Contrary to common perception there were many examples of kick-back against Khmer rouge rule.
This happened in many different forms - by individuals, small groups and a few fairly high level internal revolts.

One of the lesser known aspects of this period, but intriguing stuff if you find the surviving little bits of the stories.

This SEA Globe story give a pretty good overview
- but it only touches on a fraction, most of the storytellers did not survive. (or they want to shut up)
Cambodia: Revealing secret Khmer Rouge resistance
http://genocidewatch.net/2016/03/21/cam ... esistance/

Tea Banh - current Minister for Defense and Deputy Prime Minister has an interesting life story. He is ethnic Thai from Koh Kong, and joined the Issaraks in the 1950s, eventually being part of the revolutionary movement in the 1970s. In 1974 Koh Kong was purged by Ta Mok's forces so he fled to Thailand with a few hundred followers. His band fought a campaign of resistance against the Khmer Rouge, and eventually in 1979 he traveled by boat to Vietnam and got involved in the Salvation Front. He wrote an autobiography which I had but somehow lost.

Is it available at any stores or download?

It might be possible to get a copy in a local bookshop like IBC/ PBC but most of their books on that sort of topic seem to be only printed in Khmer now. I can't remember ever seeing a seeing a copy there but you could ask around at the smaller shops, I wouldn't mind getting another copy myself. I'll see if Monument have any copies, it couldn't be any more expensive that the $49.95 (plus delivery) Amazon is looking for! The shop just inside the doors of the National Museum has some interesting titles too.

What do you think, JB. Is it worth 50 bucks?
Anything new outside of the popular western histories?
(also v interested in the mans personal story and his thinking)

Tthanks Ute, are you thinking of buying it yourself?

I am interested in Tea Bahn's book also but not for $50. I did not know he was a Thai by blood, it seems he took to the Khmer rather well. I suspect Koh Kong counts many ethnic Thais as local Khmer people now.

As pertains to the Genocide Watch article I agree that this divisive aspect of the KR has not been fleshed out and many other things about the KR have not been fully known. It looks like it will remain that way.

It seems like now with Michael Vickery gone there is no Westerner around to take on all the other Westerners while getting along very well with our Khmer hosts and gaining all their knowledge of that period.

I cannot find a book written by two Northern Europeans involved the fields of forensic/medical anthropology that wrote a book that sharply contested the Standard Total View's assertion that half the 1975 population perished in the 3 years, 8 mos. and 24 days of the regime. A friend lent it to me in 2009, it wasn't widely read and was quite dry but I recall that it had a lot of evidence to bolster their own ideas. I do not recall the title. Does this book ring a bell for anyone out there?

Note: this book did not say that what happened here in 1975-1979 was not a massive tragedy, it just gave some numbers that are far different than what you will find looking into this period. I, also, agree that the happenings from 1975-1979 were mixed with tremendous crimes that have a left a wound that endures today.

I certainly wouldn't pay $50 for it even if it was a good read. I think it cost me $6, but it was a copy from a friend who just printed up 10 copies or something as the book was hard to find. As for the book by the Northern Europeans, it sounds familiar. If you can remember the title it would help. I might have it on PDF.

Western Koh Kong coast has always been contested territory and controlled by both at various times.
So the pop is both too.
Most of the ethnically Thai have family, commercial and other ties across the border.
Rememember, until nearly 2010, 5 years after after i got there, you could not get to the rest of Cambodia except by boat. Thailand was right there.
(to be more precise... the ancient seasonal elephant track was gradually superseded by the muddy "road in progress" and 4 ferries from about 2007, but historically there was always very restricted travel from western KK into the rest of the country)

Hard for me to say what the exact demographics were pre 1975 because there was a huge emptying and fleeing during the KR years. Nearly all the inhabitants of our part of KK are newcomers since '91 - from everywhere.
Probably more of the original "Thai" families would have returned than the original Khmer.

There is so little history, of any kind, i can find about Koh Kong. That's why Mr Bahn's book may be interesting.

"Revolution in a Distant Village: The Tea Banh Story" available Monument Books - English language version is $12.00