https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501004143/people-get-vaccinated-with-pfizer-vaccines-in-phnom-penh/

If I've understood this right, from the time he became leader of the Khmer Rouge / Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1963 until he publically came out as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976, no one except Pol Pot's inner circle knew who the leader of the Khmer Rouge / CPK / Ankar was. While most authoritarian regimes follow narcissistic egomaniacs, for thirteen years the vast majority of the Khmer Rouge supporters (or anyone else) had no idea who was actually running things.

In Philip Short's Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, on the announcement of Pol Pot becoming Prime Minister, he says:

"When the first photographs of him appeared, old friends from his student days, like Nghet Chhopininto, to say nothing of his own brothers, working as peasants in Kompong Thom, were amazed to discover that their new leader was the self-effacing Saloth Sâr."

Short, unfortunately, doesn't expand on that or give sources.

I'm curious about just how much the public, especially regular Cambodians, knew about the leadership of the Khmer Rouge during that time and how odd it seemed not having a figurehead given the circumstances. And, since Pol Pot was such an unassuming, quiet and friendly person to those that knew him, I'd be fascinated to know if there are any first or even second-hand accounts of his old friend's or family's reaction when he revealed himself.

Somewhere near Battambang

Shots rang out across the field as round after round impacted within the general vicinity of some paper targets, a few miraculously actually hitting the things. After a few more shots rang out the firing ceased. Instead a new noise was heard. That of irate shouting from a man speaking in slightly accented Khmer as he reiterated the principals of marksmanship to his charges while also throwing a variety of colourful curses at the men. They were part of the first batch of 3,000 men and women undergoing training to become members of the Khmer National People's Army, the military wing of the Khmer National People's Liberation Committee. Each volunteer, recruited mainly from the Khmer population of Battambang, Siem Reap, and Srisophon was undergoing a six-week course to prepare them as fighters of the new Khmer National People's Army with ethnic Khmer instructors from the Royal Thai Army, and equipped with a mix of Type 38 rifles, Type 96 light machine guns, and Sten SMGs from Japanese and British stocks given during WW2, though with all serials and insignia that can be traced to Thailand removed. Advising and overseeing the whole program will be a joint team of Thai National Intelligence Agency agents and US CIA personnel provided previously. The plan is to train an army of up to 12,000 guerillas in around six months, using a 6-week training cycle.

The cycle in question will comprise the following;

• Week 1: Physical Fitness and Conditioning

• Week 2: Hand-to-hand combat, drills, first aid

• Week 3: Weapons handling and marksmanship

• Week 4: Squad and Platoon-level tactics, fieldcraft, intelligence gathering

• Week 5: Company-level tactics, demolitions and sabotage

• Week 6: Culmination live-fire training exercise

Those showing leadership potential will be provided with additional training; 4 weeks for NCOs and 8 for officers, to allow them to lead their formations in more complex tactical operations.

The basic building block of the KNPA will be the 100-man company, featuring 5 officers and 95 enlisted men. Above that will be the Group, a battalion-level echelon comprising 5 companies. 4 Groups shall form a Field Force for a total of six, each with one CIA case officer assigned as deputy commander under a nominal Khmer commander, with

Hey guys, welcome to another week of UPG of the Week! I opened up Joshua Project today and the Khmer were at the top so, providentially, I am doing them, so meet the Khmer of Cambodia!

Region: Cambodia (yep, pretty much all of it)

https://preview.redd.it/f1ksw54lvfr71.png?width=425&format=png&auto=webp&s=33e12a6181403f93b07b6b0a3155acb0e5c985f1

Index Ranking (Urgency): 51

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Climate: Cambodia's climate, like that of the rest of Southeast Asia, is dominated by monsoons, which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal differences. Cambodia has a temperature range from 21 to 35 °C (70 to 95 °F) and experiences tropical monsoons. Southwest monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to April. The country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October with the driest period occurring from January to February.

According to the International Development Research Center and the UN, Cambodia is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change. Nearly all provinces in Cambodia are affected by climate change. Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water, extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern, according to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance. Climate change has also had a major impact on water levels, ecology and productivity of the Tonlé Sap in recent years, affecting the food security and agriculture of a large proportion of Cambodia's population.

Cambodia has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to 22 °C (72 °F) and is generally accompanied with high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F) around April. Disastrous flooding occurred in 2001 and again in 2002, with some degree of flooding almost every year. Severe flooding also affected 17 provinces in Cambodia during the 2020 Pacific typhoon season.

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Terrain: Cambodia's landscape is characterized by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional pl

Bangkok, Thailand

A number of key Khmer Nationalist figures today gathered in Bangkok for a meeting >!facilitated and hosted by the Royal Thai Government, particularly its intelligence agencies!< for serious and prolonged talks on the future of their country and its government. The group, comprising Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey, Dap Chhuon, Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak and Poc Khun gathered with their supporters, and agreed to form a joint group for the liberation of Cambodia, the Khmer National People's Liberation Committee (KNPLC) >!under an agreement brokered by the Thai government in return for their support!<.

The KNPLC will have a political organisation, the Khmer National People's Party (KNPP), which will contest elections in Cambodia and >!conduct propaganda and political warfare in Cambodia. It will also comprise a military wing, the Khmer National People's Army (KNPA), which will be trained, assisted, and advised by the National Intelligence Agency of Thailand and Thai military units as necessary!<. With this formation, the legitimacy of the Norodom Sihanouk regime has been questioned, and the opening statement of the KNPLC calls for a truly democratic and effective government to form, rather than submission to the rule of a continued French-installed puppet and his megalomaniacal tendencies.

When I learned about the Sukhothai Kingdom in school, the teacher said that Sukhothai was heavily influenced by the Khom people. When I read sources about the Sukhothai Kingdom on the internet, it mentions that Sukhothai was heavily influenced by the Khmers.

Why do Thai history classes say that the Khom and the Khmer are two different groups of people when they are the same group of people? If you claim they aren’t, can you tell me why they aren’t and what’s the difference?

I am embarrassed to ask this question because my parents are Cambodian refugees and I have no idea why the genocide happen. My parents do not like to talk about the war (my grandpas/aunts/uncles were executed and my older sister died as a baby from starvation). Any time I look up to read on it, I become super overwhelmed because it seems complex. Why do people blame the US for the Khmer Rouge genocide and is the US truly to blame?

Or is it just a rumor?

I doubt it is true but why do they keep saying this?

How would he respond to this accusation?

I cannot remember where I read it, but I seem to recall that after Pol Pot was disposed of, he and much of the leadership returned to the forested area where their insurgency began. During the time they remained active thereafter they made 'peace' with the King that was put back in power. A monarchy that had been abolished by the very same Khmer Rouge. The resulting amnesty is what I am wondering about.

The government has, for almost half a century, practically refused to prosecute those responsible for some of the most heinous crimes ever suffered. Pol Pot himself famously died without being put to trial, having lived until an old age in relative peace. How in hell's innermost corner has there not been more internal calls for a judicial catharsis? Why has the government so stubbornly fought against external pressure from the UN and other actors?

Thank you in advance for any insight!

_______

Cross posted from r/AskHistorians where I unfortunately received no answer.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501004143/people-get-vaccinated-with-pfizer-vaccines-in-phnom-penh/

https://preview.redd.it/20u3p5gnshz61.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=ed181403da31e06ccf58eb7947de650ca4ae7d5c

Welcome to another week of UPG prayer! This week we will be looking at the Northern Khmer of Thailand!

Region: Thailand - Isan - Buriram, Surin and Sisaket

https://preview.redd.it/em1x9q4f4lo61.png?width=425&format=png&auto=webp&s=395b4f79604da5083c867ecd50eac90b3d1af113

Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 41

Climate: Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). Most of the country is classified as Köppen's tropical savanna climate.

The average temperature range of Northern Thailand is from 30.2 °C (86.4 °F) to 19.6 °C (67.3 °F). The highest temperature recorded was 43.9 °C (111.0 °F) in Udon Thani, the lowest −1.4 °C (29.5 °F) at Sakhon Nakhon Agro Station.

Rainfall is unpredictable, but is concentrated in the rainy season from May to October. Average annual precipitation varies from 2,000 mm (79 in) in some areas to 1,270 mm (50 in) in the southwestern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Khon Kaen, and Chaiyaphum. The rainy season begins with occasional short but heavy showers, eventually raining heavily for longer periods almost every day, usually in the late afternoon or at night, until it ends abruptly at the onset of the cool season.

The cool season runs from October to February and the hot season from February to May with the peak of high temperatures in April.

Terrain: Isan is roughly coterminous with the Khorat Plateau, which tilts gently from its northwestern corner where it is about 213 m (700 feet) above sea level to the southeast where the elevation is only about 62 metres (200 feet). Except for a few hills in the northeastern corner, the region is primarily gently undulating land, most of it varying in elevation from 90–180 m (300–600 feet), tilting from the Phetchabun Mountains in the west down toward the Mekong River. The plateau consists of two plains: the southern Khorat plain is drained by the Mun and Chi rivers, while the northern Sakon Nakhon plain is drained by the Loei and Songkhram rivers. The two plains are separated by the Phu Phan Mountains. The soil is mostly sandy, with substantial salt deposits.

Environmental Issues: Thailand faces problems with air, declining wildlife populations, deforestation, soil erosion, water scarcity, and waste issues. According to a 2004 indicator, the cost of air and water pollution for the country scales up to approximately 1.6–2.6% of GDP per year. As such, Thaila