08:29, October 15, 2023
Udon Thani, a northeastern province of Thailand, is known as the "Capital of Vietnamese Thais" because there is a large number of Vietnamese people settling here.
Coming to Udon Thani city, you will find Vietnamese restaurants on almost every street. Vietnamese people live in large numbers in the Ban Chik community in the middle of Udon Thani and are scattered throughout the province. Udon Thani is also known as the place where President Ho Chi Minh's army gathered to fight against the French. Currently, Udon Thani also has the Ho Chi Minh Historical Research and Tourism Area.
The Ho Chi Minh Historical Research and Tourism Area is about 10 km from the center of Udon Thani, located deep in a quiet space, with a large museum building. In front of the yard is a replica of the house where President Ho Chi Minh used to live, hold meetings, and was also his school for teaching and training the army.
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| Ho Chi Minh Historical Research and Tourism Area in Udon Thani. |
We met Mr. Pom - Atthaphon Ruangsirichoke, lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh Historical Research and Tourism Area. He is a fifth-generation Thai-Vietnamese if counting from the generations of ancestors who migrated from Vietnam, whose Vietnamese name is Van Viet Thanh. Mr. Pom said: “I was born and raised in Udon Thani. My parents were born in Sakon Nakhon, but my great-grandfather and grandfather were both Vietnamese.” Mr. Pom's paternal hometown is in Huong Son district (Ha Tinh province), near the Vietnam-Laos border gate; his great-grandfather moved to work in Vientiane, Laos during the French colonial period of the three Indochinese countries. After World War II, Mr. Pom's family and many Vietnamese in Laos migrated to Thailand. Across the Mekong River from Vientiane is northeastern Thailand. The provinces along the Mekong River in the Isaan region have become a destination for Vietnamese expatriates who want to temporarily escape the danger of war. The main evacuation area is from Thakhek in Laos to Nakhon Phanom in Thailand; from Vientiane to Nong Khai and extending from Nong Khai to Nakhon Phanom, Mukdahan and Sakon Nakhon, which are hundreds of kilometers from the Mekong River.
Most of the Vietnamese who crossed the Mekong River to Thailand did not think that they would settle in Thailand forever. They just wanted a temporary refuge before the war. As Mr. Pom confided: "My grandparents' biggest dream was to return to Vietnam." The "temporary" time passed until the day the Viet Minh defeated the French army at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into two regions, North and South, along the 17th parallel; but after the end of the war against France, Vietnam and the Indochinese countries immediately entered another war: against the American invaders.
At that time, despite the war, there was an agreement between the Thai Red Cross and the North Vietnamese Red Cross in 1959 to repatriate about 48,000 Vietnamese refugees. In fact, up to 70,000 expressed a desire to return to their homeland and it is estimated that there were probably many more Vietnamese who wanted to return.
The first repatriation of Vietnamese took place from 1960 to 1964, with 45,000 Vietnamese returning home. The second wave of 36,000 people was scheduled to be sent back in 1965, but the way home was closed due to the increasing fighting in Vietnam after the US invasion and destruction of North Vietnam. This meant that many people’s dream of returning home never came true, and they ended up in Thailand.
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| Mr. Pom at Ho Chi Minh Historical Research and Tourism Area. |
From the provinces along the Mekong River, the Vietnamese community gradually moved deeper into the provinces with bustling commerce and located in the center of the Isaan region such as Khon Kaen and Udon Thani. The Vietnamese in Thailand live together in a very united community. They inform each other if they know which areas make a good living. They practice the professions they are allowed to do, but are subject to many restrictions such as: not being allowed to own land, not being able to do agriculture, overseas Vietnamese in Thailand have to switch to trading, carpentry, sewing clothes, cooking... These occupations help them accumulate capital and expand into many other business fields suitable for the development trend in Thailand. Many Vietnamese in Thailand are doing well, having wealth to leave to their children and grandchildren.
Along with the change in the foreign policy of the Thai government, the strict policy towards Vietnamese immigrants was gradually relaxed. The Thai cabinet resolution on May 29, 1990 granted Thai citizenship to the children of Vietnamese immigrants, the term "Vietnamese immigrants" gradually disappeared, replaced by the term "Thai people of Vietnamese origin".
The economy in Udon Thani is currently very developed, the life of the Vietnamese people here is also very good. Children of Thai origin are still learning Vietnamese in parallel with Thai; Vietnamese identity is still preserved while still adapting to modern Thai society. Saying goodbye to Mr. Pom, we were very pleased with his words: Vietnamese identity is language, so Thai origin Vietnamese people here still try to preserve their language because they always remember Uncle Ho's teaching: No matter where you are born in the world, do not forget that the blood in your body is still Vietnamese blood.
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