Ban Nam Ree Pathana

Finding Route 1307 in Nan Province, northern Thailand, bordering Laos, is not an easy task. Even Nan native drivers have a hard time in the isolated mountains without any landmarks or road signs. 

Nestled on the slopes of the 1500 m Phu Phayak mountain, 4km from the Laos border, Ban Nam Ree Phatthana is perhaps the deepest mountain village in Thailand. Phu Phayak, which means ‘a large mountain teeming with tigers’, has long been the home of the Lua and Hmong who came from Laos. 

These hill tribes, who suffered all kinds of discrimination and persecution, provided the impetus for the armed struggle of the communist in northern Thailand. And Ban Nam Ree Phatthana was the 708th headquarter of the Communist Party of Thailand in the 1970s, the heart of the northern fighting.

Ban Nam Ree Phatthana, with a population of 600 and 100 households, traditionally grew poppies on the hillsides. But since the ‘Phu Phayak Royal Project’ was launched in 2003, the villagers have been producing organic vegetables and fruits. The Project was promoted by the Department of Public Relation in accordance with HM King Bhumibol’s Philosophy of sufficiency economy to develop alternative crops. 

And the Tourism Authority has been promoting Phu Phayak as an eco-tourism with the slogan “Wandering Phu Phayak, eating organic vegetables, tasting aromatic coffee and climbing to the top of mountains. However, there are no visitors and only flies are flying around in reality.

Pham Serao, a former communist says: “We appreciate the royal project but we need road development more than anything. There will never be a tourist who will come all the way to the dead-end border valley along this messy road just to eat organic vegetables.”

Although the ideological struggle has now turned into a struggle for survival, the people of Ban Nam Ree Phatthana still live with their own pride in having once been a communist guerrilla. “Now the world has changed and the armed struggle is over, but we never regret the fighting we have had for the people and society in the past. And we will never forget the times we spent with our leader Sahai(comrade) Too Khamtan.” Like Pham Serao, old warriors open their hearts even to strange visitors without any hesitation.”

Here, Thai historical figures appear. Sahai Too Khamtan refers to Phayom Chulanont, former commander of the Thai People’s Liberation Army, the armed wing of the CPT. Phayom Chulanont is the father of Gen.Surayud Chulanont, who served as Supreme Commander and Prime Minister of Thailand.

Lt.Col. Phayom Chulanont joined the coup led by Gen.Plaek Pibulsonggram in 1947 to overthrow Prime Minister Thawan Thamrongnawasawat, but after political differences, he staged his own coup two years later in 1949. The so-called ‘Army Staff School Coup’ ended in failure. Payom soon went into exile in China.

In 1957, he returned to his hometown of Phetchabun and entered politics as a member of the House of Representatives. However, when Gen. Sarit Thanarat staged another coup that year to overthrow the Plaek government, Payom joined the CPT and became the commander of the People’s Liberation Army. Since then, Payom, who was called ‘Sahai Too Khamtan’, is known to have led the armed struggle, returned toChina in 1978 for treatment of a chronic illness, and died in the early 1980s.

From the beginning, the Communist Party of Thailand hid its organization so thoroughly that even its members did not know who the real leader was, so not only Payom’s death but also his role is still controversial. Phayom left no records or trace. Sahai Too Khamtan remains only in the memories of his comrades. 

“No matter what anyone says, our leader is Sahai Too Khamtan. We went to the frontline with him and followed his orders. He was a man whose words and actions were always consistent, and treated everyone without discrimination. Sahai Too Khamtan is the one who made me proud to be a communist.”

Phi Tak Pisatchan, who followed Payom on the Nan front for four years, expressed deep respect. According to the old guerrillas, it is certain that Payom led the armed struggle as the commander of the Thai People’s Liberation Army, as has been known. However, nothing has been revealed about Payom’s political role within the CPT other than the fact that he was a member of the Central Committee. 

It is possible to infer that Payom played an important political role through a document from the Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) government in 1976 that records him as ‘secretary-general of the Thai Communist Party, Khamtan’. 

It is not official but it is known that within the CPT, Charoen Wan-Ngam served as secretary-general from the 1960s until his death in 1979. After that, Udom Srisuwan succeeded him as secretary-general.

At this point, it is worth seeing Payom’s son, Gen Surayud Chulanont. He was born into a military family. Surayud’s maternal grandfather was Gen. Si Sitthisongkhram, who served as the commander of the Army Operations Command. His father was Payom, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Thai Army and then as the commander of the Thai People’s Liberation Army of the CPT. 

He himself served as Supreme Commander of the Royal Thai Armed Force, Prime Minister and then President of the Privy Council now. Also his son Non Chulanon is taking the military path, passing down the military lineage to the fourth generation.

However, Surayut’s memories of his father Payom seem to be few. When Payom went into exile in China after the failed coup in 1949, Surayut was only six years old. Then eight years later, in 1957, Payom returned to Thailand, but he said goodbye to his family again when he joined the CPT that year.

After that, Surayut graduated from the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, the military’s most elite course. As soon as he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1965 when the CPT started the armed struggle, he was sent to the Northern Anti-Communist Front. The cinematic imagination of a father and son pointing guns at each other has become a situation that can happen in reality. But they had never met on the frontline and such a serious affair did not happen. 

Nevertheless, Suryaut’s experience of having to show loyalty by pointing a gun at his father was not only a personal affliction but also a social tragedy. Through this tragic story of father and son, we can see one of the great strengths of Thai society.

So, the son of a commander of communist party entered the highest royal military academy. Even though the Cold War is over, this is a story that certainly symbolises the inclusiveness of Thai society.

That very symbol stands tall on the ridge of Ban Nam Ree Phatthana. It is called the Phu Phayak Memorial which opened in December 2005. Perhaps, those who visit this place will feel a little bored because there are only photos of maps, poems and history of the CPT on the wall without a single gun or uniform. However, it is an important place in the lives of the villagers. 

Every year on December 1, the founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Thailand, old guerrillas gather at the Phu Phayak Memorial to pay tribute to the leader and those who died on the front line. As Pham Serao said, it is a place where souls are gathered and commemorate the fallen comrades. The leader here is, of course, the commander of the Thai People’s Liberation Army, Payom, who is enshrined on the altar in the middle of the memorial hall.

“As a son, I am proud of my father and mother who gave birth to me. At least my father fought according to his beliefs. To me, my father is a hero. He taught me to be a good soldier and a good citizen,” recounts Gen Surayut of his father. No one knows what his intentions are and society and history will judge whether he is a good soldier or a good citizen. The same goes for Surayut’s life and that of his father, Payom.