Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXVIII, Laos

233. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State¹

Vientiane, May 15, 1966, 0935Z.

1197. 1. Situation with respect General Ma has come unstuck once again.² Despite fact he assured Sisouk, General Ouan and me that he was satisfied with arrangements made, he took off yesterday afternoon and returned Savannakhet. There he found his air force colleagues apparently set against him.

2. Consequently, he joined up with his buddy Colonel Nouphet, Commander of GM 18 and went to latter’s headquarters east of Savannakhet, reportedly accompanied by eternal troublemaker Bounleut Saycocie. Wild talk is now emanating from this headquarters that Ma and Nouphet intend to march on Savannakhet and capture it tonight.

3. Except for our communications team at Savannakhet Airfield, I have withdrawn all our personnel from base and instructed them remain in quarters. AID personnel in town have similarly been instructed to stay at home and activate E&E alert.

4. There are eighteen T–28 and about a dozen C–47 aircraft on the field at Savannakhet. If this becomes a battleground, it could produce costly loss of hardware.³

5. Acting Prime Minister Leuam Insisigmay has flown to Savannakhet in effort head off confrontation. He is about the only person available (except Prince Noun Oum) who could control enough respect to prevent a clash. I have offered him any assistance he may need from our assets for transportation, etc.⁴

6. No matter how this turns out, I hardly see that we can salvage any of General Ma’s position. At this stage, he looks like a dead loss.⁵

Sullivan

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, DEF 6–3 LAOS. Secret; Flash; Limdis. Repeated to Bangkok, CINCPAC, JCS, and Saigon. Passed to the White House upon receipt at the Department of State.
2. In telegram 1173 from Vientiane, May 11, Sullivan reported that Souvanna had told him that he planned to replace General THAO MA as Commander RLAF and assign him to the General Staff of FAR as Deputy Chief of Operations. Sullivan reported this reassignment was to make way for General Sourith to become Commander of the RLAF. Sullivan reported that Ma had not decided to accept his reassignment. (Ibid.)
3. In telegram 2104 to Vientiane, May 15, the Department suggested that, if the RLAF was united in opposition to Ma and the “possibility of fireworks exists,” aircraft at Savannakhet should be moved to Vientiane. (Ibid.)
4. Ma returned to Vientiane on June 4 to meet with Acting Prime Minister Leuam Insisiengmay who, at Sullivan’s urging, ordered Ma to take up his new position. Sullivan asked if the United States was prepared to work out a program of extending training and study for Ma in the United States. (Telegram 1284 from Vientiane, June 4; ibid.) The Department of State responded that it was possible, but it feared that an extended absence from Laos would mean the end of Ma’s career. (Telegram 786 to Vientiane, June 8; ibid.)
5. Ma has subsequently claimed the reason he was relieved as Commander of the RLAF and forced to take a desk job in Vientiane was his willingness to accept bribes or allow his pilots to accept bribes to transport opium. (Alfred W. McCloy, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia (New York: Harper and Row, 1972), pp. 293–294 and Charles A. Stevenson, The End of Nowhere: American Policy Towards Laos Since 1954 (Boston: Beacon Press, 1972) p. 219)