Bunroeun Thach. Ph.D.

(International Relations/Political Science)

The world in general is still ignorant about what is Kampuchea Krom. Today, the origin of Kampuchea Krom is being systematically effaced from the world history by the Vietnamese colonialist government and its supporters. Kampuchea Krom history, its Geography, its people, its culture, and its people identity are now being questioned by even the scholars. According to the July 12-25, 1996 issue of Phnom Penh Post which cover the "Angkor Borei: The Cradle of Cambodia?" It said: "Vietnamese scholars are quoted as saying: 'The Funan (Nokor Phnom) empire existed before Khmer ethnicity arose. Linguistic evidence that these people were indeed Khmers is simply lacking'." Supporting these statements was an American scholar, Miriam Stark, who said:

"There is no question that the people of Angkor empire were Khmer. But as to Funan (Nokor Phnom), we don't know what language they spoke, though we can find out how old the site is (Angkor Borei), what agriculture was engaged in, what the demographic potential of the site was. We can learn how they lived, and what they did. But whether they were Khmer is perhaps no one can answering question."

As a child of the Khmer Krom, the indigenous people of this land are known to us as Kampuchea Krom, what I learned from these quotations, is that they were hurt be very, very deeply. I would like therefore, to demonstrate facts and evidence of the existence of my People, the Khmer Krom, to the world and our rightful ownership to this land, the ancient Nokor Phnom (Funan) or the current Kampuchea Krom.

Kampuchea Krom is an un-official Khmer name for the Mekong delta region, which is comprised of the entire southern part of Vietnam. Its territory measures up to 65,000 square kilometers. The indigenous people of Kampuchea Krom, also known as Nokor Phnom (Funan, in the corrupt Chinese translation). As a commercial power, Nokor Phnom was well known for its deep-sea city of O Keo (historians also used the corrupt term, Oc-eo). Its exact location is in the Kramoun Sar (Rach Gia) province. O Keo was a trading center in Southeast Asia where the Indian, Arabs, Roman, Chinese and the Japanese met. Many Khmer and non-Khmer coins, including those of Rome have been found at O Keo in the surrounding provinces.

Economically, the Khmer of Nokor Phnom were geniuses in their own right as is shown by their masteries of water management�s. One can still find hundreds if not thousands of canals today in the Mekong delta of Kampuchea Krom. The ancient Khmers built them of Nokor Phnom. In fact, Khmer Krom do not call their water streams "Stung" as the Khmer in Cambodia called them, but they know only "Prek". For "Prek" means canal and "Stung" means natural streams. This demonstrated that the Khmer Krom had their water management schemes being built into their cultural psychology long ago. They were the masters of the wet rice culture.

During the Nokor Phnom period, Chinese and Indian sources proved that "Buddhism in Kampuchea was old as Brahmanism," said Peter Gyallay-Pap, in Radical Conservatism, 1990. Archaeologists discovered statutes of Buddha as well as Lokecsvara, Vishnu, Shiva, Harihara, and many others scattered throughout Kampuchea Krom. During the Khmer Empire, according to Malleret, in his La Minorite Cambodgien de Chochine, hospitals built by the thirteenth century Khmer King Jayavarman VII have been located near Prek Russey (today Can Tho).

Historically Nokor Phnom was the Khmer Empire's 1st state, known as Kampuchea Krom today. Kampuchea Krom was part of the present day Cambodia until May 21, 1949, when the French colonists ceded it illegally to Vietnam. Now today, Cambodia continues to have its legal rights over this former territory.

The author of this article is also a Khmer Krom. Not long ago, we Khmer children enjoyed singing a song then "den dei Khmer pre tha Sovannaphum" (Khmer nation means Sovannabhumi). It was a nationalistic song that touched our hearts very deeply. Our song evoked in us nostalgia for the glorious Khmer past. As children we learned that, since the time of Buddha, 500 B.C, Sovannaphum was what today is called mainland Southeast Asia. The Khmer Empire encompassed the main part of that. We also have learned that evidence has been discovered showing that the Khmer civilization can be found in Laos, Thailand, and in Vietnam, millions of ethnic Khmer civilization, to today's regional geo-political realities.

Westerners came to know the land of the first Khmer state Nokor Phnom as a sinonized term Funan. Later they learned that it was the "Lower CochinChina" which the Khmer call Kampuchea Krom ( Lowers Cambodia). In 1861, during which time the Vietnamese invaded this Khmer land, French scholars Cortambert and de Rosny, in their Le Kambodge Annamite, wrote:

"Lower Cochinchina, or Vietnam's Cambodia, which is the part of Cambodia, which had submitted to the Annmite Empire, is the southern most part of this empire before the French conquest. It is today (1861) almost in our hands. It extends to the edge of "Cap de Kambodge (today Ca Mau) and swings to the northeast with the rest of the Kingdom of Cambodia. We can compare its extent with that of Britain. This country (Kampuchea Krom) is extremely fertile, formed entirely of the Mekong delta, and the Dong Nai and the river of Prei Nokor (today Ho Chi Minh City) water it. It is a great place for commerce. It is the connection between Thailand, Cambodia, English India, the Malaka Strait, and Burma on one side, and so the other side with Cochinchina proper (Annam), China, the Philippines, and others (author's translation from French)."

Later, in the 1940s, French archaeologists such as Louis Malleret devoted his research to the past history of Kampuchea Krom. According to Malleret, in the B.S.E.I., Vol.12, p.8, said:

"From the beginning of the first century to the thirteenth century, Kampuchea Krom was a part of the Khmer Empire. One map, compiled with scientific proof that in very recent years (1942) show about two hundred Khmer sites were scattered around the delta. This map revealed the existence of the ancient canals, and the basins where today are the vast rice fields."

After the 6th century, Nokor Phnom joined its sister state of Chen Lea (the known corrupt term is also Chenla) to form two Chen Lea(s): Chen lea tuk (Chenla Water) and Chen lea kauk (Chenla Dry or land). This union lasted for two hundred years. However, for a brief period they were both being dominated by Java, until 802 when a united Khmer Empire emerged. This was the work of a Khmer monarch Jayavarman II (802-869). He was a Khmer prince who had been sent to Java to study. Upon his return, Jayavarman II brought home not only the Javanese polity devaraja (divine ruler) but with the polity which led to the freedom of the Khmers from Javanese conquerors. Then the Khmer Empire was formed (9th to 13th century).

The Khmer Empire flourished not only economically but culturally as recognized today by the art and architecture of Angkor Wat which was built by the Khmer king, Suriyavarman II (1113-1150). The Khmer kings were not only followers of Hinduism, (devaraja) but also Mahayana Buddhism (Budddharaja), including Suriyavarman (.1050) and Jayavarman VII (d. 1218?).

During the 13th century, the Khmer Empire began to crumble when it was faced with the new comers from the north. First were the Thai. John Cady, in his Thailand, Burma, Laos, & Cambodia, 1966, said: "His reign (Suriyavarman II) witness the beginnings of the infiltration of Thai-Laos people by inclusion of Thai mercenary troops in the Cambodian army." David Steinberg, in his Cambodia: Its people, its society, its culture 1957, also said:

"Jayavarman VII achieved great things, but after his death the empire began to fall apart. The people were exhausted by huge construction projects and by wars of conquest. Mongol pressure on the Thai kingdom in the thirteenth century gave greater impetus to Thai infiltration of Cambodia. By the end of the thirteenth century, independent Thai kingdoms had been created in former Khmer territory. In 1353, a Thai army captured Angkor; later the Kabujans (Khmer) regained it, but wars with The Thai continued for centuries. Angkor was looted a number of times, and thousands of artists and scholars were carried away to slavery in Thailand. In 1430-31 the Thais again captured Angkor, this time aided by treachery within the Khmer capital. This conquest marks the end of the magnificent Khmer era, as nearly as any event can. The Khmer recaptured their city, but abandoned it as a capital."

For the next four hundred years (1432-1864) there was a transition period of the Khmer Empire, from a great nation to a nearly extinct French protectorate. During the first half of this period, Cambodia was involved in a duel with Thailand, in which Thailand claimed suzerainty over Cambodia, and for centuries tried to validate its claim by forceful means, as well as through puppet Khmer kings.

Despite this, Thailand was showing greater strength in winning the wars over Cambodia, but the Thai did allow the Khmer to keep what was Khmer. The new neighbor to the east, Vietnam, was a different matter, when the Khmer came in contact with them.

Earlier we described Kampuchea Krom as a fertile land, suitable for the northern neighbors to move in. Furthermore, the Khmer kings failed a trap set by the Vietnamese court with sordid schemes. Jean Moura, in his Le Royaume du Cambodge, said:

"In 1618, in the month of March, Prince Prea-chey-chessda was crowned under the title 'Samdech prea-chey-chessda -thireach-reamea-thupphadey-barommopit. At this moment, the King of Annam presented one his daughters to be married to the newly crowned king of Cambodia. This princess was very beautiful. She succeeded in making the king fall in love with her. She was made the queen of the kingdom."

In 1623, the King of Annam sent an ambassador with a rich present to the court of Oudong, then the Cambodian capital. At the beginning of this mission, the Vietnamese ambassador was ordered to seek authorization from the King of Cambodia, which meant the cessation of the Vietnamese government paying customs for obtaining Prei Nokor (today Ho Chi Minh City). The Cambodian king, without objection, accepted these propositions and the Vietnamese established themselves on the territory of Prei Nokor (Ho Chi Minh City). 	

These kinds of sordid acts on the part of the Vietnamese authorities created presidents for the Khmers to never again trust the Vietnamese. Furthermore, the Vietnamese were much more brutal then the Thai, when the former conquered the Khmers. The Khmers always remind their children about the case in 1813, during the forced labor of digging the Vinh Te canal. The Vietnamese soldiers buried the Khmer laborers alive and used their heads as stands for a wood stove to boil water for the Vietnamese masters. At that moment, the Vietnamese torturers said, "Be careful not to spill my master's tea (Dung Nhuc Nhit Kumpop Te Ong Anh)".

According to Keith Weller Taylor, in his The Birth of Vietnam (1983), the original homeland of the Vietnamese is Tonking. Its society was formed by feudalism, and the Hong Bang dynasties of Lac (247 B.C.) were their rulers. Another succeeded ruler was Took (257-208 B.C.). After this period, the Vietnamese were forced to stay under the domination of China for twelve centuries. The Chinese relinquished Vietnam in 939, but Vietnam still received strong influence form the Chinese court. Because of the uneasy relationship with China, the Vietnamese looked to the south and became expansionist conquerors themselves for the next thousand years. This southward movement was well known in Vietnam as Nam Tien. The Vietnamese used a picture of the growing bamboo trees to symbolize their Nam Tien. Their philosophy is that just like how the bamboo trees grow, Vietnamese territory will always spread endlessly.

After taking the entire Champa Kingdom (currently the central part of Vietnam) in 1658, the Vietnamese then moved slowly to control Khmer territory, first in Kampuchea Krom and later they took the entire Cambodia. As mentioned above, the Vietnamese court of Hue received permission from the King of Cambodia in 1623 to station its troops in Prei Nokor. By 1698, Vietnam totally occupied Prei Nokor and baptized it with its new name, Saigon (and since the 1975 communist victory it has been re-named Ho Minh City). In fact, the Vietnamese changed all the Khmer names of the Kampuchea Krom's villages, towns and cities to Vietnamese. It was simply a means, which the Vietnamese used to steal the land from the Khmer indigenous people and kept the world ignorance about the existence of Kampuchea Krom.

Although the Khmer court issued some kind of agreements with the Vietnamese court, the indigenous people, the Khmer Krom refused to recognize them. In 1743, the Khmer Krom of Khleang (Vietnamized Soc Trang) province revolved and expelled the Vietnamese. The Khmer army, in 1748, also crushed the Vietnamese army at Sap Angkam, in Cambodia's Pursat province. In 1776, people of Peam Me Sar (My Tho) and Long Hor (Vinh Long) provinces revolted and liberated themselves.

From 1835 to 1847, the famous people uprising took place in the province of Preah Trapeang (Travinh), under the leadership of Khmer governor, Chavay Kuy. In 1841, as a pacifist Khmer Buddhist, Chavay Kuy gave himself up in exchange for the Vietnamese court of Hue's recognition and agreement for the Khmer Krom to have their rights and freedom of worship, which followed their traditional costumes, and practice of their education in Khmer language. Following the Vietnamese he headed Chavay Kuy. In 1841, Khmer people throughout the country rose up against the Vietnamese armies. In 1858, the people of Moat Chrouk (Chau Doc) liberated their territory and rejoined it with Cambodia. In the same year, the Khmer army also drove the Vietnamese out of the provinces of Khleang (Soc Trang), Preah Trapeang (Travinh), and Kramoun Sar (Rach Gia).

According to Adhemard Leclere, in his Histories de Cambodge, 1941, King Ang Duong, in 1857, he secretly contacted the French Emperor Napoleon III, through a French Catholic missionary, Monseigneur Miche. He then invited the French to attack the Vietnamese forces stationed in Prei Nokor, with a promise to pay the 500 men after their victory. In 1858, Napoleon III ordered Admiral Douda de la Grandiere to follow this request. King Ang Duong then sent the Khmer Royal Army to liberate the southern Treang province, and others including Bassac, Preah Trapeang, Kramoun Sar, and Moat Chrouk, under the command of the Khmer General king. After, King Ang Duong passed away in 1860, his son, King Norodom came to the throne. In 1864, the Khmer King was promised by the French Admiral de la Grandiere, that France would return Kampuchea Krom (known as French Cochinchina) solely to Cambodia upon Frances withdrawal, this placed Cambodia under French protection. However, in 1884, at a gunpoint, King Norodom (son of Ang Duong and grandfather of the current King Norodom Sihanouk) was forced to sign off Cambodia to become a French colony.

However, under the French Khmer Krom enjoyed extended privileges, including having the right to be Khmer citizen in Cambodia (same practice also adopted by the current Royal Government of Cambodia). Their rights also included, following Khmer educational system, worshipping in the Buddhist religion, holding governmental positions, which included governor�s ship of all Khmer provinces. Khmer Buddhist temple received direct order from Phnom Penh patriarchs. In fact, in 1941, after being crowned, King Norodom Sihanouk went to province of Khleang and inaugurated the Friendship Association of Khmer Kampuchea Krom, which today has its branches throughout the world, including this one.

However, the French colonialist government betrayed its own words when they departed from Kampuchea Krom. At midnight on May 21st, 1949 the French National Assembly voted to connect its French Cochinchina (Kampuchea Krom) not to Cambodia which has historical and legal rights, but to Vietnam. Even though this was in front of a great protest from the Khmer delegation which was headed by its Prime Minister, Chhean Vam and his delegates Son Sann, and Princess Ping Peang Yukunthor. V.M. Reddi, in his A History of Cambodian Independence, 1970, wrote:

"Perhaps what affected the Cambodian nationalist feelings most was the transfer to Vietnam of the three western provinces of Cochinchina, namely, Rach Gia [Kramoun Sar], Soc Trang [Kleang], Travinh [Preah Trapeang], which the Cambodian claimed as theirs on the basis of race, history, and population. Ever since the establishment of the French protectorate, Cambodia never ceased to remind France of its historical rights over these areas. In spite of these reminders, France, having committed herself to the Bao Dai solution, transferred them to Vietnam. No matter whether France's troubles in Vietnam did or did not end, certainly she gained the displeasure of the Cambodian nation."

France�s irresponsible actions caused the then Khmer Prime Minister Chhean Vam to present his resignation to King Norodom Sihanouk, at the Phnom Penh Royal Palace. But worst was that France had indirectly subjugated Khmer Krom for life of their rights to a nation-hood. Their dignity as a human race, despite how badly the French had allowed the Vietnamese to treat the Khmer Krom. For instance, in 1945, the communist Vietminh persecuted many Khmer Krom a la Nazi styles. In which case Khmer Krom leaders and intellectuals were called upon to gather themselves in the rice granaries (lam, in Vietnamese), in the provinces of Kleang (Soc Trang). As the granaries were filled with Khmer Krom people, the doors were ordered closed and petroleum was poured upon them. Finally, the Vietnamese set Khmer Krom on fire. They were burned alive.

After the French was defeated in its Indochina, post 1954 Geneva Conference, the Ngo Dinh Diem regime of the Republic of Vietnam showed its true claws with his famous decree of August 29, 1956. He simply erased the Khmer nationality from the Khmer Krom by calling them "Nguoi Viet goc Mien" (Vietnamese of Khmer origin). This was a new term, which was

Adopted by all following Vietnamese governments. Gerald C. Hickey, in his Accommodation and Coalition in South Vietnam, 1970, said: "The policy of Ngo Dinh Diem government was to integrate the ethnic minorities into the national framework by forced assimilation."

In 1969, twenty-five thousand Khmer Krom Buddhist monks, under the leadership of the Venerable Lam Em and Kim Sang conducted a non-violent demonstration in front of the former Norodom Palace. (This was being Vietnamized into Dinh Doc Lap-Independence Palace in Saigon). They were demanding the minority rights for Khmer Krom from the Thieu-Ky regime.

The American Vietnam War ended when communist forces took over Cambodia on April 17, 1975, Vietnam on April 30, 1975, and Laos at a later date. In 1978, the communist Vietnam invaded and occupied Cambodia for the 13 years. Ho Chi Minh's political scheme of establishing the Indochina Federation under the Vietnamese control realized. Khmer resisted forces with the support from the United Nations in 1991 and was able to have Vietnam agree to relinquish Cambodia.

However under the communist Vietnamese regimes, Khmer Krom continued to face greater suffering, which included exterminations, and persecutions. There have been no Western studies done, regarding how the Vietnamese communists treated Khmer Krom. Yet, there were many un-reported incidents of these happenings. Many witnesses who are alive today can testify about the communist Vietnamese atrocities against Khmer Krom in the past and present.

In relations to the US Department of State sponsoring the so-called "study of genocide in Cambodia," another study should be conducted especially regarding how the communist Vietnam conducted its genocide actions against the Khmer people. After the 1976 Khmer Krom up rising, many Khmer Krom, who were Buddhist monks, were persecuted by the Vietnamese authorities. One of them was the Venerable Kim Toc Chuong,

the Buddhist patriarch in the Preah Trapeang province. He was killed in February 2, 1987. Thousands other Khmer Krom were imprisoned and faced brutal tortures until recently. Khmer Krom ask the world of nothing but their rights to freedom, human dignities, and self-determination, principles which are embedded in the Charter of the United Nations. This is an organization of the community of nations which Vietnam is a member.

     Welcome to Khmer Krom's Freedom Fighters Page

No Freedom No Peace!

These are the "Imprisoned", "Persecuted", and "Murdered" Khmer Kroms:

1. H.E. Son Kuil, Governor of Kampuchea Krom

2. H.E. Son Ngoc Thanh, Khmer Krom Political Leader

3.Ven. Kim Toc Chon, Mekon of Mahanikay B.A. (Tra Vinh province)

1975-1986 Period: Imprisoned and murdered

Demonstrations by Khmer Krom Monks in 1969 in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam)

1. Ven. Kim Sang, Head of Religion of Theravada Buddhist Association

2. Ven. Lam Em,President of Buddhist Monks of Theravada B.A.

3. Ven. Thach Ngos, President of Buddhist Monks of Khemaranikay B.A.(Soc Trang)

4. Ven. Thach Pech, Secretary General of Khemaranikay B.A.(Soc Tranh province)

5. Ven. Thach Pok, Head of Religion Assistant of Theravada B.A. (Tra Vinh)

6. Ven. Thach Ret, Mekon (Provincial Religious Chief) of Theravada B.A.

7. Ven. Ngo Sieu, Mekon of Khemaranikay B.A. (Buddhist Association)

8. Ven. Thach O, Mekon of Theravada B.A. (Tra Vinh province)

9. Ven. Thach Cung, Mekon of Theravada B.A. (Soc Trang province)

10. Ven. Tran Danh, Mekon of Theravada B.A. (Bac Lieu province)

11. Ven. Diep Thanh Minh, Mekon of Theravada (Ca Mau province)

12. Ven. Thach Nhien, Mekon Assistant of Theravada B.A. (Can Tho city)

13. Ven. Danh Binh, Mekon of Theravada B.A. (Chau Doc province)

14. Ven. Danh Snguon, Mekon of Theravada B.A. (Rach Gia province)

15. Ven. Thach Sal, Chairman of Buddhist Monks Association of Tra Cu

16. Ven. Thach Hai, Insighted Teacher

17. Ven. Giang Phat, Temple Chief

18. Mr. Thach Den, Student

19. Ven. Thach Diek, Head of Temple Chief

20. Ven. Chau Kun, Temple Chief

21. Ven. Thach Neo, Temple Chief

22. Ven. Thach Ry, Monks Teacher

23. Mr. Thach Sang, Monks Teacher

24. Mr. Thach Chan, Monks Teacher

25. Mr. Thach The, Monks Teacher

26. Ven. Thach Chuong, Head of Temple Chief

27. Ven. Son Lung, Teacher

28. Mr. Tang Hung, Student

29. Mr. Tang Rinh, Student

30. Mr. Thach Hansovann, Khmer Teacher

31. Mr. Tran Sok, Student

32. Ven. Kim Samnang, Student

33. Ven. Kien Chan, Student

1975-1986 Period: Imprisoned

Demonstrations by Khmer Krom Monks in 1969 in Kampuchea Krom (South Vietnam)

1. Ven. Kim Toc Chon, Mekon of Mahanikay B.A. (Tra Vinh province)

* Ven. Kim Toc Chon was tortured to Death on Feb. 2,1987 in Vinh Long, Tra Vinh

2. Ven. Tran Don, First Vice-Mekon

3. Ven. Thach Uk, Advisor

4. Ven. Thach Srey, Second Vice-Mekon

5. Ven. Thach Suon, Advisor Chief

6. Ven. Son Yu, French Teacher

7. Ven. Thach Samung, Provincial Discipline

8. Ven. Thach Ui, Provincial Discipline Chief

9. Ven. Son Khun, Inspector

10. Ven. Thach Tua, Secretary General of the Provincial Religion Office

11. Ven. Thach Cuonvintak, Secretary General Assistant of PRO

12. Ven. Son Keun, Chairman of Monk Association of Cau Ngang District, Tra Vinh

13. Ven. Lam Suon, Pali Teacher

14. Ven. Thach Saosokhum, Secretary

15. Ven. Kim Sao, Temple Chief

16. Ven. Thach Nhut, Temple Chief

17. Mr. Kim Savann, Temple Member

18. Mr. Kim Keo, Dharma-Pali Teacher

19. Mr. Kien Smon, Teacher

20. Mr. Son Nho (called Nene Sophy), Teacher

21. Ven. Kim Son, Teacher

22. Ven. Thach Hiene, Teacher

23. Ven. Ly Kot, Teacher

24. Ven. Kim Sen, Teacher

25. Ven. Son Dam, Teacher

26. Ven. Thach Vansuong, Ex-Secretary General

27. Ven. Thach Duong, Sangha Administration of Cau Ngang District, Tra Vinh

28. Mr. Thach Suong, Teacher

29. Mr. Thach Ngoc Lanh, Teacher

30. Mr. Kim Son, Teacher

31. Mr. Thach Chuong, Teacher

32. Ven. Thach Soi, Anukon or District Religion Chief of Cau Ngang, Tra Vinh

33. Mr. Thach Rong, Teacher

34. Mr. Thach Soc, Khmer-French Teacher

35. Ven. Thach Sang, Monastery Assistant Chief

36. Ven. Thach Tu, Temple Chief

37. Ven. Thach Saonghem, Temple Chief

38. Ven. Thach Thanh Cong, Propaganda Commissioner of Theravada, B.A.

39. Ven. Thach Xung(Chheung), Temple Chief

40. Ven. Kim Put, Monastery Assistant Chief

41. Son To (called Dinh), Provincial Inspector of Buddhist Education

42. Mr. Thach Minhvat, Teacher

43. Ven. Kim Hien, Temple Chief

44. Ven. Tang Kechea, Temple Chief

45. Ven. Diep Tuoi, Monastery Assistant Chief

46. Mr. Son Quyen, Teacher

47. Ven. Thach Cham, Temple Chief

48. Mr. Thach Sang, Teacher

49. Son Nghi, Temple Committee

50. Mr. Thach Sang, Teacher

51. Mr. Kien Pho Chum, Temple Committee

52. Mr. Thach Hai, Teacher

53. Ven. Luu Lan, Temple Assistant Chief

54. Ven. Thach Sut, Temple Chief

55. Mr. Thach Tung, Temple Committee

56. Ven. Thach Gong, Temple Assistant Chief

57. Mr. Long Thanh, Teacher

58. Mr. Thai Yone, Teacher

59. Mr. Kien Thia, Teacher

60. Ven. Long Samnang, Temple Chief

61. Ven. Son Riem, Temple Chief

62. Ven. Thach Chia, Temple Chief

63. Mr. Kim Ye, Teacher

64. Ven. Son Chia, District Religion Chief of Chau Thanh, Tra Vinh

65. Ven. Thach Srong, Temple Chief

66. Ven. Thach Phuone, Head of Monastery Chief

67. Ven. Soksary, Temple Chief

68. Ven. Kim Gian, Temple Chief

69. Ven. Thach Hu, Head of Temple Chief

70. Ven. Thach Phinh, District Religion Chief of Tieu Can District

71. Mr. Son Cuong, Chairman of Layperson

72. Mr. Thach Ry, Temple Assistant

73. Mr. Tang Vien Serei, Teacher

74. Mr. Son Kieu, Temple Chief & an Assistant to Ven. Kim Toc Chon (Above)

The above victims are just a small number that have been somehow committed by the Vietnamese counter parts. There are more to the list that have gone missing without any trace. Only Gods know what really happened to the missing number of Khmer Krom, since the day Kampuchea Krom (presently South Vietnam) was annexed by Annam (presently North Vietnam)! You may wonder what Central Vietnam used to be called long ago! It was Champa Kingdom, which is quite a precise answer.

	 Let's join a Fight like Palestineans, Tibetans, East Timorese,

Chechens, and others!