72 PAVN troops. Hundreds of refugees were reported killed, many by a Thai artillery barrage that struck one of the camps. Others were caught in the crossfire. Several hundred refugees who resisted the Vietnamese were bound and executed. Vietnamese troops temporarily seized two Thai border villages including Ban Non Mak Mun and shelled others.
- June 24: Still controlling Nong Chan, Vietnamese forces fought artillery and small arms duels with Thai troops and attacked guerrilla strongpoints. The Vietnamese shot down two Thai military aircraft.
- June 26: Vietnamese troops seized two relief officials (Robert Ashe and ICRC Medical Coordinator Dr. Pierre Perrin) and two American photographers at Nong Chan Refugee Camp.
1981
- January 4: Vietnamese forces stormed across the border, opened fire with rocket propelled grenadeRocket propelled grenadeA rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
s and automatic weapons, and battled with Thai troops before being pushed back. It was Vietnam's first reported incursion into Thailand since June 1980. Two Thai soldiers were killed and one was wounded during the early morning, 90-minute battle. Between 50 and 60 Vietnamese soldiers reportedly opened fire on a Thai patrol half a mile inside Thailand. Vietnamese casualties are unknown.
- January 5: Thai troop reinforcementReinforcementReinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
s were rushed to the tense border with Vietnamese-occupied Cambodia and put on alert against another cross-border raid by Hanoi's troops. The military action followed a Vietnamese attack the previous day.
1982
- Early March: A spate of incidents along the border, culminating in the intrusion of 300 Vietnamese troops and the killing of a number of Thai Border Patrol Police.
- October 21: Vietnamese gunners opened fire on a Thai reconnaissanceReconnaissanceReconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
plane near the border, but did not hit the aircraft. The plane returned to its base inside Thailand.
1983
- January: Cambodian government troops, backed by Vietnamese units, conducted a major offensive against the three united resistance factions. The fighting spilled over onto Thai soil. More than 47,000 Cambodians flee to Thailand.
- January 16: Vietnamese troops recaptured the hamlet of Yeang Dangkum, east of Nong ChanNong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee Camp was one of the earliest organized refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, where thousands of Khmer refugees sought food and health care after fleeing the Vietnamese invasion of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979...
. Insurgents from the non-Communist Khmer People's National Liberation FrontKhmer People's National Liberation FrontThe Khmer People's National Liberation Front was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea regime in Cambodia...
(KPNLF) captured the hamlet on December 26 and held it as part of a series of initiatives at year's end.
- January 21: Vietnamese artillery attack forced the KPNLF base in the 0'Bok pass to move into Thailand. Non-combatants return at the end of the month.
- January 31 – February 1: With heavy artillery support, 4000 armor-led Vietnamese troops launched an assault against Nong ChanNong Chan Refugee CampNong Chan Refugee Camp was one of the earliest organized refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, where thousands of Khmer refugees sought food and health care after fleeing the Vietnamese invasion of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979...
, one of the largest refugee camps on the border, destroying it. Ground fighting was reported outside the camp between Vietnamese troops based in Cambodia and about 2000 KPNLF guerrillas. At the same time the Vietnamese kept up a steady barrage of shells, rockets and mortars. At least 50 shells landed in Thai territory, killing a 66-year-old farmer and damaging several houses and a Buddhist temple. The refugee population of about 24,000 fled with unknown casualties while MOULINAKAMoulinakaThe MOULINAKA was a pro-Sihanouk military organization formed in August 1979 by an armed group on the Thai-Cambodian border.-History:...
units were brushed aside, and KPNLF forces withdrew after a 36-hour fight. The Khao-I-DangKhao-I-DangKhao-I-Dang Holding Center was a Cambodian refugee camp located 20 km north of Aranyaprathet in Prachinburi Province of Thailand...
ICRCInternational Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
hospital received over 100 civilian wounded.
- March 31: HanoiHanoiHanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
launched a new round of fierce attacks when 1,000 Vietnamese troops, augmented by about 600 PRK "people's volunteers," attacked the Khmer Rouge refugee settlements of Phnom Chat and Chamkar Kor, aided by artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, rocket, and Soviet T-54 tank fire. Thai officials claimed that the Vietnamese attacks again had resulted in "spillovers" of Vietnamese artillery and mortar shells falling into adjacent Thai territory. Vietnamese groups did not hesitate to fire artillery shots, began spraying bullets into the Khmer Rouge headquarters on Thai territory, and clashed with Thai forces for several days, drawing BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
into a defensive campaign. Intense exchange of artillery and tank fire killed 30 civilians and injured some 300 persons. Approximately 22,000 Cambodian civilians fled to Thailand for refuge.
- Early April: PAVN destroyed the camp of Phnom Chat, civilians evacuated to Red Hill. Sihanouk's Camp David was attacked and civilians moved to Green Hill. One Thai jet was shot down.
- April 3: At least 100 Vietnamese troops crossed into Thailand and fought hand-to-hand with a Thai border patrol, killing five Thai soldiers and wounding eight. An assault on Ampil Camp, the KPNLF headquarters, failed because KPNLF sabotage units had blown up several fuel depots in the weeks prior to the attack, leaving the division short of diesel and unable to mobilize its armor.
- December 27: Vietnam moved troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers into an area near the eastern border of Thailand and was apparently preparing to attack Cambodian guerrillas. About 350 Vietnamese troops with several T-54 tanks and armored personnel carriers arrived in Thmar Puok village in western Cambodia from Phnom PenhPhnom 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,...
. Thmar Puok is 14 miles southeast of the major base of the non-Communist Cambodian rebels and 16 miles from the Thai frontier. Thai military and security officials expected Vietnamese forces to begin a dry-season offensive against Cambodian guerrillas next month.
- December: Vietnamese troops clashed with Thai troops repeatedly on land while Vietnamese gunboats opened fire on a fleet of ten Thai fishing trawlers about 20 miles off the southern Vietnamese coast, seizing five trawlers and capturing 130 fishermen.
1984
- March 25-early April: Hanoi, in a third major incursion in five years, launched a 12-day cross-border operation and intruded into Thai territory in pursuit Khmer Rouge rebels, using Soviet-made T-54 tank, 130-mm artillery, and some 400–600 troops. As a result, Thai artillery and air power had to be called into action, resulting in dozens of casualties on both sides and the downing of another Thai military airplane. Vietnam's cross-border raid, along with Thai military and civilian casualties, was reviewed as seriously undermining Thailand's security. The minor clashes in the area of the Khmer Rouge camp, the Chong Phra Palai Pass linking Cambodia and Thailand.
- April 15: Six hundred Vietnamese troops of the 5th Division and the 8th Border Defense Regiment first shelled, then entered Ampil Camp, a guerrilla base on the border, killing 85 and wounding about 60 Cambodian civilians. The dawn attack was supported by tanks and artillery. About 50 artillery shells landed on Thai territory near the base of KPNLF guerrillas. In a broadcast monitored in Bangkok, guerrillas loyal to Prince Norodom SihanoukNorodom 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...
said Vietnam had eight battalionBattalionA battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s within striking distance of their stronghold at Tatum, a settlement just inside Cambodia's northern border. Thai troops had been put on full alert to prevent a spillover of the fighting.
- Late May-early June: Vietnamese Navy repeatedly attacked Thai fishing trawlers off the Vietnamese coast, resulting in the death of three Thai fishermen.
- August 10: Vietnamese infantry, APCs and artillery stationed north of Ampil Camp shelled Nong Chan and Ampil, forcing 10,000 KPNLF troops and civilian refugees to flee into Thailand. Since the April 15 battle for Ampil, the KPNLF had regained control of the camp.
- October 28: Thai Border Patrol Police capture 5 unarmed Vietnamese infantry regulars who had entered Thailand near Ban Wang Mon southeast of Aranyaprathet, reportedly looking for food.
- November 6: Vietnamese troops attacked a lightly manned Thai Border Patrol Police Outpost near SurinSurinSurin is the name of several places:* Surin Province, Thailand* Amphoe Mueang Surin, a district of Surin Province* Surin, Thailand, capital of the Province and district* Surin Beach, one of the main beaches of Phuket, Thailand...
on the border. Two Thai soldiers were killed, 25 wounded and 5 missing in fighting for control of Hill 424 at Traveng, 180 miles northeast of BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. About 100 soldiers from the PAVN's 73d Regiment pushed about a mile into Thai territory but were later forced back into Cambodia by Thai forces. A Thai military source said the Vietnamese crossed the border in pursuit of Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
- November 18–26: Nong Chan Refugee Camp attacked by over 2000 soldiers of the PAVN's 9th Division and fell after a week of fighting, during which 3 Vietnamese captains and 66 Cambodian soldiers of the PRKAF were killed. 30,000 civilians were moved to evacuation Site 3 (Ang Sila) then to Site 6 (Prey Chan).
- December 8: Nam Yuen, a small camp in Eastern Thailand near the border with LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, was shelled and evacuated.
- December 11: Sok Sann was shelled and evacuated.
- December 25: Nong Samet Refugee Camp attacked at dawn. The entire Vietnamese 9th Infantry Division (over 4000 men) plus 18 artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
pieces and 27 T-54 tanks and armored personnel carriers participated in this assault. The Vietnamese deployed both 105mmL118 Light GunThe L118 Light Gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer, originally produced for the British Army in the 1970s and widely exported since, including to the United States, where a modified version is known as the M119A1...
and 130mm howitzerHowitzerA howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
s, Soviet-built M-46130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46)The 130 mm towed field gun M-46 M1954 is a manually loaded, towed 130 mm artillery piece, manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It was first observed by the west in 1954...
field guns with a range of up to 27 kilometers. During the fighting KPNLAF guerrillas succeeded in destroying 14 Vietnamese tanks and APCs. An estimated 55 resistance fighters and 63 civilians died in the assault and 60,000 civilians were evacuated to Red Hill. Approximately 200 war wounded were evacuated to Khao-I-DangKhao-I-DangKhao-I-Dang Holding Center was a Cambodian refugee camp located 20 km north of Aranyaprathet in Prachinburi Province of Thailand...
. Numerous KPNLAF soldiers and officers, including General Dien DelDien DelGeneral Dien Del is a distinguished military figure who directed combat operations in Cambodia, first as a general in the Army of the Khmer Republic and then as a leader of KPNLF guerrilla forces fighting against the Vietnamese occupation .-Early career:Born in the Khmer Krom region of South...
, reported that during fighting at Nong Samet on December 27 the Vietnamese used a green-colored "nonlethal but powerful battlefield gas" which stunned its victims and caused nausea and frothing at the mouth. Over 3500 KPNLAF troops held portions of the camp for about a week after this, but in the end it was abandoned.
- December 31: Vietnamese troops ambushed two Thai RangerThahan PhranThe Thahan Phran is a paramilitary light infantry force which patrols the borders of Thailand and is part of the Royal Thai Army...
units in BuriramBuriramBuri Ram is a town in Thailand, capital of the Buriram Province, about 410 km northeast of Bangkok. The town covers the whole tambon Nai Mueang of Mueang Buriram district...
Province, wounding six and pinning them down with small arms fire for over 24 hours.
1985
- January–February: A powerful Vietnamese offensive overruns virtually all key bases of the Cambodian guerrillas along the frontier, putting the Thais and Vietnamese in direct confrontation along many stretches.
- January 5: Paet Um attacked and evacuated.
- January 7–8: Five to six thousand Vietnamese troops, backed by artillery and 15 T-54 tanks and 5 APCs, attacked Ampil (Ban Sangae). Vietnamese troops were supported by 400–500 Cambodian PRKAF troops. The attack was preceded by heavy artillery bombardment, with between 7000 and 20,000 shells falling over a 24-hour period. Nong Chan and Nong Samet were also shelled. Ampil camp fell to the Vietnamese after a few hours of fighting in spite of General Dien DelDien DelGeneral Dien Del is a distinguished military figure who directed combat operations in Cambodia, first as a general in the Army of the Khmer Republic and then as a leader of KPNLF guerrilla forces fighting against the Vietnamese occupation .-Early career:Born in the Khmer Krom region of South...
's predictions. KPNLAF troops disabled 6 or 7 tanks but reportedly lost 103 men in combat. San Ro civilian population evacuated to Site 1. A Thai fighter plane, an A-37 DragonflyA-37 DragonflyThe Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is a United States light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s...
, was shot down over Buriram Province during the fighting, killing one of the two crew members. During the assault on Ampil, Thai troops defending Hill 37 near Ban Sangae sustained 11 killed and 19 injured.
- January 23–27: Dong Ruk and San Ro camps shelled, 18 civilians were killed. Population of 23,000 fled to Site A.
- January 28–30: Vietnamese artillery fired about one hundred 130mm shells, mortarsMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
and rockets at positions of the Khmer Rouge's 320th Division near the Khao Din Refugee Camp about 34 miles south of Aranyaprathet. This was followed by an infantry assault on Khao Ta-ngoc.
- February 13: Nong Pru, O'Shallac and Taprik (South of Aranyaprathet) attacked and evacuated to Site 8.
- February 16: In a skirmish with non-communist rebel forces near Ta Phraya, four Vietnamese rockets containing toxic gas were fired, causing Thai villagers in the area to complain of dizziness and vomiting. A Royal Thai Army laboratory confirmed that the rockets contained phosgenePhosgenePhosgene is the chemical compound with the formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I. It is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. In low concentrations, its odor resembles...
gas.
- February 18: 300 Vietnamese troops assaulted Khmer Rouge positions near Khlong Nam Sai, 19 miles southeast of Aranyaprathet. Fighting began with small arms exchanges and escalated into a Vietnamese barrage with heavy artillery and mortars. Thai troops fired warning shots at Vietnamese soldiers as they crossed the border in pursuit of fleeing Khmer Rouge guerrillas. One Thai villager was killed.
- February 20: Vietnamese and Thai soldiers fought on a hill near the frontier that winds 450 miles between Thailand and Cambodia. Vietnamese forces tried to storm Hill 347, about half a mile inside Thailand's northeastern province of BuriramBuriramBuri Ram is a town in Thailand, capital of the Buriram Province, about 410 km northeast of Bangkok. The town covers the whole tambon Nai Mueang of Mueang Buriram district...
. A Thai officer was killed and two soldiers were wounded in the fighting, which included an artillery duel across the border.
- March 5: Tatum attacked. Green Hill population evacuated to Site B. Dong Ruk, San Ro, Ban Sangae, and Vietnamese Land Refugees are all moved to Site 2Site Two Refugee CampSite Two Refugee Camp was the largest refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border and, for several years, the largest refugee camp in Southeast Asia...
. Some 1000 Vietnamese troops were regularly intruding into Thai territory in attempts to outflank units of the Cambodian resistance groups. As these groups received support through Thailand and even had possible escape routes through Thai territory, their backs were kept free – as long as Vietnamese troops attacking the resistance factions respect Thai territory..
- March 6: Thai troops and aircraft forced Vietnamese troops to retreat from one of three hills on Thai territory which the Vietnamese had captured during preceding days. Royal Thai Air ForceRoyal Thai Air ForceThe Royal Thai Air Force or RTAF is the air force of the Kingdom of Thailand. Since its establishment in 1913, as one of the earliest air forces of Asia, the Royal Thai Air Force had engaged in many major and minor battles. During the Vietnam war era, the air force has been developed with USAF-aid...
fighter-bomberFighter-bomberA fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
s flew missions against about 1,000 Vietnamese who crossed the Thai-Cambodian border in two places. The Thai counter attack against the intruding Vietnamese troops left some 60 people dead.
- March 7: Thai army troops supported by artillery and U.S.-supplied A-37 DragonflyA-37 DragonflyThe Cessna A-37 Dragonfly, or Super Tweet, is a United States light attack aircraft developed from the T-37 Tweet basic trainer in the 1960s and 1970s...
aircraft recaptured three hills seized May 5 by intruding Vietnamese soldiers. Hundreds of Vietnamese were said to have been driven back across the border into Cambodia. However, the Vietnamese counterattacked against Hill 361 on Thai soil behind the besieged Cambodian guerrilla base at Tatum, and the results of the battle were not immediately clear. 14 Thai soldiers and 15 Thai civilians had been killed.
- April 4: A clash occurred at Laem Nong Ian, a restricted area 15 miles southeast of this Thai border town, after five Vietnamese intruded about 875 yards into Thailand.
- April 6: Border policemen killed a Vietnamese soldier in Thailand during a 10-minute fight near the border.
- April 20: At southeastern Thailand's Trat ProvinceTrat ProvinceTrat is a province of Thailand. It is located in the east of Thailand, and has borders with Chanthaburi Province to the northwest, Cambodia to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south.Trat is most famous for gemstone mining and trading....
, some 1,200 Vietnamese troops attacked Thai positions situated 3 to 4 km from the Gulf of ThailandGulf of ThailandThe Gulf of Thailand , also known in to Malays as Teluk Siam literally meant Gulf of Siam, is a shallow arm of the South China Sea.-Geography:...
. Instead of withdrawing the Vietnamese set up a permanent base on a hill in Thailand, about a half mile from the border, where they laid mineLand mineA land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
s and built bunkerBunkerA military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...
s. Later, escalating Thai attacks had pushed some of the Vietnamese back into Cambodia, but the Hanoi government dispatched a fresh battalion of 600 to 800 men to reinforce the hilltop half a mile inside Thailand.
- May 10: A Thai soldier was killed after stepping on a land mine while on patrol.
- May 11: Thailand's American-made jet fighters and heavy artillery pounded Vietnamese troops occupying a hill half a mile inside Thailand, and Thai soldiers poised for an assault on the heavily mined position. The Thais bombed and shelled the Vietnamese before an infantry operation was to be launched in the Banthad Mountain range, 170 miles southeast of Bangkok. The Vietnamese were dug in along the hill and had laid a string of mines to counter any Thai ground assaults. Seven Thai soldiers have been reported killed and at least 16 were injured. Radio Hanoi reported a Vietnamese Foreign Ministry statement denying the latest reported incursion into Thailand. Thailand had accused Vietnam of at least 40 cross-border forays in search of Cambodian guerrillas since November 1984, but the Vietnamese government had denied the charges.
- May 15: Vietnamese and Thai soldiers clashed for about eight hours with mortars, antitank cannons and machine guns.
- May 17: Thai soldiers drove intruding Vietnamese soldiers back into Cambodia in intense fighting along Thailand's southeastern border. After more than a week of fighting, Thai rangers and marines seized part of a Vietnamese-occupied hill just inside the Thai border the previous days.
- May: An approximate 230,000 Khmer civilians were in temporary evacuations in Thailand after a very successful Vietnamese dry season offensive.
- May 26: Vietnamese soldiers crossed into the Thai province of Ubon RatchathaniUbon RatchathaniUbon Ratchathani is a city on the Mun River in the south-east of the Isan region of Thailand. It is known as Ubon for short. The name means "Royal Lotus City." The provincial seal features a pond with a lotus flower and leaves in a circular frame. Ubon is the administrative centre of Ubon...
from northern Cambodia, apparently searching for Cambodian guerrillas. A Vietnamese force killed five Thai soldiers and a civilian in a one-hour clash with Thai border patrols in northeast Thailand. The fighting prompted Thai provincial authorities to evacuate about 600 civilians from two border villages to safer areas in the Nam Yuen district.
- June 13: Thai forces battled 400 Vietnamese troops who crossed into Thailand.
1986
- January 23: The barrage was aimed at a Thai marine outpost in Haad Lek, a village at the southern tip of the border. The Vietnamese fire came from a hill overlooking Haad Lek, inside Cambodian territory. "This appears to be a deliberate provocation by the Vietnamese," a Thai Navy spokesman said. "It does not look like a spillover of fighting inside Cambodia." A Thai warship in the Gulf of Thailand responded by shelling the Vietnamese artillery base. The warship fired more than 100 shells and the Vietnamese more than 70 shells.
- January 25: Vietnamese heavy guns pounded a Thai border post, killing three marines and causing an artillery battle with a Thai warshipWarshipA warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
offshore.
- December 7: Vietnamese troops warned Thailand against continuing to support Cambodian guerrillas. A loudspeaker broadcast and leaflets shot from cannon near Amphoe AranyaprathetAmphoe AranyaprathetAranyaprathet is a district in Sa Kaeo Province in Thailand. It borders Cambodia to the East.-Economy:Aranyaprathet was formerly a stop on the railroad connecting Bangkok with Phnom Penh, Cambodia...
appealed to Thailand to refuse sanctuary to the guerrillas and warned that it would bear the "consequences" if it refuses.
1987
- March 25: Army Commander-in-ChiefCommander-in-ChiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
General Chavalit announces an all-out offensive against Vietnamese troops who have intruded into Thai territory beyond the set 5 km limit.
- April 17: Thai forces tried to oust Vietnamese infantry from Chong Bok, a mountainous region where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia converge. Casualties in double figures have been reported on both sides.
- May 30: Thai RangersThahan PhranThe Thahan Phran is a paramilitary light infantry force which patrols the borders of Thailand and is part of the Royal Thai Army...
patrol the Chong Bok region where fighting has raged to dislodge Vietnamese from entrenched positions just inside Thai territory.
- Mid-1987: The 800-kilometer Thai-Cambodian border was fully garrisoned by Vietnamese and Cambodian forces.
1988
- April 22: Vietnamese troops crossed the border and ambushed a company of border police, killing four of the Thai soldiers and wounding another in the first clash between the two sides since last spring. The company of five Thai police was patrolling a strategic point near the border in Buriram ProvinceBuriram ProvinceBuri Ram or is one of the north-eastern provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Sa Kaeo, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Maha Sarakham and Surin. To the south-east it borders Oddar Meancheay of Cambodia...
, 174 miles east of Bangkok, when a Vietnamese soldier hurled a grenade into the group and opened fire with rifles. The Vietnamese soldiers were more than 500 yards inside Thai territory when they staged the attack.
- June 12: At about 9 a.m., Vietnamese 105mm and 85mm artillery shelled a Thai village, killing two villagers and wounding two others. Six artillery shells struck four miles deep inside Thailand.
- August 4: The leader of the Chart Thai PartyChart Thai PartyThai Nation Party , also known as Chart Thai, was a conservative political party in Thailand. It was dissolved by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on December 2, 2008, along with the People's Power Party and the Matchima party, for having violated electoral laws in the Thai general election, 2007...
, General Chatichai ChoonhavanChatichai ChoonhavanGeneral Chatichai Choonhavan was the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1988 to 1991. He was the only son of Field Marshal Phin Choonhavan, and is of Thai Chinese descent with ancestry from Chenghai District...
, becomes the 17th Prime minister of ThailandPrime Minister of ThailandThe Prime Minister of Thailand is the head of government of Thailand. The Prime Minister is also the chairman of the Cabinet of Thailand. The post has existed since the Revolution of 1932, when the country became a constitutional monarchy....
, he promises "to turn battlefields into market places".
1989
- April 26: Vietnamese troops fired four artillery shells into Site TwoSite Two Refugee CampSite Two Refugee Camp was the largest refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border and, for several years, the largest refugee camp in Southeast Asia...
, the largest of the Cambodian refugee camps with a population of more than 198,000. Three people were severely wounded. After the shelling, the camp was reportedly closed to Western aid officials, including members of the United Nations Border Relief Operation, which provided aid for the camp.
- September–December: Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia.