Samlaut Uprising
Encyclopedia
The Samlaut Uprising, or Samlaut Rebellion, was an incident that took place in 1967 in Battambang Province
in Cambodia
, in which the rural peasantry revolted against the Sangkum
regime of the then-Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
.
The incident is seen by some academics as the starting point of the Cambodian Civil War
, which ultimately led to the victory of the Communist forces of the Khmer Rouge
and the establishment of Democratic Kampuchea
.
at Kompong Kol, Banan District
, in 1966. Land was expropriated without adequate compensation, aggravating a situation in which government troops had been deployed to assist in collecting taxes and rice from local farmers.
Resentment against the government had been building for some years in the province. After independence in 1954, Sihanouk had selected Battambang as a suitable area to resettle farmers from the south-west of the country. The newcomers received a subsidy, and existing residents found themselves displaced from land or economically disadvantaged. The employment, in early 1967, of a new system of rice collection (known as ramassage du paddy), which essentially forced farmers to sell their rice to the government at gunpoint, caused further tensions. Demonstrations in Battambang
in February of that year were blamed by Sihanouk on the three Communist members of the Sangkum, Hu Nim
, Hou Yuon
and Khieu Samphan
: although the latter had used the issue to call for the end of the ramassage, it is thought that the protests were in fact spontaneous. Protests quickly spread to Kampong Speu Province, Kampot and a number of other areas. Sihanouk was out of the country until March, but he authorised his security forces to respond aggressively.
Some historians, such as Ben Kiernan
, have stated that evidence points to the fact that the clandestine Communist Party of Kampuchea
was in fact planning an uprising across the country, citing the fact that the demonstrations rapidly spread to other, widely separated provinces. It is argued that some of the disturbances in 1967 were part of a coordinated effort by the leftists to destabilise Sihanouk's regime, though the official Khmer Rouge historiography given by Pol Pot
later sought to deny this, stating its open rebellion only occurred in January 1968 and that the Samlaut incident was "premature". The ultimate failure of the 1967 revolt meant that the Party later attempted to disown it as a spontaneous, disorganised act.
. Protestors burned a 'model' agricultural facility set up by the Sangkum's youth movement at Kranhoung, and by the evening of that day two government outposts had been attacked.
The security forces of Prime Minister Lon Nol
responded vigorously. Paratroopers and the national police were sent into the region, allegedly having been offered a bounty for each severed head of a rebel or leftist that they sent back to Phnom Penh
. Acting under the orders of Lon Nol, the army and air force levelled several villages, massacring the inhabitants. It was reported that in one incident, lorries filled with only human heads were sent from Battambang back to the capital, as the army sought to prove it was quelling resistance. On the eastern side of the country, seventy armed followers of Communist cadre So Phim infiltrated the town of Kandol Chrum, killed a former district chief, and wounded a government agent; Ieng Thirith
, another prominent Communist, was seen in Samlaut itself. In several areas across the country, suspected Communists were arrested, driven underground, or in some cases shot.
On April 24, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Nim, Yuon and Samphan; the two latter men fled to join the Communist maquis in the forests. (Hu Nim persisted in his attempts to maintain a public profile and to work alongside the government, but after repeated warnings from Sihanouk, he had also departed by the end of the year.) At the time, the three men were widely assumed to have been murdered by the security forces, leading to them being labelled as the "Three Ghosts" when they reappeared as part of the GRUNK
government-in-exile three years later.
At the end of April, Lon Nol resigned, apparently to recuperate from injuries sustained a car crash eight weeks earlier: this signalled a relaxation of government moves against the unrest. By 18 June, by which time more than 4000 residents had fled Battambang Province, Sihanouk announced that the situation was now calm. In order to placate the right wing of the Sangkum, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Chinese
traders acting as middlemen in the sale of rice to Viet Minh
guerrillas; this diverted rice back through legal channels, where it earned the government increased tax revenue. He also named new leftist members of the government as a balance to the right wing.
Although the unrest appeared to have been stopped for the time being, there is evidence that the army and security forces used the period after June 18 to commence punitive operations against villages involved in the rebellion, burning houses and killing or driving away their inhabitants.
Sporadic and increasingly serious uprisings against the government were to continue throughout the following three years, especially in the north-east of the country, where the Khmer Loeu
hill tribes began to rebel against government authority, with the likely encouragement of Khmer Rouge elements.
Battambang Province
Battambang is a province in northwestern Cambodia. It is bordered to the North with Banteay Meanchey, to the West with Thailand, and to the East and South with Pursat. The capital of the province is the city of Battambang. The name, meaning 'lost staff', refers to the legend of Preah Bat Dambang...
in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, in which the rural peasantry revolted against the Sangkum
Sangkum
The Sangkum Reastr Niyum , commonly known simply as the Sangkum, was a political organisation set up in 1955 by Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia...
regime of the then-Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom 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...
.
The incident is seen by some academics as the starting point of the Cambodian Civil War
Cambodian Civil War
The Cambodian Civil War was a conflict that pitted the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Viet Cong against the government forces of Cambodia , which were supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam The Cambodian...
, which ultimately led to the victory of the Communist forces of 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...
and the establishment 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....
.
Causes
It is thought that the revolt was, at least in part, caused by the heavy-handed conduct of government officials during the building of a sugar refinerySugar refinery
A sugar refinery is a factory which refines raw sugar.Many cane sugar mills produce raw sugar, i.e. sugar with more colour and therefore more impurities than the white sugar which is normally consumed in households and used as an ingredient in soft drinks, cookies and so forth...
at Kompong Kol, Banan District
Banan District (Cambodia)
Banan District is a district of Battambang Province, in north-western Cambodia.- Administration :The district is subdivided into 8 communes and 72 villages .- Communes and villages :-References:...
, in 1966. Land was expropriated without adequate compensation, aggravating a situation in which government troops had been deployed to assist in collecting taxes and rice from local farmers.
Resentment against the government had been building for some years in the province. After independence in 1954, Sihanouk had selected Battambang as a suitable area to resettle farmers from the south-west of the country. The newcomers received a subsidy, and existing residents found themselves displaced from land or economically disadvantaged. The employment, in early 1967, of a new system of rice collection (known as ramassage du paddy), which essentially forced farmers to sell their rice to the government at gunpoint, caused further tensions. Demonstrations in Battambang
Battambang
Battambang is the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia.Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia with a population of over 250,000. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country...
in February of that year were blamed by Sihanouk on the three Communist members of the Sangkum, Hu Nim
Hu Nim
Hu Nim, alias "Phoas" was a Cambodian Communistintellectual and politician who held a number of ministerial posts.His long political career included spells with the Sangkum regime...
, Hou Yuon
Hou Yuon
Hou Yuon was a veteran of the communist movement in Cambodia, and was of Sino-Khmer descent. A member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, he served in several ministerial posts during the 1960s and 1970s.Yuon, who repeatedly clashed with other members of the Khmer...
and Khieu Samphan
Khieu Samphan
Khieu Samphan was the president of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as Cambodia's head of state and was one of the most powerful officials in the Khmer Rouge movement, though Pol Pot was the group's true political leader and held the most...
: although the latter had used the issue to call for the end of the ramassage, it is thought that the protests were in fact spontaneous. Protests quickly spread to Kampong Speu Province, Kampot and a number of other areas. Sihanouk was out of the country until March, but he authorised his security forces to respond aggressively.
Some historians, such as Ben Kiernan
Ben Kiernan
Benedict F. Kiernan is the Whitney Griswold Professor of History, Professor of International and Area Studies and Director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. He is a prolific writer on the Cambodian genocide...
, have stated that evidence points to the fact that the clandestine Communist Party of Kampuchea
Communist Party of Kampuchea
The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...
was in fact planning an uprising across the country, citing the fact that the demonstrations rapidly spread to other, widely separated provinces. It is argued that some of the disturbances in 1967 were part of a coordinated effort by the leftists to destabilise Sihanouk's regime, though the official Khmer Rouge historiography given by Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
later sought to deny this, stating its open rebellion only occurred in January 1968 and that the Samlaut incident was "premature". The ultimate failure of the 1967 revolt meant that the Party later attempted to disown it as a spontaneous, disorganised act.
The rebellion
By April, there was a sharp escalation of violence, initially in Battambang Province. On April 2, two soldiers from a detachment collecting rice were killed at SamlautSamlout District
Samlout District is a district of Battambang Province, in north-western Cambodia.- Administration :The district is subdivided into 7 communes and 49 villages . Due to conflict, census enumeration could not be conducted in Samlout district during the 1998 Census.- Communes and villages...
. Protestors burned a 'model' agricultural facility set up by the Sangkum's youth movement at Kranhoung, and by the evening of that day two government outposts had been attacked.
The security forces of Prime Minister Lon Nol
Lon Nol
Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
responded vigorously. Paratroopers and the national police were sent into the region, allegedly having been offered a bounty for each severed head of a rebel or leftist that they sent back to Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom 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,...
. Acting under the orders of Lon Nol, the army and air force levelled several villages, massacring the inhabitants. It was reported that in one incident, lorries filled with only human heads were sent from Battambang back to the capital, as the army sought to prove it was quelling resistance. On the eastern side of the country, seventy armed followers of Communist cadre So Phim infiltrated the town of Kandol Chrum, killed a former district chief, and wounded a government agent; Ieng Thirith
Ieng Thirith
Ieng Thirith was an influential figure in the Khmer Rouge, but was neither a member of the Khmer Rouge Standing Committee nor of the Central Committee. Her original name is Khieu Thirith...
, another prominent Communist, was seen in Samlaut itself. In several areas across the country, suspected Communists were arrested, driven underground, or in some cases shot.
On April 24, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Nim, Yuon and Samphan; the two latter men fled to join the Communist maquis in the forests. (Hu Nim persisted in his attempts to maintain a public profile and to work alongside the government, but after repeated warnings from Sihanouk, he had also departed by the end of the year.) At the time, the three men were widely assumed to have been murdered by the security forces, leading to them being labelled as the "Three Ghosts" when they reappeared as part of the GRUNK
GRUNK
The Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea, usually known by the French acronym GRUNK, was a government-in-exile of Cambodia, based in Beijing, that was in existence between 1970 and 1976...
government-in-exile three years later.
At the end of April, Lon Nol resigned, apparently to recuperate from injuries sustained a car crash eight weeks earlier: this signalled a relaxation of government moves against the unrest. By 18 June, by which time more than 4000 residents had fled Battambang Province, Sihanouk announced that the situation was now calm. In order to placate the right wing of the Sangkum, Sihanouk ordered the arrest of Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
traders acting as middlemen in the sale of rice to Viet Minh
Viet Minh
Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...
guerrillas; this diverted rice back through legal channels, where it earned the government increased tax revenue. He also named new leftist members of the government as a balance to the right wing.
Although the unrest appeared to have been stopped for the time being, there is evidence that the army and security forces used the period after June 18 to commence punitive operations against villages involved in the rebellion, burning houses and killing or driving away their inhabitants.
Sporadic and increasingly serious uprisings against the government were to continue throughout the following three years, especially in the north-east of the country, where the Khmer Loeu
Khmer Loeu
The Khmer Loeu are the Mon–Khmer highland tribes in Cambodia. Although the origins of this group are not clear, some believe that the Mon–Khmer-speaking tribes were part of the long migration of these people from the northwest. The Austronesian-speaking groups, Rade and Jarai, apparently came to...
hill tribes began to rebel against government authority, with the likely encouragement of Khmer Rouge elements.