Word: sihanouk
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...reporters: "Thailand is the pivot of the free-world alliance in Asia. If one of our neighbors becomes dominated by Communists, rocket bases will be an absolute necessity." Tough Field Marshal Sarit named no names, but his message was obviously meant for Laos and, especially, Cambodia, whose Prince Sihanouk has been busily courting the Chinese Communists...
Whatever title he chooses to hold, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, 37, runs Cambodia. He served as King, and then stepped down. Then he served as Premier, but gave that up for the sixth time when his father died two months ago. Just now he holds no official position at all, but nobody questioned it last week when he asked Cambodians to vote on the proposition of whether they liked him and his policy of neutrality in foreign affairs...
...Prince Sihanouk offered Cambodians the choice of four ballots. The first bore the prince's picture; the second a picture of a rival leader now living in exile in Thailand; the third was printed in red to signify approval of Communism; the fourth, marked with a question mark to indicate no opinion. In order to show that the vote would be free, Cambodia invited journalists from Southeast Asia and everywhere else. Of Cambodia's often quarrelsome neighbors, the South Vietnamese (who have just claimed some Cambodian islands) refused politely, the Thailanders not so politely, and the Laotians declined...
Cambodians last week streamed to the polls. Wild Phnong tribesmen rode their elephants down from the hills; baby-toting women in sarongs streamed into dusty towns; saffron-robed Buddhist monks padded through the silent ruins of Angkor Wat. When the ballots were counted, Prince Sihanouk had won a total of 1,981,136 votes to only 133 for his exiled rival, 128 for the Communists and a puzzled 93 for No Opinion. His grand total...
With this conclusive evidence of his people's affection, Prince Sihanouk announced that he was off to Paris for a much needed rest in a nursing home, and probably to decide whether he should become King, Premier, or perhaps both. Explained his doctor: "Prince Sihanouk is subject to a gradual increase in weight and must lose 22 pounds...