Trip to Upper Isan : Dec 26, 2009 - Jan 01, 2010 PART FOUR
I rearranged the codes in Aug 2019.
This was a trip of more than 2000 km by car to Upper Isan (the NE part of Thailand). I divided it to six parts as follows:
Part 1 From Bangkok to Loei
Part 2 From Loei to Nakon Panom
Part 3 Nakon Panom, Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village
Part 4 Ho Chi Minh's house in Baan Na-Chok (This Page)
Part 5 The Temples, the Churches, the Food, the People
Part 6 On the way Back
Ho Chi Minh's house in Baan Na-Chok
It took us almost no time at all to go from the museum to the house that Ho Chi Minh had lived.
According to the brochure, which we had picked up from our hotel (see the screenshots), most of the residents in Baan Na-Chok are Vietnamese-Thais, who are Buddhists, and they make a living by agricultural farming or trading.
The big letters on top of the screenshot below means "Uncle Ho's House".
It says the village of Na-Chok is significant in the history because Ho and the people that shared the same ideology entered this area during the Buddist Year of 2466 – 2474 (1923 – 1931).
*Please notice the years.
I will mention more about the years after this.
In the brochure it says the original house was very old, and due to the time, had fallen into decay.
A replica was built at the same spot, which is in the premises that currently belongs to Mr. Tiau Ngian Wan.
( I am not sure of the correct spelling of his name in English.)
Some trees planted by Ho Chi Minh in those days were still around for us to see! Here are the pictures we took of them and the close-up views:
Of these, the coconut tree at the entrance was the most impressive. It was so tall that Tony, my older son, had to place the camera almost on the ground in order to take this picture. ↓
Most of what the brochure says about Ho Chi Minh could also be found on the internet.
For example, at Wikipedia.
However, my readings and searching after this trip told me one thing:
The years that he stayed in Siam (Thailand) written in Thai and English were clearly DIFFERENT:
What I heard and read in Thai all said Ho Chi Minh stayed 7 years: from the Buddhist Year of 2466 to 2472 (that is, from 1923 to 1929).
But the articles in English all said he stayed only one year: from 1928 to 1929.
Even the sign in the garden indicated different periods of time!
See zoomed view of the writings after this picture below.
We could clearly see the English one had been CORRECTED.
I wonder if there is any political implication behind this!?
I somehow could not believe that it was simply human error like mistranslation, miscalculation, or wrong drawing in the making of this board.
ZOOM IN : 
The Thai language says from Buddhist Year of 2466 to 2472 (that is, from 1923 to 1929). The English version was clearly revised. And I did not photo-edit the colors!
Later I found that my guess was right!
Here is a good article explaining why: "Ho Chi Minh in Thailand" (written in Thai) by Dr. Artha Nantachukra.
In short, due to the political situation in Thailand in the past, it was a TABOO to support or even to frankly discuss anything concerning "Uncle Ho" !!!
A wonderful article also by Dr. Artha Nantachukra (written in ENGLISH) :
"From Nghe An to Nakorn Phanom:
A History of Vietnamese Migration during Indochina War"
Dr. Artha Nantachukra is "the first Thai to study ethnic Thais in Vietnam, is also the first scholar to obtain his doctorate in ethnology from Vietnam". Click to read more.
OK.... Back to the tour.
Middle – The gate.
Right – I am not sure what this was.
I should have asked Mr. Tiau.
ROW 2: Old pictures on the walls in the house.
ROW 3: Far left – This looked similar to an ancester worship altar we often see in many Chinese houses.
Middle – The "living room" of the house.
Tony was playing with a bamboo pipe on the table.
Ho's "bed" could be seen in the left of this picture.
The right edge of this picture showed part of a door to a very small bedroom.
There was another similar bedroom across it.
Mr. Tiau, the owner of the premises, said the rooms were for the married comrades.
"Ho was single and slept in the living room."
Right – The window next to Ho's bed.
What I saw in the garden could have been the same as what Ho had seen in those days...
ROW 4: Me sitting at Ho's desk.
Mr. Tiau's house was behind the replica house mentioned above.
The two houses were a few meters apart.
His was two-storeys.
See the first picture on the right.
He said there was only one floor in the days when Ho was here.
The floor upstairs was where Mr. Tiau and his family currently lived.
It was "new" said he, "but already 50 years old!"
The ground floor was an open space.
Ho in a monk's attire could be seen in the second photo.
Mr Tiau said his grandfather worked with Ho: They "felt the need to be independent from France".
I asked him of all the places why Ho chose Baan Na-Chok. Mr. Tiau said there already were many Vietnamese living here in those days. Most were refugees. According to him, Ho was more educated and could do better political work. Ho had learned to speak Thai, and had joined monkhood for a while, "in order to know more people," said Mr. Tiau.
A younger lady showed up on the ground floor. She looked friendly and knowledgeable. We continued the conversation without starting with the formality of self-introduction.
She told us in the past before the Buddhist year of 2475 (that is, 1932) there was no need for passport or visa, making it possible for many people including the Vietnamese refugees to come and settled down here.
In those days Baan Na-Chok, like many other places in Siam, was a jungle.
Both Mr. Tiau and the lady (his daughter?) spoke perfect "Thai". In fact, their ancestors were in Thailand long before my parents!
All of a sudden I realized that until recent years the Vietnamese-Thais had kept it very low-profile in revealing what their ethnicity was.
No wonder I had not met any Thais that said they were Vietnamese descendants.
These days the taboo is no more, I hope – especially after the opening of the Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village!
The lady said they had visitors everyday. I asked if they had any time left to themselves. She said no, "but we are glad more people know what happened in the past." She said among the visitors many were from the universities around the country.
Obviously there were more Vietnamese-Thais in Thailand than we had thought! No wonder there are so many Vietnamese restaurants not just in Bangkok but also in Isan!
My next part will start with the food we had! Stay tuned....
End of Part Four.
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