Roger Arnold

Hmong General Vang Pao with Thai Military Leaders

Hmong General Vang Pao, holding hands with Thai Army Chief Of Staff, Surakij Mayalab, overlooking the famous Hmong/CIA headquarters, Long Tieng, Laos, Circa 1972/1973. To the left of Surakij Mayalab with shaved head is CIA case officer, Burr Smith, AKA "Mr. Clean". ....Third from the right, with the receding hairline, is Thai General Witoon Yasowarat, commander of Thai forces in Laos. ....The rest of the men in the photo are Thai, from the elite CIA trained unit call PARU, or Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit, and Royal Thai Army, both of which served in Laos with Lao-Hmong forces. Fourth from the left, for example is Thai Police Colonel Rashane Kijjavej, an advisor to Vang Pao for many years.....The PARU worked directly with Vang Pao from 1961 to 1975 defending the Royal Lao Government from communist forces, most of whom were North Vietnamese Army. The Royal Thai Army ran its wartime operations in Laos from Udorn Thani. ....Thailand impletmented its Task Force Unity deploying approximately 24,000 Thai volunteers to Laos who fought along side the Hmong and other ethnic groups. Approximately 2,200 Thai were killed defending the Kingdom of Laos from invading Lao and Vietnamese communists. It is likely up to 50,000 Thai soldiers are veterans from the "secret war" in Laos.......

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Filename: Thai_Army_Laos.jpg
Copyright: Susan Smith Finn
Image Size: 2400x1591 / 462.4KB; Laos Hmong General Vang Pao Secret War Coup attempt CIA Central Intelligence Agency Leader plot Vietnam PARU Burr Smith Police aerial reinforcement unit Thai officer long tieng cheng
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Hmong General Vang Pao, holding hands with Thai Army Chief Of Staff, Surakij Mayalab, overlooking the famous Hmong/CIA headquarters, Long Tieng, Laos, Circa 1972/1973. To the left of Surakij Mayalab with shaved head is CIA case officer, Burr Smith, AKA "Mr. Clean". ....Third from the right, with the receding hairline, is Thai General Witoon Yasowarat, commander of Thai forces in Laos. ....The rest of the men in the photo are Thai, from the elite CIA trained unit call PARU, or Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit, and Royal Thai Army, both of which served in Laos with Lao-Hmong forces. Fourth from the left, for example is Thai Police Colonel Rashane Kijjavej, an advisor to Vang Pao for many years.....The PARU worked directly with Vang Pao from 1961 to 1975 defending the Royal Lao Government from communist forces, most of whom were North Vietnamese Army. The Royal Thai Army ran its wartime operations in Laos from Udorn Thani. ....Thailand impletmented its Task Force Unity deploying approximately 24,000 Thai volunteers to Laos who fought along side the Hmong and other ethnic groups. Approximately 2,200 Thai were killed defending the Kingdom of Laos from invading Lao and Vietnamese communists. It is likely up to 50,000 Thai soldiers are veterans from the "secret war" in Laos.......