SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2966
'I"HE MICHIGAN DAILV
PAGE THREE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER ZZ, 1966 TIlE MIChIGAN DAILY PAGE THREE
Communist
Guerrillas
Active
n
Thailand
By WILLIAM L. RYAN
Associated Press News Analyst
BANGKOK, Thailand-A short
time ago one heard in Bangkok
the same sort of complacent, con-
fident talk from Thai and U.S.
officials as was heard in South
Viet Nam five years ago. Today,
while much of the confidence re-
mains, the complacency is gone.
The threat to Thailand of a
new people's war in the style of
Viet Nam is recognized. There are
parallels between what is going
on in some parts of Thailand now
and what took place in South Viet
Nam in 1960-61.
There are important differences,
too.
If the Viet Nam conflict goes
badly for the Saigon government,
if it is settled on terms which
might be considered favorable to
the Communist side, Bangkok
fears its troubles will multiply
swiftly.
On the other hand, if the Com-
munists appear to have been de-
feated or to have been forced to
settle on less than their own terms,
the dangers from the incipient
guerrilla war in this country may
diminish.
In some respects, the guerrilla
threat in Thailand is about at the
level of the threat to the Saigon
government five or six years ago.
The Communist insurgency there
was on a small scale in 1959-60,
as it is these days in Thailand's
impoverished northeast provinces.
In 1961 there was a sudden in-
tensification of guerrilla efforts
in South Viet Nam, as if to sig-
nal a big push to topple the Sai-
gon government. Slowly, the num-
ber of U.S. military advisers in-
creased, although they still num-
bered in the hundreds.
This insurgent intensification of
effort came directly after the Com-
munists announced formation of
the National Front for Liberation
of South Viet Nam to serve as a
political arm of the Red guerrilla
forces.
There is a parallel in Thailand.
The guerrilla forces in the north-
east, still small in number al-
though numerous in operations,
called themselves the Thailand In-
dependence Movement. In Janu-
ary, 1965, a political arm was
formed for them, calling itself the
Thailand Patriotic Front - TPF.
This came on the heels of a
statement by Peking's Foreign
Minister Chen Yi that "We may
have a guerrilla war going in Thai-
land before the year is out."
Since then, guerrilla activity in
the northeast has stepped up. This
year the rate of assassination of
government officials and village
leaders has been more than 10 a
month. Well-organized bands of
40-50 guerrillas sweep into vil-
lages, murder officials and lecture
the peasants. The guerrillas are
hard to find and hard to flush out.
The inspiration - and possibly
the headquarters-is in Peking. It
seems likely the guerrilla leaders
are still there, including a man
identified as Lt. Col. Phayom Chu-
lanon, head of the new merged
Independence Movement and Pa-
triotic Front, which retains the
name TPF.
The impression among intelli-
gence sources here is that the TPF
decided in mid-1965 to switch to
a more militant campaign because
of the escalation in Viet Nam.
The guerrilla forces are believ-
ed to include possibly 1000 men
in the northeast and some hun-
dreds in the far southern prov-
inces. Apparently communication
has been established between the
two areas.
The differences between the Viet
Nam of 1961 and the Thailand of
today are big and important, how-
ever. Thailand is a stable country
for the most part, and much of
it is booming and prosperous.
Only the northeast provinces suf-
fer from poverty. While it will
be a long struggle to remedy that,
the regime is working on it.
Although Thailand is ruled by a
dictatorship, it is mild in compar-
ison to that of Ngo Dinh Diem,
who by 1961 had cracked down so
hard on any breath of opposi-
tion that he had driven many
Vietnamese into the arms of the
Communists and had complicated
the task of his own armed forces.
There is no such suppression in
Thailand.
In addition, there is an enor-
mous American presence already
in Thailand - 27,000 men. The
United States has constructed a
complex of powerful bases, some
of them in the northeast, and
turned them over to Thailand.
Perhaps most important, a poli-
tical uproar is going on in Red
China today. Until it is settled,
China may be in poor condition
to accept long risks.
The Communists in Thailand
have less prospect of a broad pop-
ular front than they had in Viet
Nam.
The differences would seem to
lessen the threat to Thailand. But
there is little tendency in official
circles to take anything for gr ant-
ed.
Conference
Emphasizes
Peace Talks
Rusk Says Purpose
Of Manila Meeting
To Seek End of War
MANILA ()-Secretary of State
Dean Rusk ruled out war planning
at the Manila summit conference
and said yesterday its purpose will
be to try to find some way to end
the conflict in Viet Nam.
Rusk arrived from Washington
to join other foreign ministers in
planning for the seven-nation ses-
sions to be held Monday and Tues-
day.
The peace theme was stressed
by each of the arriving diplomats
and by Foreign Secretary Narciso
Ramos of the Philippines, who was
at Manila's International Airport
to great them.
Rusk and Ramos, in separate
discussions of conference pros-
pects, emphasized that peace-
making is a two-sided task. Rusk
pressed the question of what the
Communists in Viet Nam would
do if the United States ordered
a new pause in the bombing of
North Viet Nam.
"We are interested in what
ing pause," Rusk declared in
would happen in events of a bomb-
words obviously aimed at Hanoi.
"We haven't been able to find
out."
Rusk said the purpose of the
conference will not be to lay out
war plans, though there will be
a review of the military situation.
"We'll be meeting to consider ways
and means of bringing this war to
a conclusion," he said. "This is
the overriding purpose of the
meeting."
He was asked whether the South
Vietnamese government would be
willing to join in a peace confer-
ence with the Viet Cong also par-
ticipating.
'Our position so far," Do re-
plied, "is that we have to fight
Communist aggression."
If a cease-fire could be ar-
ranged, his government would
want to ask all Communists in
South Viet Nam to withdraw into
North Viet Nam. Then, he said,
all those who were not Commu-
nists-apparently meaning any
non-Communist enemies of the
present Saigon government-would
be welcomed in South Viet Nam.
SALT LAKE CITY (P) -Vice
President Hubert H. Humphrey
said yesterday the Communists
"have been defeated and chocked"
in Viet Nam.
"We could go ahead and pro-
claim the victory," he said at a
news conference, 'but that doesn't
mean the Communists would stop
fighting."
He said, "The prospects of a
military victory for the Viet Cong
and the North iVetnamese are nil."
This was as close as any high
government official has come to
declaring that a military victory
had been achieved in the Viet
Nam war.
Calm After
Planes Hit
CAMPAIGN TIME SHORT:
Two Bills Remain in Path Of
Laotian Bases Congressional Adjournment
-AssociatedP ress
TWO SECRET SERVICE MEN are shown covered with paint behind President Johnson's bubbletp
limousine yesterday. Two youthful dissenters of the Viet Nam war hurled the red and green paint
during a motorcade in Melbourne, Australia.
Half Million Greet Johnlison;*
Confers wvith Holt on Poicy
MELBOURNE, Australia ((AP))-
President Johnson's limousine
withstood a bombing-with wash-
able paint-as Australia's second
largest city turned out half a
million persons to cheer him yes-
terday.
The Johnsons had just passed
through the heart of Melbourne
to the cheers of the biggest crowd
yet on their Asian trip. It happen-
ed so quickly that eyewitness ac-
counts differed.
The young man who threw the
paint either fell or threw himself
in front of the slowly moving au-
to. The car stopped and U.S. Se-
cret Service agents seized him and
turned him over to Australian po-
lice. Under Australian law, his
name was withheld.
The presidential couple imme-
diately went on to their next en-
gagement, a reception at Govern-
ment House.
The Melbourne visit was a half-
day side trip from Canberra, the
Australian capital 300 miles away,
and it produced the most spectac-
ular turnout yet in Johnson's
meet-the-people traveling through
six Far East nations.
Some Australian officials figur-
ed the crowds at a million, out of
Melbourne's total population of
more than two million. The police
estimate was half a million. All
agreed the total topped that for
Queen Elizabeth II when she visit-
ed in 1963.
Johnson appeared delighted with
the welcome. Time and again he
would halt the procession, climb
out of his car to mingle with the'
surging humanity, and talk to
them through a portable amplifier.
The main foreign policy sub-
stance of Johnson's visit was
handled earlier in the day in a
two-hour meeting in Canberra
with Prime Minister Harold Holt,'
and his top aides, spoke of Viet
Nam.
A joint Johnson-Holt statement
issued after the meeting said: "It
was agreed that the military posi-
tion in Viet Nam was now demon-
strably such that North Viet Nam
could achieve no military victory.
"It was, however, clearly recog-
nized that it would be necessary
firmly to maintain the present
military effort until a satisfac-
tory settlement could be negotia-
ted.
Johnson meets briefly today
with Arthur Calwell, head of the
Labor party. The Laborites oppose
the Holt government on the Viet-
namese issue, but Calwell has in-
dicated he welcomes Johnson's vi-
sit as a matter above partisan po-
liticals.
Report Power Play
Between Military
Leaders in Capital.
By The Associated Press
VIENTIANE, Laos-Tense calml
fell over this Laotian capital last
night aftersmilitary installations
were attacked by planes in a power
struggle between the nation's air
force chief and the armed forces
high command.
There were reports of a coup,
but in Paris, the Laotian premier,
Prince Souvanna Phouma, said:
"The government is in firm con-
trol of the situation. I have just
received a telegram from Vietiane
and I understand the neutralist
forces have everything under con-
trol and are staying out of this
dispute."
He described the air attack as a
dispute "between generals."
Further complicating the pic-
ture, reports have been received
here that General Kong Le, com-
mander of the neutralist forces,
left his headquarters on the Plain
of Jars on Oct. 17 for Thailand.
Gen. Kouprasith Abhay, com-
mander of the Vientiane 5th Mili-
tary Region, told newsmen the air
force chief, Brig. Gen. Thao Ma,
had formed a revolutionary coup
committee. He said Thao Ma had
sent advance word he would send
his planes to bomb Vientiane a
second time.
Reliable sources reported the air
force had threatened to return and
bomb and strafe Vientiane at 10
a.m., but that hour passed with-
out further action. The first
bombing and strafing lasted 30
minutes.
The armed forces high command
in Vientiane had planned to re-
move the 32-year-old Thao Ma
from command of the air force,
effective next Tuesday, and de-
mote him to a post on the general
staff at Vientiane.
After the Vientiane group de-
manded Thao Ma's removal,ta
'compromise was reached. But the
air force commander refused to
carry out the agreement to move
his headquarters from Savanna-
khet, in Southern Laos, to Vien-
tiane, where he could be watched.
A government source said Prince
Boun Aum, a former prime minis-
ter and still a powerful man in La-
otian politics; was planning to go
to Savannakhet and try to take
over control.
waiting around for the Senate,
then quit, too, for the night and
will reconvene at noon today.
Both House and Senate had the
problem of keeping enough mem-
bers on hand to do business. Mans-
field told a reporter he doubted
Congress would be able to adjourn
today. He indicated the session
might spill over into next week,
but did not forecast its length.
If adjournment comes today, it
will leave campaigning members
only 17 days away from the Nov.
8 elections that will shape the 90th
Congress.
After a day of off-and-on ic-
cess and a hectic round of negotia-
ting sessions, Mansfield reconven-
The Senate's dispute swirled1
around a tax bill originally de-
signed to encourage foreign in-
vestment in the United States.
The focus of their opposition: al
provision to let taxpayers earmark
$1 of their income taxes for pres-
idential election campaigns. Un-
der it Republicans and Demo-
crats could get $30 million apiece
for the 1968 race.
The House and Senate cleared a
$10.5 billion labor and welfare
appropriation after a compromise
which stripped it of a provision
which in effect permitted hospital
segregation on doctors' orders.
Another negotiating session -
on House-Senate differences on,
WASHINGTON ((P)-The 89th seeking a way to clear aside that Negotiators reached agreement
Congress voted itself to the brink [ final piece of business. jon the $5-billion appropriations
of adjournment yesterday and Across the Capitol, the House bill, including $11 million for Pre-
found a Senate impasse over a voted 129-102 to go along with sident Johnson's demonstration ci-
catch-all tax bill barring the way. the Senate on a Communist trade ties program-a big slash from the
The House cleared its calendar issue that earlier had loomed as $24.2 million sought. They also set
of business, but Senate Democratic the barrier to adjournment, funds for the war on poverty at
leader Mike Mansfield of Montana That vote accepted a Senate some $1.6 billion, below the $1.75
said the Senate would meet again provision leaving it to President billion ceiling set by Congress.
today to take up the tax measure Johnson to decide whether the Both House and Senate must
and a final, $5 billion appropria- Export-Import Bank should un- agree.
tion bill. derwrite trade with Communist With half a dozen members on
The House, which had been bloc nations of Eastern Europe. hand, the Senate cleared a House-
ed the Senate and said the foreign legislation that would set federal
investors tax bill-designed to at- standards for state unemployment
tract overseas investors but laden compensation programs-ended in
with other provisions-would be failure. House - Senate conferees,
taken up this morning. met twice, at administration urg-
In the Senate and its anterooms, ing, in an attempt to produce a
leaders and lawmakers held a has- compromise. They failed and said
ty round of negotiating sessions, the bill was dead.
approved administration bill de-
signed to fight inflation by sus-
pending for 15 months two major
tax incentives to business invest-
! m1It.
I i
men .
With that bil's passage, Con-
gress gave its final approval to an
agreement that will merge the Na-
tional Football League and the
American Football League, to pro-
duce, eventually, a single, 28-team
organization.
One bill drew heightened atten-
tion because President Johnson
has said on his tour of the Pacific
that he will sign it overseas.
That is a $170-million measure
to help U.S. colleges improve their
courses in international -,ffairs.
Senate approval sent it to the
President.
A bill providing medical care in-
stead of prison terms for narcotics
addicts completed its Capitol Hill
route and went to the White
House.
TO ITE THRU SUNDAY!
Terrorists Set Boobytraps;
Weather Slowing Air War
SAIGON, ()-Viet Cong terror-
ists struck three times yesterday,
and in the most serious attack
killed or wounded 57 South Viet-
namese by exploding a homemade
mine in a crowded market place
in the Mekong River delta. Two
grenade attempts aimed at Amer-
icans in Saigon failed.
Only minor skirmishes were re-
ported in ground fighting, while
the air war continued at about
the weather-slowed pace of the
last few days. High-altitude B52
bombers from Guam were in ac-
tion again.
A summary made available by
the U.S. mission earlier this week
showed that 12 Viet Cong terror
attacks killed 20 persons, including
one American serviceman, and in-
jured 30 others in a seven-day;
period ending last Monday. Viet
Cong terrorists also were said to
have kidnaped 71 persons in the
12 raids.
- ----
ii
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I
World News Roundup
By The Associated Press
TOKYO - North Korea has
charged that U.S. soldiers fired
across the military demarcation
line on two occasions last Thurs-
day.
The official news agency said
that Thursday night, "the U.S.
imperialists committed the hostile
act of showering 220 bullets for
more than one hour on the por-
tion of our side in the demilitariz-
ed zone."
* * *
BRASILIA, Brazil - Govern-
ment troops were removed yester-
day from around the Congres-
sional Building and free access
to the structure was restored.
GRENADA, Miss. -- Mississippi
highway patrolmen sealed off the
area around Grenada's two inte-
grated schools yesterday after Ne-
gro pupils stalked out of classes
and marched downtown.
.* * *
HOT SPRINGS, Va.-The chair-
man of the Business Council re-
ported yesterday that food re-
tailers who have cut prices un-
der pressure of housewives' boy-
cott "are losing money hand over
fist." He predicted an early end
to the cut-price selling.
The Metropolitan Drauta Quartet-
featuring Hal Youngblood and Jimmy Launce of WJR, Detroit
presenting: DON JUAN IN HELL
"A warming performance"-A. Fiddler
I; I ~ The nr4 eis invited to remain for an informal I
". - - -r / 1 it r 1
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