Norodom Chantaraingsey
Prince Neak Ang Mechas Norodom Chantaraingsey (1924 - ?1976) was a member of the Cambodian royal family, and Cambodian nationalist. Initially a leader of the resistance against the colonial French, he went on to become a general in the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) during the Cambodian Civil War.
Biography
Colonial Cambodia and First Indochina War
Norodom Chantaraingsey, a grandson of Norodom of Cambodia and uncle of King Norodom Sihanouk, was born in 1924 in Phnom Penh. He began his military career during the WWII Japanese occupation of Cambodia, serving in the Japanese-sponsored anti-French forces under Son Ngoc Thanh. After the war's end and the resumption of colonial rule, Chantaraingsey became one of the most prominent non-communist leaders of the Khmer Issarak, and led armed resistance in the provinces of Kompong Speu and Kompong Thom at the head of a large private militia.[1] In 1949 he joined the Khmer National Liberation Committee, becoming its Supreme Army Chief, while from 1951 he associated himself with the forces of Son Ngoc Thanh in Siem Reap, though he continued to operate as a regional warlord maintaining his own troops. Pol Pot was to describe Chantaraingsey, who at various times fought against the French, the Viet Minh, and Khmer forces aligned with them, as essentially "feudal" in outlook.[2]
Despite his rivalry with Sihanouk and his nominally republican stance, Chantaraingsey aligned with the government after Cambodia achieved independence under Sihanouk's regime. However, after being discovered to be conspiring, along with other former members of the Issarak, to stage a coup against Sihanouk, Chantaraingsey was stripped of his military rank and royal title, though he suffered no other serious punishment.[3]
Career with the Khmer National Armed Forces
Subsequent to the successful 1970 coup against Sihanouk, Lon Nol appointed Chantaraingsey commander of FANK's 13th Brigade; he became military governor of the Kompong Speu province, and perhaps FANK's most effective commander during the subsequent civil war. Unlike many FANK commanders he ensured his men were well-treated and regularly paid, and was popular as a result.
After the fall of Phnom Penh to the Khmer Rouge, Chantaraingsey is thought to have retreated with his men to the area around the former hill station of Kirirom, where he had considerable support. Chantaraingsey was still known to be alive, and continuing resistance against the Khmer Rouge, in May or June 1975, at which point he was commanding some 2000 men in the Cardamom Mountains. The FANK's 13th Brigade was still fighting as late as 1977.[4] The exact date of Chantaraingsey's death is still unknown; other accounts suggest he may have been killed in the Dâmrei Mountains in 1976.[5]
The poet and journalist James Fenton was invited by Chantaraingsey to lunch on a battlefield in 1973; Fenton used the surreal experience in one of his most famous poems, Dead Soldiers, noting that Chantaraingsey's aide was the brother of Pol Pot.
References
- ^ Dommen, A. The Indochinese experience of the French and the Americans, Indiana University Press, 2001, p.197
- ^ Chandler, D. Brother number one: A political biography of Pol Pot, Westview, 1999, p.41
- ^ Savoeun, H.A Biography of Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey, accessed 22-05-08
- ^ Corfield, J. A History of the Cambodian Non-Communist Resistance 1975-1983, Monash University, 1991.
- ^ All in a Day's Work, Phnom Penh Post,, 09-02-07
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