Thailand/Malaysia: Hunt for Communist Army on Thai/Malaysian Border:

Record ID: 896002

  • Title: Thailand/Malaysia: Hunt for Communist Army on Thai/Malaysian Border:
  • Date: 19th June 1969
  • Summary: 1. LS AERIAL VIEW OF JUNGLE (TWO SHOTS) 11 ft 2. LS GROUND VIEW OF JUNGLE 15 1/2 ft 3. MS MODEL OF COMMUNIST VILLAGE, DISCOVERED BY SECURITY FORCES, WITH FLAG (THREE SHOTS) 40 1/2 ft 4. MLS WEAPONS AND DOCUMENTS CAPTURED BY THAI, MALAYSIAN FORCES 49 ft 5. MS (LEFT) MALAYSIAN POLICE OFFICER AND (RIGHT) THAI POLICE OFFICER EXAMINE CAPTURED COMMUNIST WEAPONS (TWO SHOTS), INCLUDING HOMEMADE SHOTGUN 66 1/2 ft 6. MS THE TWO OFFICER LOOK AT GRENADE 75 ft 7. MCU (PAN) SHOTS OF COMMUNIST LEADERS FOUND AT CAMP FROM WHICH MODEL MADE (FROM LEFT) MAO, STALIN, MARX, ENGELS 81 1/2 ft 8. CU MAO TSE TUNG'S PORTRAIT FOUND IN COMMUNIST VILLAGE 86 1/2 ft 9. CU CHIN PENG 90 1/2 ft 10. CU COMMUNIST GUERRILLA'S HAT 94 1/2 ft 11. CU COMMUNIST DOCUMENTS (THREE SHOTS) 105 ft 12. MS COMMUNIST DOG (TWO SHOTS) 117 ft 13. LS SIGN ON THAI POLICE OUTPOST (PAN) TO BUILDINGS 129 ft 14. LS DITTO 132 1/2 ft 15. CU THAI POLICE PATROL LEADER BRIEFS HIS MEN 136 1/2 ft 16. MS PATROL ON PARADE 139 ft 17. CU THAI LIEUTENANT WHO WAS INVOLVED IN GUNBATTLE WITH COMMUNISTS 144 ft 18. MCU PATROL MOVES OUT (TWO SHOTS) 153 ft 19. L&MS PATROL IN THE JUNGLE (VARIOUS SHOTS) 192 ft 20. MLS LOADING SUPPLIES ON THAI POLICE PLANE (VARIOUS SHOTS) 210 ft 21. LS PLANE TAKING OFF ON AIRDROP MISSION (TWO SHOTS) 234 ft 22. MCU INSIDE PLANE PREPARING FOR DROP (VARIOUS SHOTS) 249 ft 23. CU AIRDROP 253 ft 24. LS AERIAL VIEW OF JUNGLE (THREE SHOTS) 264 1/2 ft 25. LS DROP ZONE -- PARACHUTES GO OUT (VARIOUS SHOTS) 292 ft 26. CU MORE SUPPLIES BEING DROPPED 296 ft 27. LS AERIAL VIEW OF JUNGLE (FOUR SHOTS) 315 ft 28. CU PILOT IN COCKPIT (FOUR SHOTS) 331 ft 29. LS AERIAL VIEW OF THAI COAST (TWO SHOTS) 340 ft 30. MCU CREW RETURNS FROM MISSION 347 ft 31. LS RAAF HELICOPTER LANDS IN JUNGLE WITH MALAYSIAN RANGERS (TWO SHOTS) 357 ft 32. MS VARIOUS SHOTS OF MALAYSIAN RANGERS WITH WAR DOGS ON PATROL 378 ft 33. LS SCHOOL AT BALING WHERE CHIN PENG LAST APPEARED, WITH CLASSROOM NOW FILLED WITH CHILDREN WHERE DISCUSSIONS TOOK PLACE WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN 400 ft Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved Details ALONG THE BORDER OF THAILAND MALAYA THERE'S A FORGOTTEN WAR AS MALAYSIA WAGES ITS DEFENSIVE BATTLE AGAINST INDONESIAN CONFRONTATION, A DEADLY MANHUNT CONTINUES ALONG ITS BORDER WITH THAILAND. IN THIS JUNGLE REGION, ONE OF THE MOST FORBIDDING IN THE WORLD, ONE MAN KEEPS ALIVE A MOVEMENT WHICH THREATENS ENGULF BOTH MALAYSIA AND THAILAND IN A VIETCONG-TYPE REBELLION. HE IS CHIN PENG, A MAN WHO WAS AWARDED THE ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE FOR HIS WORK IN THE UNDERGROUND DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MALAYA. CHIN'S ADULT LIFE HAS BEEN SPENT IN THE JUNGLE AS A GUERILLA LEADER, FIRST AGAINST THE JAPANESE, LATER AGAINST THE BRITISH AND NOW AT THE HEAD OF A SIX HUNDRED MAN ARMY WHICH AWAITS THE SIGNAL FROM PEKING TO RENEW OPEN WARFARE. TO TRACK DOWN THIS MAN AND HIS ARMY, CONSTANT PATROLS HAVE TRAMPED THROUGH THE BORDER REGION FOR FIVE YEARS, OCCASIONALLY STUMBLING ACROSS A BANDIT GROUP BUT NEVER BEING ABLE TO MOUNT A SIZEABLE OPERATION AGAINST WHAT HAS BECOME AN INVISIBLE ENEMY. THE SEARCH GOES ON, LATELY WITH RENEWED VIGOUR AS THE GOVERNMENTS OF BOTH MALAYSIA AND THAILAND BECOME ENVELOPED IN THE BATTLE FOR SOUTH-EAST ASIA. MALAYSIA, REPELLING AGGRESSION FROM INDONESIA, WOULD BE IN A DESPERATE POSITION IF CHIN PENG'S ARMY CAME INTO THE OPEN AGAIN AND REACTIVATED THE SYMPATHISERS WHO MERGED BACK INTO MALAYA'S VILLAGE LIVE WHEN THE EMERGENCY ENDED IN 1960. THAILAND, ACKNOWLEDGE AS THE NEXT COMMUNIST TARGET IF AN END COMES TO THE FIGHTING IN SOUTH VIETNAM, IS CONCERNED ABOUT ITS NORTH-EASTERN FRONTIER WITH LAOS AND INSURGENCY ALONG ITS SOUTHERN BORDER WITH MALAYA WOULD SEVERELY TAX ITS DEFENSIVE CAPABILITY. THE CHIN PENG ARMY SHIFTS CAMP CONSTANTLY BUT SOMETIMES STAYS LONG ENOUGH TO ERECT A DEFENDED VILLAGE, COMPLETE WITH STUDY CLASSROOMS AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES. IN ONE FOUND RECENTLY, AND SINCE BURNT TO THE GROUND, A FLAGPOLE STOOD IN THE CENTRE OF THE VILLAGE, A COMMUNIST HAMMER AND SICKLE FLAG FLUTTERING AT THE ASTHEAD. SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE BUILDINGS WERE PORTRAITS OF MAO TSE TUNG, STALIN, LENIN, MARX AND ENGELS. WEAPONS ACCUMULATED IN THE SEARCH COME FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES. ONE IS A HOMEMADE SHOTGUN, DEVELOPED BY THE COMMUNISTS IN SOME MAKESHIFT JUNGLE WORKSHOP, OTHERS ARE OF AMERICAN, CONTINENTAL AND BRITISH MAKE; SUB-MACHINEGUNS, PISTOLS AND RIFLES. AS THIS ACTIVITY GOES ON ACROSS THE MOUNTAINOUS BORDER LINE, CHILDREN SIT IN THE CLASSROOM OF A SMALL VILLAGE SCHOOL IN A VALLEY BELOW. IT WAS IN THIS CLASSROOM THAT CHIN PENG MADE HIS LAST APPEARANCE, EMERGING FROM THE JUNGLE FOR FRUITLESS SERIES OF PEACE TALKS WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN, THE PRESENT PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA. CONSTANTLY, THERE ARE REPORTS THAT HE IS IN VIETNAM, PEKING AND OTHER CENTRES OF COMMUNIST ACTIVITY IN ASIA. WHEREVER HE IS, HIS IMMENSE CAPACITY FOR BLOODWHED IN MALAYA IS UNDIMMED. CAPS WITH A RED STAR FLASH ON THE CROWN ARE REMINISCENT OF COMMUNIST UNIFORMS WHICH HAVE APPEARED IN KOREA, VIETNAM AND LAOS. PROPAGANDA BOOKLETS, PREDICTABLY MANY IN CHINESE, ALSO INCLUDE SOME IN MALAY, INDICATING THE NEW DRIVE TO ENLIST SUPPORT AMONG THE EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND MOSLEMS WHO LIVE IN THE FOUR SOUTHERN MOST PROVINCES OF THAILAND. THIS SEEKING OF MALAY SUPPORT SHOWS CHIN PENG'S DETERMINATION TO WIDEN THE BASE OF HIS MOVEMENT, WHICH DURING THE MALAYAN EMERGENCY, WAS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY CHINESE. FOUND WANDERING FORLORNLY THROUGH ONE EVACUATED COMMUNIST HIDEOUT WAS SMALL BROWN DOG. ALTHOUGH JUST LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHER MIXED BREED DOGS FOUND THROUGHOUT ASIA THIS ONE HAD SOME RATHER SPECIAL QUALITIES. NOW WITH A MALAYSIAN FIELD FORCE UNIT, IT NEVER BARKS, LIKES GUNFIRE, ONLY ALLOWS ITSELF TO BE PATTED BY MEN IN JUNGLE GREEN UNIFORM AND SEEKS OUT WITH UNERRING ACCURACY HIDDEN GUN POSITIONS. THE MALAYSIAN FIELD FORCE OFFICERS SAY THE DOG OBVIOUSLY HAD BEEN TRAINED BY THE COMMUNISTS AS A PUPPY NEVER TO BARK, THUS NOT GIVING AWAY THEIR HIDING PLACE, AND ITS SNIFFING OUT OF HIDDEN GUNMEN WAS VALUABLE AND IS EVADING AMBUSHES. ON THE THAI SIDE OF THE BORDER POLICE OPERATE FROM REMOTE OUTPOSTS WHICH CAN ONLY BE SUPPLIED BY AIRDROPS OF FOOD AND EQUIPMENT. AS THEY SEARCH THROUGH THIS JUNGLE FASTNESS, COMMUNIST AGENTS ARE BUSY TERRORISING CHINESE RUBBER PLANTERS AND SMALL VILLAGE SHOPKEEPERS, LEAVING TAXES WHICH FINANCE THE REBEL ARMY. A PATROL MOVING DOWN A JUNGLE TRACK GOES TO EARTH AT THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS WHICH ONLY OCCASIONALLY HERALD THE APPROACH OF A COMMUNIST BAND. A THAI LIEUTENANT WHO STILL COMMANDS A PLATOON IN THE SEARCH OPERATION EARLY THIS YEAR WAS INVOLVED IN AN HOUR LONG BATTLE WITH A COMMUNIST FIELD PARTY. THE LIEUTENANT'S PLATOON KILLED ONE OF THE REBELS, WHO DIED CLUTCHING A SUB MACHINE GUN AND WHO HAD AROUND HIS WAIST A HAND GRENADE AND FIFTY ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION. IN MALAYA, THE USE OF COMMONWEALTH TROOPS AND AIRCRAFT HAS BEEN AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE SEARCH OPERATION FOR YEARS. CURRENTLY THE MALAYSIAN RANGERS, A BRITISH OFFICER UNIT FROM SARAWAK, IS THE GROUND FORCE. THEY ARE SUPPORTED BY ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE HELICOPTERS, WHICH IN A RECENT OPERATION WERE USED TO PUT DOWN TROOPS, ACCOMPANIED BY TRACKER DOGS, INTO AN AREA THOUGHT TO BE USED BY THE COMMUNISTS.
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  • Keywords: Thailand/Malaysia: Hunt for Communist Army on Thai/Malaysian Border:
  • Location: THAI/MALAYSIAN BORDER
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Reuters ID: tag:reuters.com,1965:newsml_VA3VE580OY1FLIQ0740O1UJJSUO:1
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text:
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS - SOURCE TO BE VERIFIED
  • Copyright Notice: REUTERS - SOURCE TO BE VERIFIED
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Clip: NONE Story Restrictions: Restrictions on certain uses may apply, and may vary from those listed.
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