REPORTED BEGINNING IN THAILAND _
A number of items in the press point to the conclusion that the Vietnamese Revolution.is beginning to extend into Thailand where a revolutionary ‘struggle conducted by guerrilla fighters is already spreading in several provinces.
Last “April Li, an underground broadcasting. station. called "The ‘Voice of the People of Thailand" appealed for armed struggle. in order to liquidate the American troops based in Thailand ~— territory. and the traitorous group headed by Thanom, the prime minister. + . a
In an April 26 broadcast, Radio Pathet Lao (which proad- _ casts from the part of Laos controlled by the revolutionary o forces), the announcer violently condemned the repressive and counterrevolutionary actions of the Thailand government. He promised the Thai-.people. that they.would be. helped by the’ peoples of the entire world, particularly the peoples. of Indochina.
Recently the Thailand government is reported to have i undertaken a big "mopping up" operation inthe northeast provinces near Laos, Thousands of police and soldiers are said to have participated, as well as American troops. The direct participation of American troops in the "mopping up" operations in the Nong Hua Lamphoo district in the province of Udorn was confirmed by the underground radio "The Voice of the People of Thailand."
A Thailand Patriotic Front is reportedly Leading ‘the armed struggle. A."Patriotic Organization of the Thai Youth" is said to have been created to support the efforts of this Front to. recruit youth. :
In its April 27? issue, the People's Weekly of Peking greeted
"the recent victories gained by the patriotic armed forces of the people of Thailand." By stepping up their repression of the mass. struggle, writes the Chinese Communist party organ, American imperialism and the Thai reactionaries seek to prevent their country from becoming "a second south Vietnam." But they will | finish "by accelerating precisely this very process."
It- appears’ likely that the unleashing of armed struggle» ‘in- Thailand is the direct effect of a rise in the revolutionary ~§ . struggle in south Vietnam and Laos. The fact that American troops have been utilizing: ‘airfields in Thailand for some time in their: aggressive actions against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam is ™ certainly one of the factors that have incited the toiling masses in Thailand to take ‘up arms in active support of their Vietnamese and Laotian brothers and at the same time to take the’ first steps along the road to their own emancipation.
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The recent decision of the Thai government to send an expeditionary corps to fight in south Vietnam along with American imperialism will only stimulate this vanguard. .
DOCUMENTS OF FOURTH INTERNATIONAL