Uncle Ho Memorial House in Na Chooc village - Thailand

(Baonghean) -On this side of the Mekong River is Tha Khet town in Laos, on the other side is Na Chooc village in Thailand. Na Chooc village has 130 Thai households of Vietnamese origin, mainly from the Vo family in Hung Nguyen - Nghe An, in addition to a few dozen Thai households of Thai origin.

The President Ho Chi Minh Memorial House is located in this village, in an area of ​​about 1,500 square meters, which used to be the garden and house of Mr. Vo Tong Dai, a native of Hung Nguyen. Currently, Mr. Vo Tong Tieu, 87 years old (Mr. Dai's son) and his siblings Vo Tong Minh and Vo Thi Hoan (Mr. Tieu's daughters) look after and preserve the Memorial House of Uncle Ho. Before that, Mr. Dai's father was a member of Phan Dinh Phung's militia, hunted down, arrested and executed by the French. After that, Mr. Dai worked under the direction of Phan Boi Chau and Dang Thuc Hua. Mr. Dai followed Dang Thuc Hua to establish a revolutionary base in Thailand called "Trai Cay" in the form of a group operating in economic activities and agricultural production. This land was formerly a swampy area, sparsely populated, with very few overseas Vietnamese and Thai families residing there. In 1928, Nguyen Ai Quoc returned from Europe to Thailand to work under the name Thau Chin. People in U don, Fichit, Xacon, Nakhon Fanom... and mobilized people to reclaim land, expand villages, and not live in crowded and unsanitary conditions. A part of the population separated to reclaim land, creating Choóc village, later also known as May village (Thai for New Village).

The small, simple house where Uncle Ho lived in Na Chooc village - Thailand. Photo archive

When arriving in Thailand, Nguyen Ai Quoc reported to the Communist International, his handwriting in English is still preserved. "Leaving Germany in June, arriving in Siam in July 1982. I worked with a number of Annamese immigrants here." In November 1929, Uncle Ho founded a newspaper called Than Ai, whose number 4 is still preserved in Thailand. In the right corner of the newspaper is a line written by Uncle Ho as a guiding motto for the newspaper as well as the way Vietnamese people here live and treat each other: "Many silk covers the mirror - People in the same country must love each other." The article on page 1 of this issue is titled: "The French colonialists' tricks to divide the Annamese race."

Uncle Ho stayed in Mr. Dai's house in Thailand. According to Mr. Tieu, Mr. Dai and Thau Chin "worked in the garden during the day and went fishing at night". "The two coconut trees in front of the gate and the star fruit tree behind the house were planted by Thau Chin". This house has wooden walls, wooden doors, three rooms, almost square, roofed with yin and yang tiles. The two side rooms have wooden partitions inside. The back door also opens in the middle, leading to the kitchen. Currently, the house has been renovated to be more spacious but still retains the same living area and architecture as when Uncle Ho lived there. The two coconut trees and star fruit tree are green, the garden is planted, vegetables and flowers are taken care of, the atmosphere is solemn, quiet and peaceful. Overseas Vietnamese here have returned to the country many times, even Ms. Hoan went to Dong Xuan market in Hanoi to buy souvenirs to sell here. Mr. Vo Tong Minh went to Hung Nguyen to visit his father's homeland and burned incense at the Vo family temple. It should also be added that in 1961, when Mr. Dai returned to Vietnam, Uncle Ho came to Hai Phong to welcome him and invited him to stay in Hanoi to work, but he asked Uncle Ho to let him return to Hung Nguyen to retire and he died there...

Thus, the Uncle Ho Memorial House in Na Chooc - Thailand is currently being looked after and preserved by the descendants of the Vo family in Hung Nguyen, a family with a long-standing revolutionary tradition.

Litsea