Word: savannakhet
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...Etat" still holds the royal seat of Luang-prabang and is apparently keeping the King under something close to house arrest. Last week, after a quick trip to Thailand, whose strongly anti-Communist government loudly distrusts Kong Le & Co., General Phoumi turned up in the southern Laotian town of Savannakhet with a brand-new radio transmitter and a vow to chase Kong Le out of the capital...
...Savannakhet is a handsome, quiet, palm-shaded town on the banks of the broad Mekong, on the border between south-central Laos and Siam. Nearby is the big Seno airfield, which can handle B-26 bombers and C-47 transports. Last week, while the B-26s roared out with bombs and napalm, the transports unloaded supplies. Gangs of French Union troops, stripped to the waist, toiled feverishly to build log bunkers and put out mines and barbed wire...
After last fortnight's quick thrust by the Communists east from the Vietnamese coast to the Mekong River, General Henri Navarre, the French commander in Indo-China, guessed that the Reds might turn south and attack Savannakhet and Seno. But last week Communist General Vo Nguyen Giap, who directed the Communist thrust to the Mekong, was biding his time. Meanwhile, various spokesmen pointed out that the military value of the enemy operation was almost nil. Secretary Dulles pooh-poohed it in Washington; so did the Ministry of the Associated States in Paris. The fact indeed was that headlines...
...Theories. At this stage of the battle, Ho's military intentions are not clear. From Thakhek, he could move northwest against Luang Prabang, the Laotian royal capital; he could move south towards Savannakhet and its important nearby airfield. He could dig in at Thakhek and wait for the French to send reinforcements from the decisive delta against him. At Thakhek, too, he could pose a threat to neutral but strongly anti-Communist Siam. The Siamese were taking no chances: they declared nine provinces an emergency zone and moved troops and artillery to the Mekong, directly opposite the Communist positions...