Exodus from Cambodia: The Establishment of Khao I Dang & Sakaeo
With the collapse of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979 and the freedom of movement which followed, many Cambodians began to gravitate towards the Thai border. Most were former city dwellers, not rural people. They were not motivated by flight from political repression, or the threat of starvation, which at that time was not a problem – there were rice stocks left by the old regime, as well as rice ready for harvest in the fields for those who stayed in place. Their reasons were primarily to make contact with the outside world for the purpose of finding refuge abroad; to engage in commercial activities at the border; or to join one of the paramilitary groups known loosely as “Khmer Serei” (Free Khmer). The first people who tried to contact relatives abroad were mostly from formerly wealthy, well-educated groups, and they spoke French or English. It was relatively easy in the beginning to cross the border, especially if they had gold or currency, to contact a foreign embassy and get out to a third country. However, as numbers increased, Thai border controls tightened and it became more and more difficult. Many more people came to trade with gold, gems or valuable objects they had hidden since 1975, for Thai products which they sold at enough profit to finance another journey. Thus, throughout 1979, there was a constant traffic on the roads from Battambang and Siem Reap to the border. Some of these people eventually attempted emigration, or settled in one of the Khmer Serei hamlets to plot the reconquest of Cambodia. The third group of arrivals were politically motivated, former city dwellers who had been military or Lon Nol government officials, victims of the Khmer Rouge but who were also opposed to their successors who were perceived as communists and puppets of the Vietnamese. These people were committed in principle to fight for the re-establishment of a society based on pre-1975 patterns, hoping for aid and support from the United States and Thailand. However, they suffered from a total lack of organization, could not agree on leadership, and many degenerated to the level of racketeers and bandits.
The border areas to which they came had long been established as clandestine crossing points for smugglers, bandits and “politicals”, even back in the ‘sixties. Three of them gradually turned into large camps. The most important initially in 1979 was Nong Mak Mun. Eight kilometers to the north lay Nong Samet, and five kilometers to the south, Nong Chan. By June 1979, there were over 40,000 people massed along the border north of Aranyaprathet, many of them hoping to cross into Thailand in transit to third countries. However, after 7th January 1979, Thailand no longer considered them as “refugees” – within Cambodia, they were designated “displaced people” and within Thailand “illegal immigrants”. The Thai decided on drastic measures to deal with the situation and discourage further arrivals. In late June about 42,000 were loaded on to buses and taken northward to Preah Vihear, where they were forced to re-enter Cambodia along trails strewn with mines. Perhaps thousands died. This action effectively drew international attention to the problem, mostly in the form of condemnation. At this time there were increasing reports of widespread starvation and epidemics within Cambodia, prompting a call to action amongst relief organizations. One of the problematic issues was whether aid should be delivered directly over the border or through Phnom Penh; in the end it went both ways.
In the meantime, another group was slowly approaching the border area, making their first appearance in September 1979. These were the remnants of the Khmer Rouge who had been fighting a rearguard action against the Vietnamese forces with dwindling food supplies, no medicine and rampant malaria. By the time they reached the border some distance south of Aranyaprathet, they were in pitiful condition, dying in large numbers from sickness and malnutrition. These were the people captured on film by the media and shown all over the world, arousing universal pity and a rush of emergency aid.
In mid-September high-ranking Thai officials visited the border, and announced that around 60,000 Cambodians were massing there to escape from the Vietnamese. In early October, they started crossing. Under such pressure, Thai policy began to change. They accepted that aid would be given, but requested help from Western countries and international agencies, and stipulated that all aid going through Thailand must be non-political and delivered to all sides in the conflict. By the end of October, Thai prime minister Kriangsak had announced an open-door policy to Khmer refugees.
From October 24th, about 30,000 newly arrived DK refugees were settled in a camp near Sakaeo about 50 kms from the border, while others established themselves at Phnom Malai and Phnom Chhat, Kamphut and Mairud to the south. However, there was no large-scale movement of the 80,000 people at Nong Samet, nor of the thousands more along the border. With a massive exodus expected, plans were initially drawn up to receive them at Mairud. In late October or early November it was decided to build a large “Holding Centre” at Khao I Dang, further north, partly to lessen the possibility of the new camp becoming a de facto rehabilitation centre for the DK, but more importantly because it was believed that great numbers of new refugees were being pushed out of the northwest by famine and Vietnamese harassment. The reputable Far Eastern Economic Review reported on 16 November 1979 that 180,000 people had already crossed into Thailand and another 130,000-150,000 were on their way, and that a total of 750,000 could be expected within the next two months. Based on these predictions, the Thai Supreme Command chose Khao I Dang as the new site and gave UNHCR the green light to set it up, expecting a rush of 300,000 miserable refugees to settle there. However, in the first week after it opened on November 21st, only 28,000 arrived – and they were in fairly good condition. In the second and third weeks, 16,500 and 29,800 respectively entered the Holding Centre, then for the following 3 weeks the influx stabilized at 4,000 per week. On 24th January 1980, when the total camp population stood at 111,000, Thai authorities ordered Khao I Dang closed to further entry. However, the Thai guards could be bribed to let more people in at night, and the population rose to around 136,000 by July 1980. Most of these later arrivals were middle-class former town-dwellers whose goal was resettlement in a third country. They often possessed skills needed by the new regime, and had even been offered employment, but the lure of Khao I Dang as a secure stepping stone to a new life where streets were paved with gold proved a formidable magnet. They had been among the prime victims of the DK regime, and also held strong prejudices against socialism in any form, and the Vietnamese. Also, by having taken the initiative to flee Cambodia, they had burned their bridges, or so they believed, as far as the PRK regime was concerned. Their only hope now lay in resettlement abroad.
As for the inhabitants of Sakaeo camp, mainly DK cadres, military or “base” people, some hard-core DK supporters returned to Cambodia voluntarily by June 1980, and others were coerced to do so. Those who remained were disillusioned by the DK but totally unsympathetic to the PRK and the Vietnamese.
(Information from "Cambodia 1975-1982" by Michael Vickery)
