The "headman" at the foot of Puxailaileng Mountain - Last article: Party members go first, villagers follow
Not only is he the “fire keeper” in the village, Gia Tong Thu is also a Mong Party member who takes the lead in developing household economy, protecting forests, planting forests, preserving native tree species and spreading sustainable production thinking in the great Puxailaileng forest. Quietly but persistently, he convinces people by his actions, leads by his prestige, and lives fully with the ideal of “Party members go first, villages and hamlets follow”.
Not only is he the “fire keeper” in the village, Gia Tong Thu is also a Mong Party member who takes the lead in developing household economy, protecting forests, planting forests, preserving native tree species and spreading sustainable production thinking in the great Puxailaileng forest. Quietly but persistently, he convinces people by his actions, leads by his prestige, and lives fully with the ideal of “Party members go first, villages and hamlets follow”.
Khanh Ly - Thanh Phuc• September 28, 2025
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Located halfway up the Puxailaileng mountain range, which is covered in clouds all year round, the 6-hectare farm of Mr. Gia Tong Thu is like a prominent highlight in the middle of the forest. To achieve this result, for decades, this hardworking and simple Mong man has quietly reclaimed and restored the land, both nurturing and preserving native plant varieties and boldly bringing in new plant varieties. Every inch of land here, under his calloused hands, is yielding profit every day...
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Old farmer Gia Tong Thu led us up the mountain to visit the lush ancient Shan Tuyet tea plantation, the 7-leaf, 1-flower ginseng garden stretching out to the sun, the angelica ginseng plantation in harvest season, the peach gardens bearing fruit, and the wild orchid pots of all shapes and colors that captivated people. He confided: “As a party member, I cannot be behind, even in economic development. If I want to mobilize people to plant trees or raise animals, I must first succeed, I must escape poverty, then I will make people believe, obey, and listen.
Only then can propaganda and mobilization work be carried out to encourage people to change their old customs and production practices to get rich on their homeland.
So, when no one had made terraced fields, Gia Tong Thu, who was then the first Party Secretary of Buoc Mu 2 village, made 2 hectares of terraced fields.
His family was also the first household in Buoc Mu 2 village to bring Shan Tuyet tea to plant on 5 hectares of fields. Thanks to the cool climate all year round and proper fertilization techniques, the tea grows well. In addition, Gia Tong Thu's farm also has nearly 3,000 peach trees.
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Under the peach tree canopy, he nurtures more than 500 wild orchid pots, including many precious varieties such as Kim Diep, Phi Diep, Lan Truc... This is a new direction to help increase income and preserve native orchid varieties that are gradually disappearing.
He also quietly and diligently regenerated the samu forest - a rare wood with a distinctive scent, high durability, exposed to rain and sun or buried underground for decades without termites. Up to now, his samu forest has more than 1,000 trees, under the forest canopy he takes advantage of the high humidity, growing precious medicinal herbs such as 7-leaf 1-flower ginseng - a rare herb to grow on an area of hundreds of square meters. In addition, his family is intercropping ginseng, ginseng, angelica, and water spinach... in an organic way, both to preserve the soil and to create a long-term livelihood.
Gia Tong Thu's comprehensive farm brings in an average annual income of 120 million VND. People in the surrounding area respectfully call him a "millionaire" of the Mong village, a "talented person" in Na Ngoi... Many times he was honored by the Veterans Association at all levels to be recognized as an "exemplary veteran, good at doing business", but he just smiled gently and said "what's so good about that? Party members must be pioneers in developing household economy so that people can see it and trust it."
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Born and raised in a border village, understanding the hardships of the people, Gia Tong Thu always struggles to find ways to share and help the Mong people escape poverty.
When he had just returned to the locality after being discharged from the army, and was elected as the Party Secretary of the 2nd village of Buoc Mu (separated from the 2nd village of Buoc Mu), due to the difficult life and limited awareness, many people migrated freely, so that people could settle down and make a living, Gia Tong Thu propagated and mobilized people to "hold their hands and guide them" to reclaim the rice fields. At first, there were only a few households, but after seeing the effectiveness, 22 households were farming. Up to now, the 2nd village of Buoc Mu has the largest rice field area in the commune.
He also set an example and encouraged people to take advantage of local advantages to develop native plants and animals such as growing tea, peaches, raising cattle, raising black chickens, digging ponds to raise fish and medicinal plants. Thanks to his way of doing things, many people in the village have changed their way of thinking and doing things. From being used to burning forests to make fields and cutting trees for wood, they now learn from him to plant trees, protect forests, and develop the economy under the forest canopy. Green has gradually returned to the once barren hillsides and people no longer intend to migrate.
When he was transferred by the Party Committee of Na Ngoi commune to become the Party Secretary of Ka Duoi village, in addition to stabilizing the grassroots political system, Gia Tong Thu also actively mobilized people to change the structure of crops and livestock, and apply science and technology in production.
At the same time, in the Party cell meetings or village meetings, Elder Tong Thu skillfully integrated the implementation of the movements "Village free of drug and prostitution evils", eliminating backward customs and practices into the movements "All people unite to build a cultural life", "Building new countryside" so that cadres and party members can clearly understand and implement, in order to maintain security and order in the village.
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In addition, realizing the poor state of environmental sanitation in the village, Elder Tong Thu and the Ka Duoi village Party Committee issued a Resolution on village sanitation, assigning the Women's Union and the Youth Union to preside over it, and the cadres and people of the whole village to do it together. The Party Committee also asked party members and cadres of mass organizations whose houses are close to the road to take the lead in placing trash cans on both sides of the road. "Now the environmental sanitation movement has become regular. At first, to encourage people to participate, when I finished working, I paid out of my own pocket to treat them to a glass of water, and the people were very excited..." - Elder Tong Thu confided.
He added: Being a cadre, one must know how to care for the people. For the Mong people, the example of "saying and doing" of the leader is very important. If the people do not believe and support, no matter how easy the task is, it will be difficult to carry out. If she still believes and supports the people, no matter how difficult the task is, it can be completed. Therefore, even though she is not a local person, her house is 8 km away, but every time there is any event in Ka Duoi village from funerals to weddings, Party Secretary Gia Tong Thu is present from beginning to end. Whenever there are people who want to learn about the experience of planting forests, growing medicinal herbs, and doing farm economics, he guides and shares enthusiastically.
The secret to becoming a prestigious person of Party member Gia Tong Thu is to set an example and take the people as the root. Therefore, during his 20 years as Deputy Chief of Na Ngoi Commune Police, many terms as Secretary of the Party Cell of Buoc Mu 2, then Secretary of the Party Cell of Ka Duoi village, he has always been trusted by the Party and the people, because he has advised the Party Committee and the government to properly resolve incidents occurring in the area, consolidate the grassroots political system, stabilize political security, order, social safety, bring peace to the people and the border. He also performed well the "core" role of the Party cell in leading and effectively implementing the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, and emulation movements for socio-economic development, helping people settle down and find jobs.
Now that his children have grown up, he himself has also retired from his position as a village cadre, focusing on developing farm economy, afforestation, and medicinal plant cultivation, but Gia Tong Thu said he is still a "Party man" so he always maintains the spirit of setting an example and being a pioneer of a Party member; enthusiastic and responsible for people's and village affairs.
Whenever there are problems in the village or commune due to people not understanding the Party's policies and guidelines, with his prestige and knowledge, Gia Tong Thu always accompanies the Party Committee and the government to persistently propagate and explain to the people so that they can understand and trust the Party's leadership; and be vigilant against the plots of distortion and division of the great national unity bloc by hostile forces.
When seeing us down the mountain, looking up at the dark green samu forests halfway up the Puxailaileng range, the "big tree" of Mong Gia Tong Thu village shared: For generations, the Mong people's trust in the Party's policies and guidelines has been as strong and steadfast as those samu trees. Under the leadership of the Party and the efforts of the entire political system, our Mong people have made many changes, the lives of the Mong people in general and ethnic minorities in particular have undergone strong changes. Many households have boldly invested to switch to new economic models.
This not only demonstrates the change in thinking and action but also shows the will, desire to escape poverty and the spirit of overcoming difficulties of ethnic minorities.
However, Gia Tong Thu also expressed his concern that, compared to the general level, the lives of people in the mountainous areas still have many difficulties. Therefore, we need more innovation, daring to think and act, with cadres and party members in the political system taking the lead, because if the people are rich, the villages and hamlets will be strong; if the villages and hamlets are strong, the communes and provinces will be strong. From there, we will create a combined strength to help the country steadily move into the new era.
From a demobilized border guard returning to his village, to a commune cadre, Party cell secretary, and then a “millionaire” planting forests in the middle of the jungle… Old Tong Thu has gone through many positions, but he has never strayed from the role of an exemplary party member. Without needing loud slogans, he chose to lead by action, spread by prestige and live up to the oath he took when joining the Party.
During his nearly 30-year journey, he not only successfully built a typical comprehensive farm to develop household economy but also built and nurtured the belief in a prosperous life in the border area; not only protected the forest but also kept the Party's pioneering "fire" in the hearts of the people.
