Kuomintang's Forgotten Army in Thailand

[history_nerd]

At the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, some remnants of the anti-communist Kuomintang (KMT) forces refused to surrender, including the 93rd Division, led by General Tuan Shi-wen (also known as Chiwan Khamlue).[1] The division fought its way out of Yunnan in southwestern China, and its soldiers lived nomadic lives in Burma’s (now Myanmar) jungles before seeking asylum in Mae Salong. In exchange for their asylum, they fought for Thailand until 1982, helping to counter the communist insurgency at the Thai frontier. In reward, the Thai government granted citizenship to most of the KMT soldiers and their families.

I remember reading that some of these soldiers ended up in Zhongli, Taiwan.

Here is an interesting interview with one of the soldiers who stayed behind.

China's Forgotten Army: Speaking to Zhan Dening in Mae Salong, Thailand

[TheGingerMan]

Those poor bastards!

[Taffy]

I recently read The Secret Army: Chiang Kai-shek and the Drug Warlords of the Golden Triangle by Richard Michael Gibson, which covers this topic thoroughly from the Thai and Burmese side. His ROC research is a little light, and the text as a whole is very dry, but I’d recommend it if you’re interested in the topic.

[headhonchoII]

This has been going on a long-time. Here’s another one from the history books.
thewildgeese.com/pages/history.html

[hansioux]

There is a Chinese novel called 異域 (Yi-Yuu) on this subject, at least the earlier half of this subject, when they were in Burma. The writer of the story Po-yang was put into Green island political prison for writing this book and criticizing the government. Though the official reason on the record is that when he translated a strip of Popeye the Sailerman he made fun of Chiang and his son.

After he was released from prison, he visited Thailand and wrote a book called 金三角 邊區 荒城 (Jin-San-Jiao Bian-Quu Huang Cheng). This one is from the angle as a reporter and talks about what happened to the forgotten army was driven out of Burma.

It is a very sad story in my opinion. While they were in Burma their ranks once grew to 20,000. And during the years of Vietnam War, CIA secret planes used to air drop supplies to them. But somehow they just weren’t ready enough to take on CCP army head on, because everytime they tried they lost. They were very effective fighting Burmese army, Burmese communists, Indian Amry, Thai army and Thai communists though…

When they evacuated from Burma as ordered by United Nation the first two times, many of them were relocated to Qing-Jing in Nan-Tou. You can still have Yun-nan cuisine at local restaurants.

KMT pretended they knew nothing of those who stayed behind anyway. But many KMT generals who are in Taiwan are makig money off the opium trade, which some troops eventually chose to do because KMT cut off support.

[headhonchoII]

They pop up in old movies from time to time as being involved in the golden triangle drug trade to finance their operations. I didn’t know that the Yunan vets in Qing-Jing were part of the same army…interesting.

These are not the only lost and abandoned army/tribe in the modern world though…how about these guys?

The Lost Tribe - 10 Mar 08 - Pt. 1

I visited Northern Thailand once for trekking and was amazed to find refugees from multiple countries and multiple wars living there, village by village, speaking Laotian, various Chinese dialects, Cambodian languages, Viet, Thai etc.

[urodacus]

They are also well covered in the feature length documentary Tropic Thunder.

Tropic Thunder (2008) ⭐ 7.1 | Action, Comedy, War

[cranky_laowai]

I’ve moved the Franco asides into Post-civil war in Spain and Franco's dictatorship own thread.

[the_bear]

@urodacus

They are also well covered in the feature length documentary Tropic Thunder.

That movies so realistic you can almost smell the napalm.

I’ve visited a couple of the villages the soldiers settled in in Thailand. A lot of their kids were very keen to come to Taiwan but they said the Thai government wouldn’t recognize them as Thai citizens hence no passports could be issued.

[urodacus]

Another good movie that covers the events of the time from a different angle is American Gangster.

[JamescCamp]

@urodacus

Another good movie that covers the events of the time from a different angle is American Gangster.

Yeah – I first learned about this ‘lost army’ from that movie. I was quite surprised at the time and immediately went to look it up.

[anotherlaowai]

Some years ago I did a border hop from Mae Sai (North Thailand) to Tachilek (Burma).
Totally weird scene - the “Burmese” customs guys were all speaking Taiwanese to each other,
and then in the town I got invited into a housewarming party by a bunch of Chinese folks,
so ended up speaking Chinese for a few hours.

[hansioux]

@hansioux

When they evacuated from Burma as ordered by United Nation the first two times, many of them were relocated to Qing-Jing in Nan-Tou. You can still have Yun-nan cuisine at local restaurants.

This channel has some of the most informative videos on the ROC’s involvement in Indochina and Burma in the 60s and the 70s. The videos are very chaotic, but the guy did his research, it’s just his editing style.

Taiwan in the Vietnam War - Part 1: In Country

Taiwan in the Vietnam War - Part 2: The Wild Wild East

[crusher]

I met many of the around 40 years ago.

[slawa]

For decades, Taiwan’s military fought a secret war in the so-called Golden Triangle, where the borders of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet. This year, around a thousand of these soldiers’ remains were returned to Taiwan and interred in Taipei’s Martyrs’ Shrine, helping to preserve the memory of the “Lost Army.”

Remembering Taiwan's 'Lost Army' | TaiwanPlus News

[MikeN1]

The problem with Tropic Thunder is it is supposed to be shot in central Vietnam, but the bad guys are all speaking Mandarin. I suppose they could have flown the actors across Laos and into northern Thailand or Myanmar, but you think they would have noticed (though seeing that crew, maybe not).

[the_bear]

Ah, it was shot in Hawaii.

[tempogain]

I don’t think they were striving for realism.

[OrangeOrganics]

Was speaking to store owner at Huaxin street in Zhonghe(little Burma) and he said there are quite a few wealthy ex opium dealers living in the neighborhood

[the_bear]

Rob Downey’s mandarin did realistically sound like a FOB big nose first time in Pub 45 on a Friday night.