The Cambodian Civil War Begins (Part One): The Samlaut Rebellion and the Three Ghosts

On April 2nd, 1967, in the Samlaut district of Battambang province, a group of villagers killed two soldiers collecting rice. What followed was not a rebellion so much as a reprisal, and Sihanouk decided he knew exactly who was behind it. He was, for the most part, wrong.

Time Period Covered: 1967

What was the Samlaut Rebellion, and how did it start? Who was responsible for this outbreak of violence? What leads to Khieu Samphan disappearing overnight?

In the first part of an explanation of how the Cambodian Civil War begins, Lachlan looks into the circumstances that lead to an outbreak of violence in the province of Battambang. Then, on April 2nd, 1967, a series of murders turns into a genuine eruption of peasant unrest and government reprisal: the Samlaut Rebellion. But who started it? Was it the Khmer Rouge, as Sihanouk thinks, and just who are these Cambodian communists in his eyes?

We also explain the roles of three Cambodian intellectuals that will play a prominent role in the Khmer Rouge, but a tactical decision to put them as the 'face' of the movement rather than the 'actual' leadership: "The Three Ghosts". Khieu Samphan, Hu Nim and Huo Yuon.

Sources

Philip Short Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History & Brother Number One
Ben Kiernan How Pol Pot Came to Power and Peasants & Politics in Kampuchea
Milton Osbourne Sihanouk
Steve Heder Cambodian Communism and the Vietnamese Model
Elizabeth Becker When the War was Over
Nic Dunlop Lost Executioner
ECCC Case 001 Witness Testimony 2009