Border markers

(Baonghean) - After nearly 6 years of marking the Vietnam - Laos border through Nghe An province, the close, smooth and sincere coordination between the marking teams of the two countries is considered the key to completing the work on schedule, contributing to building the Vietnam - Laos border into a border of peace, friendship, stability and long-term cooperation and development.

Implementing the Government's master plan for increasing the density and upgrading the Vietnam - Laos border marker system, in December 2008, Nghe An province established the No. 1 Border Marker Planting Team led by Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Hong. In October 2010, due to the task of accelerating the progress of marker planting according to the assigned plan, based on the proposal of the Provincial Border Marker Planting Steering Committee, the Vietnam - Laos Border Marker Planting Joint Committee decided to establish the No. 2 Border Marker Planting Team led by Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong. During those 5 years, the 2 border marker planting teams of Nghe An province and the 2 border marker planting teams of Laos have coordinated closely, accurately and smoothly to complete the common task assigned by the 2 Parties and 2 States.



Crossing rivers, streams, and old forests with markers - Photo by Thanh Hong.



The border marker planting teams of Nghe An province and neighboring Lao provinces determined the location of the markers.
Photo by Thanh Hong.

In the midst of the bright sunny days of July, Vietnam and Laos are completing the final stages of organizing the Ceremony to celebrate the completion of the work of increasing and embellishing border markers in the field at Thanh Thuy - Nam On Border Gate. This is an important political event, demonstrating the special solidarity and traditional friendship, cooperation between the two Parties, the two States and the people of Vietnam and Laos in general, as well as the good cooperation in the process of resolving territorial and border issues between the two countries in particular. In that common joy, we met the border marker planting officers and shared their joy after years of hard work and struggle in the field to successfully complete the task. Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Hong - Team Leader of Team 1 shared: "The time I was assigned to plant border markers on the Vietnam - Laos border was an important milestone in my military career. Although we encountered many difficulties in terms of terrain and climate during the mission, my teammates and I overcame them and coordinated effectively with the Lao border marker planting team, completing the planting of 39 markers/41 positions (2 double markers) in the border section that the team was assigned to. Looking back now, we are very happy to have contributed our small part to the work of building and protecting the sovereignty of the territory and national borders."

As for Lieutenant Colonel Phan Thanh Hong - Team Leader of Border Marker Planting Team No. 2, when talking to us, besides the joy of contributing to the homeland, there are unforgettable memories in the journey of planting border markers. Those are the trips through forests, across streams, climbing mountains for a whole week to reach the marker planting point while carrying nearly 30kg on their bodies in the weather conditions of sometimes hot sun, sometimes heavy rain day after day. "When going to the forest for a long time, sometimes the team members also have to go fishing, picking vegetables to improve their meals, because the food they bring is mainly dried food. We also learned how the local people store food along the way, which not only reduces the time going and coming back, but also has food at the points the group decides to stop. The hardships on the way are indescribable" - Lieutenant Colonel Hong shared.

The above stories are just a very modest part of the 5-year journey of planting border markers along the border of the officers in the 2 border marking teams of Nghe An province. We truly share and admire their spirit and will, and appreciate even more that they rarely talk about themselves, about the difficulties, hardships, and shortages... The Vietnam - Laos border, including the section through Nghe An province bordering the 3 provinces of Xieng Khouang, Hua Phan, and Bolikhamxay, is 419.5km long, has 105 locations with 116 border markers and 6 additional marker posts, drawn in the shape of the hands and blocks of ordinary people with hearts that always burn for the Fatherland!

Thanh Duy