Tan Kieu Village – The mark of the return of Thai expatriates

Tan Kieu village today develops its economy based on forestry production, fruit tree planting, and livestock raising *(Photo by Duong Chien)*

According to historical documents, in 1959, when the Thai government sought to exchange our overseas Vietnamese to the Ngo Dinh Diem government, Vietnamese people in Thailand united to fight, with one heart hoping to return to their homeland. Thanks to the close attention of the Party, the State and especially President Ho Chi Minh , on June 20, 1959, the Agreement on repatriation for overseas Vietnamese was signed.

In early 1960, the first ship carrying 922 overseas Vietnamese from Thailand arrived at Hai Phong port in a warm welcome by Uncle Ho and the leaders. During the period 1960-1964, there were 75 repatriation ships with more than 45,000 people returning to the North. Many of these families chose Ha Tinh as their permanent residence, including more than 20 households that established Tan Kieu village today.

Mrs. Hong Kha Dan Tham (born in 1925) was one of the Thai people who followed her husband to settle down and make a living in Tan Kieu village (Ha Linh commune) that year.

Among the Thai people who followed their husbands back to their country that year, Ms. Hong Kha Dan Tham (born in 1925) is one of the few who are still alive. When she left Thailand with her husband, she did not know Vietnamese and was completely unfamiliar with everything from customs, language, and farming methods.

“Those days were very difficult, but we were comforted by Uncle Ho’s love. The Thai women who followed their husbands to Vietnam were Uncle Ho’s daughters-in-law. Thai women received priority support from the State with rice and stamps; on every holiday or New Year, they received gifts, cakes, and silk from Uncle Ho. Thanks to that, we quickly integrated and attached ourselves to our new homeland,” Ms. Hong Kha Dan Tham recalled.

Thanks to her hard work, her family's economy gradually improved, and she had many children and grandchildren. She now has 5 children, 19 grandchildren and 50 great-grandchildren, all of whom are hard-working, filial and consider Tan Kieu their homeland. Even though she has turned 100, she is still proud: "I love my hometown Tan Kieu, I love Ha Linh land as if it were my birthplace."

Mrs. Thai Thi Tien's family actively develops garden economy, bringing in high income.

The spirit of overcoming difficulties and diligence of the first overseas Vietnamese has been continued by their descendants to this day. The family of Mrs. Thai Thi Tien and Mr. Nguyen Duc Quyen is a typical example. From nothing, they cleared more than 1 hectare of hilly land to grow fruit trees. Currently, the family has nearly 200 orange trees, more than 100 grapefruit trees and many other crops, each year bringing in a good income and a stable life.

“Instead of choosing to leave our hometown or go to work far away like previous generations, we stay on the land our ancestors left behind to start a business and develop the economy. That is how our descendants both preserve our ancestors’ land and preserve our roots,” said Ms. Thai Thi Tien.

Not only Mrs. Tien’s family, many other households in Tan Kieu are also growing strongly. Some invest in planting acacia forests, some open wood processing factories, some provide cross-Vietnam – Thailand transportation services, expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.

Kasetsart University delegation took souvenir photos and visited the economic model with provincial leaders, local leaders and people of Tan Kieu village.

During the resistance war against the US, Tan Kieu was an important logistics route along Highway 15A - the route to support the southern battlefield. The overseas Vietnamese here spared no effort, some contributed their houses to build warehouses, some carried ammunition, and some were on duty for air defense. Many people were awarded the Resistance Medal by the State, recognizing the great contributions of the Tan Kieu people to the Party's revolutionary cause.

After peace, they started to rebuild their lives, growing tea, planting forests, and then switching to fruit trees. Thanks to the spirit of solidarity and hard work, Tan Kieu, from a wild land, has now become a renewed village of Ha Linh commune.

Mr. Tran Xuan Huong (Head of Village 10 Tan Kieu) shared: “Currently, Village 10 Tan Kieu has 164 households with nearly 687 people, mainly developing forest economy, growing oranges, grapefruit, raising livestock... Many households earn hundreds of millions of dong each year. The children in the village are hard-working and dynamic, some do business, some work abroad, all of them are devoted to their homeland, contributing to making Tan Kieu more and more prosperous.”