GEOGRAPHIC BRIEF ON NORTH THAILAND-NORTHWEST LAOS BORDER AREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000100650001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 34
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 27, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 1, 1968
• Content Type: IR

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Report
Geographic Brief on
North Thailand-Northwest Laos Border Area
SECRET
CIA/BGI GR 69-1
December 1968
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WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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The north Thailand-northwest Laos border area is a locus of subversive
insurgency that increasingly plagues the Thai Government. Rugged, remote, and
densely forested, the area is well suited to covert cross-border movement and is
very inhospitable to the Government's counterinsurgency operations.
This report is intended for use as a brief orientation aid by persons concerned
with events or programs in Thailand. A similar report is available on Laos
(CIA/BI GR 67-14, Geographic Brief on Laos, February 1967).
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CONTENTS
Page
Terrain and Vegetation ..............................................
1
Climate ..............................................................
4
Thailand-Laos Boundary ..............................................
6
Population ...........................................................
7
Distribution and Composition ........................................
7
Settlement .........................................................
9
Insurgency ........................................................
12
Economy ............................................................ 13
Transportation ....................................................... 15
Roads ............................................................. 16
Waterways ......................................................... 21
Airways ........................................................... 21
Page
Mean Precipitation ................................................... 5
Page
Figure
1.
Densely forested, steeply sloped ridge in northern Thailand ....
2
Figure
2.
Broad valley floor in Chiang Rai Province ....................
3
Figure
3.
Meo family of Nan Province ..............................
8
Figure
4.
Main street of Chiang Khong, in northern Chiang Rai Province ..
9
Figure
5.
Thai village in valley, Chiang Rai Province ..................
10
Figure
6.
Typical Meo village in hills of northern Thailand ..............
11
Figure
7.
Crudely built, windowless Meo house .......................
11
Figure
8.
Opium poppyfield in northern Thailand .....................
14
Figure
9.
Meo girl collecting raw opium ............................
15
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Page
Figure 10. Young teak plantation in northern Thailand ................... 16
Figure 11. Elephant dragging teak log to road .......................... 17
Figure 12. Road through town of Sayaboury ............................ 17
Figure 13. Dry-season view of road between Nan and Pua in Nan Province .. 18
Figure 14. Ford and footbridge across Mae Nam Nan .................... 19
Figure 15. Laterite road between Chiang Rai and Mekong River town
of Chiang Khong ........................................ 20
Figure 16. Makeshift vehicular ferry constructed from two native pirogues 20
Figure 17. Small native crafts navigating rapids on Mekong River near
Paklay ................................................. 22
Figure 18. Landing strip for STOL aircraft in northern Nan. Province ....... 22
Following Page
North Thailand-Northwest Laos Border Area (59652) .................... 22
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
December 1968
Geographic Brief on
North Thailand-Northwest Laos Border Area
1. The Thai provinces of Chiang Rai, Nan, and Uttaradit and the Laotian
province of Sayaboury occupy some 22,000 square miles, a region slightly larger
than Vermont and New Hampshire combined. The northernmost tip is less
than 80 niiles from Communist China (see Map 59652). The region is rugged,
densely forested, and underdeveloped. Slopes are populated by seminomadic
hill peoples who have traditionally been unresponsive to governmental controls
and who pay scant heed to the international boundary slicing through their
homelands. These factors combined make the region susceptible to and well
suited to subversive insurgency, and they hamper government counterinsurgency
operations.
2. Although Sayaboury Province (formerly part of Thailand) has remained
relatively free from Pathet Lao (PL) influence, PL forces have been active in
the northwestern part of the province, west of Hongsa. They have also played
a role in the support of Communist insurgency in the northern Thai provinces
where hill peoples (principally Meos) have been the targets of Communist
propaganda and recruitment for several years. Serious clashes between insurgents
and Thai security forces have occurred in Chiang Rai and Nan since late 1967.
TERRAIN AND VEGETATION
3. Highly dissected, steeply sloped ridges and valleys trending in a north-
northeast - south-southwest direction characterize the terrain of the region (see
Figure 1). Because secondary ridges branch off at all angles from the main
terrain features, movement for more than a few miles is difficult in all directions
except along major valleys. Much of the higher terrain is so difficult that it is
unadministered by the central government on either side of the border. Ridge-
lines are generally 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level, with the highest point-
6,896 feet-along the Sayaboury-Uttaradit border. Flat to gently rolling valleys
and intermontane basins lie 1,000 to 3,000 feet below the ridgelines (see Figure
2). The most rugged territory in the region flanks the northern segment of the
north-south trending range that forms the Sayaboury-Nan border; prevailing
crest elevations here are well over 6,000 feet. Terrain in other parts of Nan
Province and in most of Chiang Rai and Uttaradit is less rugged, and broad,
relatively gentle slopes are more common.
Note: This report was produced by CIA. It was prepared by the Office of Basic and
Geographic Intelligence and coordinated with the Office of Current Intelligence.
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FIGURE 1. Densely forested, steeply sloped ridge in northern Thailand. Such terrain,
well suited to guerrilla operations, is typical of most of the region.
4. All of the streams in Sayaboury Province as well as in the northern
two-thirds of Chiang Rai drain into the Mekong River, which forms the northern
and eastern borders of Sayaboury. Streams in the southern one-third of Chiang
Rai and all of those in Nan and Uttaradit drain into the Mae Nam Nan, which
flows southward into the central lowland of Thailand.
5. Although streams meander slowly through the broader and more level
valleys and basins, for most of their courses they flow swiftly through deeply
entrenched valleys. Gradients are steep, beds are strewn with boulders, and
courses are punctuated by numerous falls and rapids. In places the streams
(including the Mekong) flow in canyons well over 1,000 feet below the flanking
terrain. During the low-water season (November through April) smaller streams
and upper courses of larger ones are dry or their flows are reduced to a trickle.
During the high-water season (May through October), however, flows become
torrential and flash floods are common. Discharge may be up to 30 times as great
as during low water, and water levels may rise as much as 60 feet in constricted
channels.
6. Broadleaf forests containing both evergreen and deciduous species blanket
all of the region except valley floors and lower slopes that are under cultivation
and ridges that support mainly coniferous growths. Evergreens predominate
in wetter areas such as along streams or on windward, rain-swept slopes;
deciduous trees prevail on drier tracts. Slash-and-burn farming has denuded
extensive slope areas of their original forest cover and, after the cleared land has
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FIGURE 2. Broad valley floor in Chiang Rai Province. Valleys usually
are blanketed by fields of wetland rice, especially in the Thai provinces,
and are surrounded by terrain rising to 3,000 feet above them. After
the harvest, in October or November, the fields are dry and would not
significantly deter movement.
been abandoned, lower but more tangled secondary growths have developed.
Tall, open stands of virgin forests are restricted to remote tracts of rugged
terrain where slash-and-burn activities have not been practiced. Trees in the
deciduous forests are leafless for varying periods from December to late March
or early April, and their capacity to conceal insurgent operations from air
observation is diminished accordingly. Nearly pure stands of teak are common
in the deciduous forests. Grasslands with grasses up to 12 feet high are scattered
throughout the region. Tracts with short grasses could be used for drop zones
in counterinsurgency operations.
7. The rugged mountains and densely foliated forests of the region greatly
favor guerrilla operations. In the Thai provinces, insurgent groups are composed
mostly of Meos but include other hill peoples. Their Thai adversaries are low-
landers who not only lack the insurgents' knowledge of the mountains but also
lack speed and endurance when traveling in such terrain. The insurgents therefore
are able to attack Thai military installations in the valleys, as well as patrols
in the mountains, and then withdraw into their mountain redoubts with little
fear of apprehension. The dense forest canopy, although somewhat diminished
by leaf fall in the deciduous stands from December to April, effectively conceals
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insurgent movements (including infiltration of agents into northern Thailand
from Laos) from air observation. On the other hand, the region is poorly suited
to conventional military operations. Airpower and artillery are difficult to apply
effectively in the mountainous, densely forested terrain. All forms of surface
movement by ground forces, too, are severely limited.
8. Like the rest of Southeast Asia, the border area has a monsoonal climate
characterized by two major seasons-the wet southwest monsoon from mid-May
to mid-September and the dry northeast monsoon from mid-October to mid-
March. These major seasons are separated by two transitional periods-one from
mid-March to mid-May, the other from mid-September to mid-October.
9. The southwest monsoon is a season of heavy and frequent precipitation.
Approximately two-thirds of the yearly rainfall occurs during this period. Streams
become swollen, the ground becomes saturated and muddy, surface transportation
becomes difficult or impossible, and the dense cloud cover curtails air transport.
Humidities are persistently high and, except at higher elevations, mean daily
maximum temperatures climb into the high 80's or low 90's (Fahrenheit degrees).
Although such weather hampers the logistic support of Government counter-
insurgency operations, it has relatively little effect on guerrilla activities. The
cloud cover, for example, actually helps to conceal insurgent movements from
air observation.
10. The northeast monsoon is a season of very little precipitation. Temperatures
(which may dip into the low 40's at higher elevations) and relative humidities
are at their lowest and skies are clearest during this season.
11. The mid-March to mid-May transitional season is characterized by increases
in the frequency and amount of precipitation and in relative humidity. Maximum
annual temperatures-in the upper 90's-occur at this time, generally near the
end of April. The mid-September to mid-October transitional season is char-
acterized by decreasing precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity. The
table on page 5 shows mean monthly and annual precipitation for selected
stations in the region.
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THAILAND-LAOS BOUNDARY
12. The Thailand-Laos boundary, for nearly all of its extent through the region,
is alined along remote mountain crests. Although entirely undemarcated, no
part of it is in dispute. North of the region the 59-mile segment between the
Thai province of Chiang Rai and the Laotian province of Houa Khong is formed
by the thalweg (middle of the chief navigable channel) of the Mekong River.
Between Chiang Rai and Sayaboury--some 48 miles-the boundary follows a
mountain range that forms the water divide between two minor river systems
that drain northward to the Mekong. Between Sayaboury and the Thai provinces
of Nan and Uttaradit-approximately 238 miles-the boundary is formed by
the water divide between streams flowing northward and eastward to the Mekong
and streams flowing westward and southward to the Mae Nam Nan.* South of
the region the boundary between Sayaboury and the Thai province of Loei-about
86 miles follows the thalweg of the Nam Huang to its confluence with the
Mekong.
13. Laos originally gained control of what is now Sayaboury Province during
the period 1902-04 when a series of treaties between Siam (now Thailand) and
France (colonial administrator of Laos until 1949) ceded territory on the west
bank of the Mekong to France. In 1941, Thailand-with the backing of Japan-
took advantage of the 1940 collapse of France and the resultant weakening of
its colonial empire by reclaiming the west bank territory. She retained it until
1946 when a France-Thailand accord annulled the 1941 treaty that had accom-
panied the Thai seizure and reestablished the pre-1941 boundary. This boundary
exists today. Some Laotian leaders undoubtedly suspect Thailand of harboring
ambitions to reannex all of the Laotian territory west of the Mekong River
(including the southern provinces of Champassac and Sithandone, as well as
Sayaboury) that Thailand had annexed during World War II. Control of the
west bank territory would give Thailand continuous frontage on the Mekong
from its northern border to Cambodia and would greatly facilitate the operations
of Thai timber rafters and boatmen.
14. The present boundary traverses rugged terrain inhabited by hill peoples
(principally Meos) who pay little attention to it. They commonly have family
ties on both sides of the border. Some villages are situated on one side of the
border and have fields on the other. Villagers in Kene Thao, in southern Saya-
boury, reportedly cross the Nam Huang to a well on the Thai side to obtain
drinking water. The hill people in some sections of the Sayaboury border areas
trade in Thai towns that are closer to them than Sayaboury, Paklay, or other
towns on the Laos side of the border. These people may travel as far into Thailand
as Pua, 20 miles from the border, or Nan, 30 miles, to shop. A recent American
visitor to the Thai town of Chiang Khong, across the Mekong River from Houei
Sai in Houa Khong Province, reported considerable traffic of people and goods
across the river, with no documents being shown to immigration or customs
* The southern 8 miles or so of this segment actually are alined along the Nam Huang Nga
to its confluence with the Nam Huang.
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officials on either side. Thai Government officials reportedly are becoming con-
cerned by the laxity of such local officials and the generally porous nature of
the border, particularly in view of the current Communist-supported insurgency
festering in the region and the ease with which agents can infiltrate from Laos
into the northern provinces.
15. Illegal border crossings are difficult to curtail. The Sayaboury segment
of the border is alined along rugged, heavily forested terrain that is impossible
to patrol effectively; hence illegal crossings are likely to continue. River segments
of the border, too, are difficult to control; both Laotian and Thai Government
officials have traditionally closed their eyes to the hundreds of small boats that
cross the Mekong daily. Because of the apparent increase in infiltration of Com-
munist agents into its northern and northeastern peripheries, Thailand has drawn
up plans to improve security along the border. These plans call for an increase
in river patrols, the addition of selected hill tribesmen to existing security forces
in the border regions, and the establishment of a buffer zone 5 kilometers (about
3 miles) wide along the Thai side of the Mekong (but not, apparently, along the
land boundary with Sayaboury Province). All people of questionable allegiance
living within the buffer zone are to be resettled outside the zone.
Distribution and Composition
16. Some 1,500,000 people inhabit the region. The total population and
population density of each province are as follows: *
POPULATION
DENSITY
PROVINCE
NUMBER
(Per Square Mile)
Chiang Rai .........................
811,771
112
Nan ................................
240,471
53
Uttaradit
259,919
88
Sayaboury ...........................
167,350
24
Densities vary considerably within each province; generally, they are higher
in the wider valleys and basins that are populated by Thais or Laos and are
lower in the more rugged mountainous tracts peopled by tribes such as the Meos
or Yaos (see Figure 3). Contrary to popular conception, lowlanders constitute
a substantial majority throughout the region. In Nan Province, for example, the
Governor estimated that of a total population of about 300,000 in 1967, only
15,600, or about 5 percent, were hill people; approximately 3,000 of these hill
people were Meos, the major insurgency force in northern Thailand.** Meos
* Figures for the Thai provinces are from the 1960 census; Sayaboury figures are 1967 census
claims.
** There are an estimated 50,000 Meos in all of Thailand.
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FIGURE 3. Meo family of Nan Province. Note the albino girl. Dark clothing with
brightly colored trim typifies the attire of most hill peoples.
therefore account for only about 1 percent of the population of Nan Province.
Most of them are clustered in Pua and Thung Chang districts in the northern
part of the province, near the Laos border. Hill people presumably constitute
about the same percentage of the population in Chiang Rai Province but are
fewer in Uttaradit where mountainous tracts, too, are less numerous. In Sayaboury,
an estimated 67 percent of the population are ethnic Laos, with Meos comprising
most of the rest.*
17. Like the rest of northern Thailand and all of Laos, the region is ethno-
graphically complex. Most people belong to the Tai ethnic group, which comprises
chiefly Thais (in Thailand) and Laos (in Laos). The remaining population
consists largely of non-Tai hill peoples such as the Meos and Yaos whose ancestors
have filtered southward from the southern provinces of China in the past 100
years.** Revolts by these groups against their Chinese rulers and subsequent
repressions accelerated the search for unoccupied land to the south. These
migrations have about reached their peak, as little unoccupied hill land is left
* There are somewhat more than 130,000 Meos in all of Laos.
** For authoritative accounts of the hill peoples of northern Thailand, see The Hill Tribes
of Thailand by Gordon Young, Siam Society, Bangkok, 1962.
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farther south. In Laos, Meos have made no significant penetration south of 18?N,
but in Thailand some have migrated south into Phetchabun, Loci, Phitsanulok,
and Tak Provinces.
18. In addition to the Tai and hill peoples, several thousand Haw Chinese
live in the region-most of them in Chiang Rai Province, along the borders
with Burma and Laos. They moved into the Burma-Laos-Thailand border region
from Yunnan Province in China after the defeat of the Nationalist Government
in 1949. Most are sedentary farmers; many, however, are engaged in trade-much
of it illegal, in opium or small arms. Those in the border area have. in effect
served as a buffer .against Communist infiltrations from Laos.
and traders are found in the Thai towns
Sayaboury.
Settlement
19. Urban areas are few and small. Generally they function as administrative,
military, and/or transportation centers and provide markets for consumer goods
not available in the villages (see Figure 4). Phayao and Chiang Rai in Chiang
Rai Province have populations of 18,000 and 12,000, respectively; Nan has a
population of 14,000; Uttaradit has 9,000 inhabitants.* On the Laos side of the
* Figures from 1960 census, rounded to nearest thousand.
FIGURE 4. Main street of Chiang Khong, in northern Chiang Rai Province. There is
considerable movement of people and goods between this town and Houei Sai, across
the Mekong River in Laos.
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border, Sayaboury and Paklay have estimated populations of only 3,000 and
2,500, respectively.
20. In the lowlands, villages vary from tiny hamlets of a few families to
settlements of several hundred people. Village patterns vary-houses may be
clustered in the ricefields (see Figure 5) or strung along a dirt road or stream.
Hill villages are small and formless, seldom with more than 200 inhabitants
(see Figures 6 and 7). They are abandoned for new sites every 10 to 15 years
as soils become depleted and crop yields diminish. The Yaos live at elevations
of 2,000 to 3,000 feet; the Meos inhabit the slopes above them, up to 5,000 feet
or so.
21. For several years the Laotian Government, with the support of USAID,
has operated a refugee relief program for the thousands of hill people displaced
by the military and political instability throughout much of the Laotian
countryside. Under this program, refugees have been resettled and provided
with food, seeds, clothing, and educational and medical services. Some 250,000
refugees-a high percentage of them Meos-received some form of assistance
in 1966. Sayaboury Province, because it has been relatively free from PI, influence,
has resettled many of the refugees.
22. During the past year, resettlement of refugees from hill villages that
have been infiltrated by Communist insurgents has become a problem on the Thai
side of the border as well. Increasingly, the Thai Government has been evacuating
FIGURE 5. Thai village in valley, Chiang Rai Province. Throughout the region,
villages are far more numerous in the valleys than in the hills.
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FIGURE 6. Typical Meo village in hills of northern Thailand.
The corral is used for horses. Croplands are slashed from forest,
commonly some distance from the village.
FIGURE 7. Crudely built, windowless Meo house. Flimsy bamboo
aqueducts like the one in front of this house carry water down the
mountainsides to the villages.
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villagers from the border hills of Chiang Rai and Nan Provinces, where insurgency
has developed, and has been moving them into resettlement camps. As of April
1968, nearly 2,000 refugees (mostly Meos) jammed the largest of these camps,
in a valley near Pua in northern Nan Province. In its early stages resettlement
encountered difficulties. Few of the refugees have been satisfied with conditions
in the camps, and in June several hundred were reported to be planning to flee
into Laos where they hoped they could live free from government interference.
Other Meos reportedly fled into Laos after Thai Government reprisals against
their villages for pro-Communist activity. Continued Thai Government misman-
agement of the hill peoples presumably could produce a flow of such refugees
into Sayaboury.
23. Most of the problems with the Thai resettlement program are related to
hasty planning and implementation. Poor timing (allowing insufficient time to
clear land for planting before the rainy seas-on), inadequately constructed resettle-
ment camps, and overcrowding have been characteristic. Other problems, how-
ever, are deep seated and likely to persist. Among these are unfamiliarity of the
hill people with lowland agricultural practices, hostility toward their lowland
neighbors, and conflicts with these neighbors over land use.
Insurgency
24. The Thai Government, recognizing that the security of the northern frontier
region requires the loyalty of the hill. people living there, in the past decade
or so has undertaken a program to gain that loyalty. The chief vehicle for the
implementation of this program has been the Border Patrol Police (BPP), a
paramilitary force of some 7,000 men that has carried out civic action projects
in the north with US advice and assistance. These projects have included the
building of roads and landing strips, the construction and operation of elementary
schools and medical facilities, and the provision of limited agricultural assistance.
In addition to carrying out such projects, the BPP is responsible for border
reconnaissance and security.
25. Insurgency in the northern Thai provinces involves intense ethnic tensions
that heretofore have overshadowed BPP attempts to improve Thai-uplander
relations. Since early 1967, Communist subversive activity among the hill peoples
has eroded much of the civic action work achieved by the BPP and has sig-
nificantly heightened tension and fear in the area. The hill people are highly
independent; usually they are loyal only to the individual village or tribe and
prefer to live free from Thai Government controls. They mistrust the Thais and
look upon the BPP and Thai Army patrols as intruders. Frequent theft and
destruction of property by these patrols have not helped the Government cause.
Threats and penalties (including bombing and burning) applied to villages
suspected of harboring insurgents have further aggravated Thai-hill people
relations. The uplanders feel that laws forbidding the growth of opium and the
felling of timber for slash-and-burn cultivation, both of which have been tradi-
tional among the hill people, reflect the Thai disdain for their way of life.
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26. Communist insurgent leaders have exploited grievances among the Meos
by promising to establish a "Meo Kingdom" in which the Meos will be allowed
to grow opium and practice slash-and-burn agriculture free from Government
interference. In line with these promises the Communists have urged the Meos
to take up arms against the Thai "intruders." Several hundred Meos reportedly
have been recruited during the past several years and have been taken either to
PL-controlled areas of Laos or to North Vietnam for training in subversion. In
northwestern Sayaboury the PL have had some success in recruiting Meos to
fight against the Royal Laotian Government, largely because Government forces
have been unable to provide adequate protection for the Meos against PL
hostilities.
27. Ethnic groups other than the Meo are not deeply involved in insurgent
activities on either side of the border, although their villages may be used as
involuntary shelters or way stations for passing insurgents. Unlike the hill tribes
in Laos, whose leaders fit into the governing hierarchy, the Meos, in Thailand
have little effective voice in the Central Government. In Sayaboury, Meos occupy
all of the national administrative posts in their own villages and share with the
Laos the higher provincial posts. Moreover, strong Meo leaders in Laos, such as
Vang Pao, have effectively organized the Meos into fighting forces, and Meo
village defense units have become important adjuncts to the Government military
forces. There are no such leaders in the Thai provinces. Little cross-border unity
exists among Meo villages; the traditional leaders in Laos have no known authority
over Meos living in Thailand.
28. Nearly the entire population of the region is engaged in agriculture.
Sedentary cultivation of wetland rice predominates in the lowlands, semimigratory
slash-and-burn cultivation of rice or corn in the hills. Although the region is
normally self-sufficient in food, rice has been imported into Sayaboury Province
in recent years to feed the thousands of Meo refugees who have been resettled
there from other parts of northern Laos. Rice has also been provided for the
refugees who have more recently been forced out of the Thai hills by insurgent
activity.
29. The only noteworthy occupations other than subsistence farming are
opium cultivation and lumbering. Such cash crops as cotton, kapok, and tobacco
are grown, but they are not significant money earners.
30. Opium is the primary cash crop for hill farmers on both sides of the border
(see Figures 8 and 9). Only a small portion is consumed locally. The value of
opium illegally exported from Laos is estimated at some 2 million US dollars,
or about twice the value of all legal exports. Opium annually earns the average
hill farmer up to 200 US dollars with which to buy rice to supplement his own
crop (the average Moo family produces only about half its annual rice needs)
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FIGURE 8. Opium poppyfield in northern Thailand. The poppies are
usually planted in August and harvested in February or March.
as well as to buy necessary consumer goods. The farmer typically sells his opium
to a Chinese trader in the nearest valley town who, in turn, smuggles it on to
Bangkok or to Vientiane. Government officials commonly "muscle in" on the
operation somewhere along the line.
31. The region has some of the best stands of teak left in Southeast Asia (see
Figure 10). Teak grows in mixed deciduous forests up to about 2,500 feet eleva-
tion. In the Thai provinces the stands have been greatly depleted by overcutting
and conservation measures have had to be implemented, but in Sayaboury logging
has been less intensive and overcutting has not been a serious problem. The most
extensive stands in Sayaboury are in the south, near Paklay. Elephants are widely
used in the extraction of teak logs. In the Thai provinces they haul the logs to
a road for truck transportation (see Figure 11) or to a stream where they are
floated singly to a point below which the current is slow enough for the logs
to be lashed together and rafted downriver to Bangkok. Two or 3 years may
elapse between the cutting of the log and its arrival at the Bangkok markets.
In Sayaboury the teak is shipped via elephant or truck southward from Paklay
to Kene Thao, thence across the Nam Huang into Thailand and via truck to the
railhead at Khon Kaen.
32. Much of Sayaboury has closer economic ties with Thailand than with the
rest of Laos. The northwestern and southern parts use the Thai baht as frequently
as-or perhaps more than-the Lao kip as monetary exchange. Consumer goods
for much of the province move up the Mekong from Vientiane or from the Thai
river town of Chiang Khan; in the northwestern section, however, they may
move downriver from Houei Sai. Some goods are flown in from Vientiane.
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FIGURE 9. Meo girl collecting raw opium.
Each pod has been incised with a special
three-bladed tool, leaving a series of cuts
from which oozes the plant fluid. Govern-
ment attempts to prohibit the cultivation of
poppies by hill tribes have generally been
ineffective.
TRANSPORTATION
33. The only railroad in the region is a short section of the Bangkok-Chiang
Mai line, which passes through Uttaradit in the southwestern corner of the study
area. The road net is sparse. Mountainous tracts may be without roads, and
valleys may be traversed only by narrow roads untrafficable in rainy weather.
Major waterways such as the Mekong and the Mae Nam Nan are important for
moving people and goods between lowland settlements, but most mountain
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FIGURE 10. Young teak plantation in northern Thailand.
Because of overcutting, timber operations have had to be
controlled in recent years.
streams are unnavigable by any type of craft. A number of crude landing strips
capable of handling short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft have been con-
structed throughout the region. In Sayaboury, many resettled Meo villages depend
an such strips-along with cleared areas for drop zones-for much of their food
supply.
(See Figures 12 through 16)
34. The densely forested, mountainous terrain in most of the region precludes
the development of an adequate road network. Roads-most of which are narrow,
unsurfaced, and motorable only under favorable climatic conditions--serve the
lowland towns and villages but rarely extend into the mountains, where foot-
paths and horse trails prevail.
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FIGURE 11. Elephant dragging teak log to road where it
will be hauled to sawmill by truck. Rivers are also used
to get the teak to market.
FIGURE 12. Road through town of Sayaboury. This road extends southward for 110
miles to Kene Thao. Because of lack of maintenance much of it may be unusable, even
by jeeps, at all times of the year. 1960
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jIM
FIGURE 13. Dry-season view of road between Nan and Pua in Nan Province.
During much of the wet season, sections of this road become extremely muddy
and are impassable to wheeled vehicles. Tobacco grows on either side of the
road. January 1963
35. In Sayaboury the road system is particularly underdeveloped. The few
existing roads are not integrated with one another or with roads in other parts
of the country, and vast tracts are roadless. There is no direct road connection
with Vientiane. The Sayaboury road system was more extensive during the
French colonial administration, but much of it has since been "swallowed up"
by encroaching vegetation. Most of the currently motorable roads have been
constructed or improved through a program of the US Bureau of Public Roads
operating under the administration of USAID. Of the former French road that
extended for 110 miles between Sayaboury and Kene Thao, only the 19-mile
segment between Sayaboury and Muong Phieng and the 37-mile segment
between Paklay and Kene Thao are currently maintained. Even these are un-
surfaced and unusable during much of the rainy season. Other sections may be
jeepable during dry weather. The 17-mile road that connects Sayaboury with
the Mekong River port of Tha Deua is usable for most of the year. A ferry
crosses the river at Tha Deua and connects with a road to Luang Prabang.
Another road, completed in 1968, extends for 14 miles between Hongsa in the
north and the Mekong port of Ban Tha Soeng.
36. In the Thailand portion of the border region, roads are somewhat better
integrated than in Sayaboury; major valleys are served by adequate all-weather
roads. Chief among these is the road from Bangkok, which extends through
Chiang Rai Province to the border town of Mae Sai, thence northward into the
Shan States of Burma. Another all-weather road extends southwestward from
Nan into the neighboring province of Phrae and thence southward to connect
with the east-west road between Tak and Lom Sak. A fair-weather road con-
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FIGURE 14. Ford and footbridge across Mae Nam Nan on
Nan-Pua road during dry season. Deep water and strong
currents probably would preclude the use of this ford during
most of the wet season. January 1963
tinues northward from Nan along the Mae Nam Nan to a point north of Pua.
An 85-mile laterite road goes from Chiang Rai, via Thoeng, to the Mekong
River town of Chiang Khong. Some sections may be unusable for brief periods
during the rainy season. A number of other unsurfaced roads-many of them
built in recent years as part of a US-Thai security program-extend through
the valleys of the region.
37. The movement and logistic support of a conventional military force would
be severely hampered throughout the region by the sparse, primitive system
of narrow, unsurfaced roads with limited capacity to sustain heavy military
traffic. Bottlenecks include narrow and low-capacity bridges, sharp curves, steep
grades, fords, and ferry crossings with primitive facilities. Vehicles crossing the
Mekong between Chiang Khong and Houei Sai, for example, are ferried on a
raft supported by two pirogues. All but the few surfaced roads are impassable
during much of the rainy season, when they become extremely muddy, bridges
wash out, fords flood, ferry landing slips submerge, and roads in mountainous
terrain become blocked by landslides, rockfalls, or fallen trees. Off-road dis-
persal and cross-country movement of vehicles are precluded the year around
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FIGURE 15. Laterite road, built with US aid, between Chiang Rai
and Mekong River town of Chiang Khong. March 1967
FIGURE 16. Makeshift vehicular ferry constructed from two native pirogues. Ferries
like this are typical on the upper Mekong and its major tributaries.
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in most areas by steep slopes and dense forest. Cross-country movement by
foot troops would be arduous to those not accustomed to travel in mountainous
terrain. Difficulty in cross-country movement for both vehicular and foot traffic
is compounded during wet weather.
Waterways
38. Rivers are important arteries for the movement of people and goods in
the larger valleys. High-powered, maneuverable, shallow-draft launches and long,
narrow pirogues ply the Mekong and the Mae Nam Nan as well as the lower
parts of their principal tributaries. The Mekong has heavy traffic despite its
numerous rapids, gorges, abrupt turns, and other navigational hazards (see
Figure 17). It is the principal supply route to the towns of Sayaboury Province.
Because of the swift currents and dangerous rapids, steamers cannot operate
on the Mekong above Vientiane. Launches, however, can move upriver as far
as Luang Prabang during high water (July through November). They are unable
to navigate through the more difficult sections during much of the low-water
period (December through June),* so through traffic virtually ceases at this
time. Local traffic continues, as launches with engines at full speed are pulled
through the rapids by men using ropes and cables. Rapids are more numerous
between Luang Prabang and the Burma border, and craft are limited to narrow
pirogues powered by outboard motors.
39. During high water, motorized cargo-passenger vessels and large river
barges towed by tugs can navigate up the Mae Nam Nan as far as Uttaradit,
occasionally as far as Tha Pla. Above Tha Pla, vessels are limited to shallow-draft
pirogues powered by outboard motors.
Airways
40. Because of the inadequacy of surface transportation systems, air transpor-
tation is of major importance in the logistic support of counterinsurgency opera-
tions. Facilities within the region, however, are limited. Only one airfield-Chiang
Rai-has a hard-surface runway and can handle year-round traffic. Runway
length of the Chiang Rai field is 4,980 feet, greatest in the region. Airfields with
earth or laterite runways, which may be closed for periods during the rainy
season, are located at Uttaradit, Sayaboury, Paklay, and Kene Thao. In addition,
a number of unimproved earthen or grass landing strips-many in remote moun-
tainous tracts-can accommodate STOL craft such as the Pilatus Porter or
Heliocourier (see Figure 18).
41. Chiang Rai, Uttaradit, and Sayaboury are served by scheduled commer-
cial flights. Weather permitting, Royal Air Laos (RAL) runs three DC-3 flights
weekly between Vientiane and Luang Prabang via Sayaboury. Thai Airways
has daily flights between Chiang Rai and Bangkok and three flights a week con-
necting Uttaradit with Chiang Rai and Bangkok. Thai Airways flies DC-3s and
Hawker Siddeley 748s.
* High- and low-water periods of the Mekong start 1 to 2 months after those in its tributaries.
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FIGURE 17. Small native crafts navigating rapids on Mekong River near Paklay. The
numerous exposed rocks prevent launches from navigating this section during most of
the low-water period.
FIGURE 18. Landing strip for STOL aircraft in northern Nan Province.
Numerous earthen landing strips such as this have been carved into the
hillsides of the region. 1963-64
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 BOUNDARY REPRESENTATION IS
NOT NECESSARILY AUTHORITATIVE
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 S rrv, d For Release 2000/05/31 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100650001-4
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MEMORANDUM FOR:
13 July 1970
Sent copy of GR 69-1 December 1968
To: FE/DDP
qs
via telephone request of
FORM NO. IOI REPLACES FORM 10.101
1 AUG 54 WHICH MAY BE USED.
25X1A
(DATE)
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 Approved For Release _2000ffA~1N -RIA-RDP84-00825ROO01
STATINTL
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Analyst
0/VC Branch Chief A941c__
Deadline for Delivery to
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Instructions for Final. `y in,
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