Word: somsanith
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Laos one rainy day last week, Premier Tiao Somsanith, 47, assembled the top members of his Cabinet and flew north from Vientiane to the royal city of Luangprabang on a matter of some urgency: the burial of the late King Sisavan Vong, who has been preserved in formaldehyde since last October. By long tradition, a Laotian King must be buried in a coffin made from a sandalwood tree that had been growing for centuries for this predestined purpose. This tree had just been found, and Sisavang Vong could at last be laid to rest. But even as Somsanith...
Next, in classic revolutionary style, Kongle took to Laos' newest radio station, just built with U.S. aid funds, to charge that Premier Somsanith had "exchanged our country for American money." He called for a neutralist policy 'leaning toward neither the free world nor Communism," and demanded the ouster of the 125-man U.S. military training mission. Hopefully, he added: "I suggest everybody clap and cheer...
...Famille. Even in Vientiane no one took this suggestion seriously-and Vientiane was all of Laos that Kongle controlled. Troops in Luangprabang were still loyal to Premier Somsanith. Each side was kept from having to attack the other by the fact that the road between Vientiane and Luangprabang was washed out by the monsoon. Most of the 28,000-man Laotian army scattered throughout the country either had not heard of the revolt at all or reacted with Laos' soft, favorite phrase, "be pen nyan [it doesn't matter]." To break this stalemate, Kongle suggested the formation...
...Laos-style bargaining had only begun. Into Vientiane two days after the coup flew portly General Ouane Rathi-kone, who is both Army chief of staff to Premier Somsanith and uncle to Captain Kongle. Ouane Rathikone airily announced that he would work out a solution "en famille." But at week's end a 43-man rump session of the National Assembly meekly gathered in Vientiane to vote no confidence in Somsanith, envoys still shuttled back and forth between the two cities, and no compromise Cabinet had been agreed upon. So far, the only solid accomplishment of Kongle...
...weeks the quarreling Laotian politicians had been unable to select a new Premier. Last week parliamentary leaders suddenly made up their minds. Picked as the youngest Premier in Laotian history was Tiao Somsanith, 47, who has a shining reputation for honesty and ability. As governor of the northern province of Houa Khong, Somsanith was one of the few Laotian leaders not involved in the diversion of U.S. foreign aid funds, looked after the non-Lao tribes committed to his care so solicitously that the pro-Communist Pathet Lao forces were unable to make any inroads in his territory. According...
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