1973 Laotian coup attempt

Political factionalism within the upper ranks of the Royal Lao Army led to a series of coups in the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War of the 1960s. When Phoumi Nosavan was forced into exile in February 1965, he could no longer use his influence to shield the officers in his rightwing faction. General Thao Ma, commander of the Royal Lao Air Force was one of those officers; he also went into exile in the neighboring Thailand, after his unsuccessful 1966 coup failed to take over the kingdom.[1]

In 1973, former Laotian General Thao Ma was living in exile in Bangkok, Thailand, where he worked as an air dispatcher for Air France for $270 per month.[2] By the beginning of August, a deal was being thrashed out for a coalition government that would include the Laotian communist insurrectionists. Several Royal Lao Army officers traveled to Bangkok to keep Thao Ma posted on events. Rumors of a potential coup by Thao Ma began to surface in the Laotian capital of Vientiane.[3]

Despite the advance warnings, Thao Ma managed to surprise the populace of Vientiane. At 05:00 on 20 August 1973, he and about 60 of his followers boated across the Mekong River into the capital. Thao Ma was greeted enthusiastically by RLAF personnel at Wattay Airport, and began handing out blue and white scarves of allegiance to his followers. While Bounleut Saycocie took an armored car into town to secure the radio station, other rebels captured the bank and Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma's vacant house. At 07:00, Bounleut began broadcasting anti-communist communiques from the insurrectionists.[3]

With his underlings attending to the seizure of Vientiane, Thao Ma commandeered an AT-28 fighter-bomber. Accounts disagree on the number of sorties flown by Thao Ma and his wingmen. While contemporary news accounts state Thao Ma flew at least three times, historians note only that he was accompanied by six loyal pilots. It is agreed that his principal target was a fellow general whom he hated, Kouprasith Abhay. Both Kouprasith's home and office were bombed by the AT-28s, but missed him. As Royalist troops began to rally against the coup, American colonel Al Degroote drove to the home of the commanding general of the Air Force. General Sourith Don Sasorith refused to come out of hiding, and lurked in his house with a blue and white scarf handy.[2][3][4]

Even with Sourith's refusal to fight against it, the coup began to unravel. Royalist troops promptly recaptured the airfield. A Royalist soldier manning a truck-mounted machine gun managed to hit Thao Ma's aircraft. He crash-landed his smoking plane on Wattay's overrun area. An Air America crash truck crew fished him from the wreckage. He was capable of sitting up on his stretcher and thanking his rescuers.[2][3]

By 11:00, the coup was over. Thao Ma was tossed into a truck and taken to Kouprasith's headquarters where Kouprasith had his bodyguard shoot Thao Ma.[2][3][5]

There were ten killed on either side, and 14 insurrectionists captured. Bounluet Saycocie stole a helicopter to escape.[2][3]

On 14 September 1973, the agreement to establish the Third Coalition Government was signed.[3]

• Ahern, Thomas L. Jr. (2006), Undercover Armies: CIA and Surrogate Warfare in Laos. Center for the Study of Intelligence. Classified control no. C05303949.
• Anthony, Victor B. and Richard R. Sexton (1993). The War in Northern Laos. Command for Air Force History. OCLC 232549943.
• Conboy, Kenneth and James Morrison (1995). Shadow War: The CIA's Secret War in Laos. Paladin Press. ISBN 0-87364-825-0.