Norodom Chantaraingsey
Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey (1924 - ?1976) was a member of the Cambodian royal family, and Cambodian nationalist. Initially a leader of the guerrilla resistance against the colonial French, he went on to become a prominent general in the Khmer National Armed Forces (FANK) during the Cambodian Civil War.
Chantaraingsey is thought to have been killed fighting the Khmer Rouge sometime during 1975 or 1976, but his date of death is unknown.
Biography
Colonial Cambodia and First Indochina War
Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey, a grandson of Norodom of Cambodia and uncle of future 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 and his men as little more than bandits.[2] The communists had at one point considered making Chantaraingsey their preferred candidate as king instead of Sihanouk, but he proved too wary of the Vietnamese influence on the communist cadres.
Despite his personal 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.[3] After three years' imprisonment, Chantaraingsey was released and went on to accrue a large personal fortune through a variety of business ventures.[4]
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 on April 17, 1975, Chantaraingsey is thought to have retreated with his men to the area around the former hill station of Kirirom, where he had considerable support from the local peasantry. Some accounts state he was killed in this area in May, but he was reported to still be alive, and continuing resistance against the Khmer Rouge, in June 1975, at which point he was commanding some 2000 men in the Cardamom Mountains. Elements of FANK's 13th Brigade were still fighting in this area as late as 1977.[5] The exact date of Chantaraingsey's death is still unknown; some reports suggest he may have been killed in the Dâmrei Mountains in 1976.[6]
In 1973, the poet and journalist James Fenton was invited by Chantaraingsey to a banquet lunch held on a battlefield; Fenton used the surreal experience in one of his most famous poems, Dead Soldiers, noting that Chantaraingsey's aide was a brother of Pol Pot.[7]
Personal life
Chantaraingsey was married to Sisowath Samanvoraphong, a daughter of King Sisowath Monivong.
The personal name "Chantaraingsey" is derived from chant(r)a, moon, and raingsey, ray of light, from Sanskrit Chandra Ruangsiri.
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
- ^ Gayn, M. Cambodia consulting the stars, New York Times magazine, 22-04-73
- ^ 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
- ^ See Fenton, J. The memory of war: poems 1968-1982, Salamander, 1983, p.26. The title refers to the name given by Chantaraingsey and his officers to the empty brandy bottles piling up beneath the table.
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