Royal Lao Police


The Royal Lao Police, was the official national police force of the Kingdom of Laos from 1950 to 1975, operating closely with the Lao Armed Forces">Lao language">Lao Armed Forces during the Laotian Civil War between 1960 and 1975.

History

The PRL traced back its origins to the immediate aftermath of World War II, when the Laotian Gendarmerie was established by the French Union authorities in May 1946 under the designation Lao National Guard, to replace the local sections of the mainly Vietnamese Indochinese Guard, first established in 1895 as the 'Indigenous Guard'. Although the new GNL was to be exclusively composed by Laotian nationals, it was kept under the close supervision of French gendarmes seconded from the Republican Guard units stationed in Indochina. In 1947, with a strength of 1,000 men, the GNL changed its designation to Laotian Gendarmerie, and despite being officially subordinated to the Laotian Ministry of the Interior and placed that same year under the nominal command of King Sisavang Vong, the gendarmerie remained in fact under French control. Disbanded on March 1950 upon the formation of the Laotian National Army, it was re-established by official decree on February 13, 1951, as the Royal Lao Gendarmerie or Royal Gendarmerie for short. The new Lao Gendarmerie was charged with safeguarding internal security and public order, with a planned strength of 1,250 officers and enlisted men, though the actual number was lower. By the end of 1955 it had only 540 men, organized into three companies based in Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Paksé, respectively.

Formation of the Laotian National Police 1955–1960

In September 1955, an American aid package, titled the Public Safety Program, provided for the merger of all the Laotian security forces into the Laotian National Police. Ordered by King Sisavang Vong on November 1955, the merger did not became effective until several months later when two royal ordinances dated January 17, 1957, retrospectively, declared that the process to have taken place earlier on January 1, 1956.

The PNL and the Laotian coups 1960–1965

In either late 1958 or early 1959, Major general Phoumi Nosavan, the defense minister and strongman of the Kingdom of Laos at the time, appointed his aide de camp Lieutenant colonel Siho Lamphouthacoul as Director General of the Department of National Coordination. When Maj. Gen. Phoumi was deposed by Captain Kong Le's coup in August 1960, it seems not to have curtailed Lt. Col. Siho's power nor the growth of his Directorate of National Coordination. In September of that year, he raised and trained to paramilitary standards two special counter-insurgency battalions within the PNL, designated 11th and 33rd BS respectively, which were gathered into an incomplete regiment designated 1st Special Mobile Group. The new PNL counter-insurgency unit was closely modelled after the Royal Thai Police Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit 'Commandos' and was similar in function to the later Republic of Vietnam National Police Field Force.
The GMS 1 soon became involved in Laos' domestic politics during the turbulent period of the early 1960s, with its commander Lt. Col. Siho actively conspiring in Maj. Gen. Phoumi's return to power. Between mid-November and late December 1960, GMS 1 paramilitary battalions participated in the retaking of Vientiane from Captain Kong Le's rebel Neutralist airborne units, including the successful capture of the Laotian Aviation military runway at Wattay Airfield.
When Kong Le and his rebel paratroopers withdrew from Vientiane after Phoumi's coup succeeded, one of the prisoners they took with them was the head of the National Police. For his actions in support of his patron Maj. Gen. Phoumi's December 1960 countercoup, Lt. Col. Siho was rewarded with a promotion to Brigadier general and given command of a new paramilitary security organization comprising the police forces of Laos, civil and military, together with the security and information services responsible for propaganda and political action. In March 1961 Siho combined his GMS 1 with Laotian National Army or ANL and PNL units to form the Directorate of National Coordination or DNC paramilitary Security Agency, which was quickly assigned to the Ministry of Defense. Answering only to Maj. Gen. Phoumi, Brig. Gen. Siho and its new security agency quickly took over police duties in Vientiane, exercising near absolute authority in the capital city and began screening the civilian population for Pathet Lao elements and stragglers, which often led to abuses. Brig. Gen. Siho's actions cost funding from the U.S. for police training; however, his GMS 1 was considered the most effective paramilitary unit in the Royal Lao Armed Forces.
Although originally intended to be used in intelligence-gathering and Commando operations, the GMS was primarily kept in Vientiane to support Siho's illicit activities. In reality, the GMS served principally as Siho's private army, gaining a reputation among the civilian populace for both corruption in police duties and military ability as para-commandos. One source refers to them as "gangsters" involved in prostitution, gambling, extortion, sabotage, kidnapping, torture, assassination and political repression. Siho staffed the DNC with his own non-professional personnel, transferred from the Laotian Army. Many of the senior professional Police officials were transferred or found places in the Army and other government slots. A number of illiterate and otherwise unqualified personnel were allowed to join the PNL over the next four years operation under the DNC; these included 600 supporters of Maj. Gen. Phoumi that were added to the force in Savannakhet.
In 1962 a 30-man contingent was sent to Thailand to attend Airborne and Commando courses manned by Royal Thai Police instructors from the Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit at their Camp Narusuan training facilities located near Hua Hin in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. Upon their return to Laos, they formed the cadre of a new special battalion, 99 BS, which enabled GMS 1 to attain full regimental strength. A DNC training depot and an airborne course were established at Phone Kheng in Vientiane, where 11, 33, and 99 BS were all given parachute training. In 1963 Brig. Gen. Siho appointed Lieutenant colonel Thao Ty as his replacement at the head of the GMS 1 para-commando regiment, while retaining the command of the DNC.
On 18 April 1964, Brig. Gen. Siho staged a coup d'état, during which his DNC police units seized the capital's public infrastructure and took control of the country. However, the coup was short-lived, as Brig. Gen. Siho received international criticism and was quickly outranked by Major general Kouprasith Abhay, who succeeded in being nominated Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Lao Army, whilst his ally Major general Ouane Rattikone became the RLA Commander-in-Chief. In response, Siho changed the GMS 1 designation to 'Border Police' or 'Frontier Police', and kept a low profile.
On 1–3 February 1965, the DNC which had held de facto control over Vientiane during the previous year, was defeated and disbanded by the RLA in the wake of another coup d'état led by Maj. Gen. Kouprasith Abhay held that same month. Brig. Gen. Siho was forced to exile in Thailand and his DNC 'empire' was quickly divided, with its units being disbanded: the military intelligence, psychological warfare, and military police personnel were returned to the RLA structure whilst some of the policemen were kept in service and renamed the National Police Corps, which was re-assigned to the Ministry of the Interior of the Royal Lao Government. After two days of negotiations, the DNC's three airborne-qualified Border Police Special Battalions – BS 33, BS 11, and BS 99 – and their commander, Lieutenant colonel Thao Ty agreed to lay down their arms with the option of transferring to the RLA's airborne forces command. By mid-year they had been moved to Seno, near Savannakhet and consolidated into a new parachute regiment, Airborne Mobile Group 21 under Thao Ty's command.

Structure

The Laotian security forces were divided into several 'branches of service' or departments, which comprised a plainclothes criminal investigation department, an immigration service, an customs service, an urban constabulary, a regional gendarmerie and a counter-insurgency armed support unit. All these formations were subordinated to the Laotian Ministry of the Interior of the Royal Lao Government in Vientiane.

Metropolitan Police and Patrol Service

The regular Laotian Police branch, this was the uniformed urban constabulary – also designated variously as Urban Police, Municipal Police, Civil Police, Civil Police Force or National Police Corps – charged of providing security and maintaining law and order in the main population centers, including the nation's capital city and the provincial capitals.

Gendarmerie and Territorial Police

The Royal Lao Gendarmerie, was the regional gendarmerie of Laos, charged with patrolling the countryside; it was organized into sixty-two companies, with one being allocated to each province.

Judicial Police

The Judicial Police or Judiciary Police was the plainclothes criminal investigation department or Detective branch of the PRL, being responsible for the investigation of criminal offenses and identification of perpetrators.

Special Police

The Special Police, was the Special Branch of the PRL and the successor of the Laotian section of the indochinese Sûreté Générale secret police established earlier during the French protectorate of Laos. It served as an intelligence agency tasked with national security by acquiring and developing intelligence on internal and external threats to the Kingdom of Laos, subversive activities, and prevent acts of sabotage and espionnage.

Security Police

The Security Police was the close protection unit of the PRL, encharged of protecting VIPs and key premises.

Traffic Police

The Traffic Police was the traffic regulation branch of the PRL, which operated closely with the Royal Lao Army's Military Police from 1959 to 1975.

Marine Police

The Marine Police was the "naval" branch of the PRL, encharged of provinding a waterborne law-enforcement capability to assist the PRL in countering Pathet Lao activity on the Mekong river, the main navigable inland waterway that extended through Laos. Operating a squadron of six Cabin-type patrol boats and two Chris-Craft patrol boats, the Marine Police had responsibility for control and maintenance of security on the Mekong and its river ports in the Kingdom of Laos, the support of resources control, the enforcement of civil and fluvial law, and assistance in other police activities.

Airport Security Police

The Airport Security Police was encharged of providing general security and aviation security duties at the Wattay International Airport near Vientiane.

Immigration Service

The Immigration Police Service was responsible for enforcement of the Laotian Immigration Law, for processing all entries and exits, investigation of all violations of immigration laws and regulations, investigation of applicants for visas, stay permits and passports, and the issuance of travel documents and visas.

Customs Service

The Customs Service was set up in the mid-1950s to enforce border control and supervise the flux of personnel and goods on the nation's main riverine ports, airports, and at the border crossings with neighboring Thailand, Burma, China, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Crime Suppression Division

The Crime Suppression Division was a specialized unit of the PRL, responsible for conducting most of the technical investigations of criminal offenses throughout Laos; these included public disorders, sabotage, counterfeiting, fraud, illegal gambling operations, and narcotics trafficking.

Fire Division

The Fire Division was encharged of monotoring and coordinating all the Firefighting services in Vientiane and the provincial capitals.

Administration Service

The Administration Service was the bureaucratic and administrative department of the PRL.

Police Medical Service

The Police Medical Service was the medical support department of the PRL, which provided medical services to all Police personnel and their families.

Intendance Service

The Intendance Service was the Quartermaster department of the PRL, charged of providing logistical support to Police units. Its functions included general supply, subsistence, fuel and water, textile repair, plus material and distribution management.

Communications Service

The Communications Service was the signals department of the PRL, charged of operating the Police National telecommunications network.

Matériel Service

The Matériel Service was the logistics department of the PRL, specialised in the maintenance and repair of equipment or hardware.

Instruction Service

The Instruction Service was the training department of the PRL.

Training institutions

Police training was initially the responsibility of the Police College at Done Tieuo in Vientiane, established in 1950 by the French, where Lao recruits underwent military-style training programs that included physical education, self-defense, close combat, and shooting. A separate Police Training Academy, the PRL Police School was built by the United States Programs Evaluation Office in the late 1950s at Ban Donnoun, located 10 kilometers east of Vientiane, where U.S. instructors taught Laotian cadres basic police procedures. In addition, selected PRL personnel were also sent to the United States, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia to attend specialized courses.

List of Director Generals of Police

Police junior commanders

Weapons and equipment

The PRL was lightly armed by military standards, but heavily equipped by conventional police standards, being well-provided with U.S. small-arms. Its weaponry was surplus World War II/Korean War-vintage – the standard issue weapon was the M1/M2 carbine, complemented by semi-automatic rifles, submachine guns, and light and medium machine guns. Police units had no crew-served weapons such as mortars or any other indirect fire weapons systems.

Vehicles

Watercraft

Uniforms and insignia

Some PRL senior officers also wore as service dress a light Khaki British-style, open-collar, short-sleeved KD bush jacket which had two pleated breast pockets and two pleated side pockets closed by pointed flaps, a four-button front fly, shoulder straps, and an integral cloth belt.
Initially, GMS paratroopers of the DNC wore dark blue fatigues, whose cut followed closely that of the U.S. Army OG-107 jungle utilities, to distinguish them from the rest of the Royal Lao Armed Forces.

Headgear

Royal Lao Police peaked caps were worn with the standard metal PRL cap device, a silver bow and arrow per pale charged with the Airavata crest bearing the Laotian Royal Arms – a three-headed white elephant standing on a pedestal and surmounted by a pointed parasol – inserted on a gilt wreath representing flames emerging from a Lotus leaf rosette below. It was issued in three versions according to rank: large flames for Officers, smaller ones for NCO's and none for enlisted ranks.
Early DNC and GMS service headgear consisted on a badgeless black beret worn American-style, pulled to the right – in contrast to the FAR, where berets were still being worn pulled to the left in typical French fashion – reflecting the influence of the training cadres received from the Thai PARU in 1962. In the field, the beret was often replaced by a U.S. M-1C jump helmet.

Footwear

Black leather low laced shoes were perscribed to wear by uniformed police agents and Gendarmerie personnel assigned patrol duties on urban areas. Regulation footwear in the DNC and GMS were the calf-length French M1950 or M1950/53 TAP black leather jump-boot models and the U.S. Army M-1962 "McNamara" black leather combat boots.

Accoutrements

GMS web gear In the field was a mix of U.S. M-1945 and M-1956 load-carrying equipments, respectively in khaki and olive green cotton canvas and standard issue in the FAR.

Royal Lao Police and Gendarmerie ranks

Insignia

Unlike the FAR, the GMS and DNC never developed a distinctive unit insignia nor a beret badge, and even rank insignia was seldom seen on uniforms; a commemorative embroidered red round patch edged black bearing a snarling tiger's head surmounted by the Laotian inscription "Revolutionary Forces", which celebrated Siho's recapture of Vientiane in 1960, was worn on the left shoulder. In 1962 the DNC adopted a distinctive set of gold parachute wings in three classes modelled after the PARU airborne qualification badge, which were worn above the right pocket of the fatigue shirt.