Baylor University Institute for Oral History

Paul Thai

Baylor University Institute for Oral History
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00:00:34 - Early life in Cambodia in Phnom Penh

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Subjects: helping out in his family-owned restaurant, soldiers stealing meals from his family's restaurant

Hyperlink: Phnom Penh
00:03:18 - Early experience relating to his later life in public service

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Subjects: treat others the way you want to be treated, desire to never wear a uniform because uniforms in Cambodia represented corrupt authority

00:05:44 - Early memories of school

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Keywords: "Education is the only way to survive."

Subjects: Desire to be a teacher, school outlawed under Communist Regime, Angkar, strict discipline, uniforms, learning French, passion for language, math and reading

Hyperlink: Angkar
00:08:49 - Family moving to Kirirom

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Subjects: parents opening another restaurant, fighting between Khmer Rouge and Cambodian Freedom Fighters

Hyperlink: Khmer Rouge
00:11:23 - Family life as fighting rises

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Subjects: Older brothers being recruited by the Khmer Rouge, corruption in the government, Lon Nol government, secret support for the Khmer Rouge

00:16:37 - Leaving Kirirom

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Subjects: Kirirom, hearing gunshots during class, dismissing school because of fighting

00:17:57 - Activities to engage in during the fighting

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Segment Synopsis: indoor activities, hide and seek, not being allowed to go outside or play sports because it was dangerous

00:19:43 - Move to Poipet

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Subjects: bomb shelters, bombings, father's illness, family in Poipet that owns a restaurant

Hyperlink: Poipet
00:22:14 - Life in Poipet

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Subjects: Poipet located along the border of Cambodia and Thailand, large Chinese ethnic population, less fighting by the Khmer Rouge, going to school with siblings, travelling to Thailand with mother for her business

00:24:32 - Studying at a Buddhist temple

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Subjects: illness, meditation, studying, living with Buddhist monks

00:27:24 - Dream about lottery numbers

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Subjects: Mango trees, traditional dancers, citizens consulting monks for lottery numbers, winning the lottery

00:33:00 - Training to be a Buddhist elder

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Subjects: illness of his sister, making money during training, Buddhist chanting, giving money to parents who were struggling financially

00:38:03 - Rising presence of the Khmer Rouge

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Subjects: Desire to be a monk, teaching young monks Sanskrit, Khmer Rouge overtaking Phnom Penh, head monk leaving to find his family, Khmer Rouge attacking monks and taking money, leaving to join his family, first encounter with the Khmer Rouge, parade of the Khmer Rouge with weapons, competition with the Thai army

00:43:05 - Khmer Rouge causes evacuation of Poipet

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Subjects: Khmer Rouge states that Americans are going to bomb Poipet, evacuation of Poipet

00:46:08 - Terror of the Khmer Rouge

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Subjects: rising fear of the Khmer Rouge, walking for over a week during the evacuation, carrying his father during his illness, Khmer Rouge killing people publicly to terrorize

00:51:24 - Targets of the Khmer Rouge

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Keywords: "Only the government is supposed to own stuff and you belong to the government."

Subjects: not allowed to have any property or money

00:54:24 - Transfer to a labor camp

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Subjects: breakup of the family by Khmer Rouge official, working in the labor camp supporting a rice plantation, new rice farming techniques, building dams, meetings in the evenings, people with an association with the former government were taken immediately to the killing fields, notion of year zero, teaching the village to read and write for only a few months, inability to trust anyone, suffering from migraines while laboring, beatings

01:01:43 - Living situation in the labor camp

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Subjects: Living with other prisoners, bowls of watery rice for meals, angkar, uncle speaking out and his child is immediately taken away, working seven days a week 12-14 hours, attending "reeducation" meetings, angkar, rebuilding the country

01:04:23 - Khmer Rouge killing targets and escapees

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Keywords: "What is the meaning of life and I was thinking where is God? Why are we being treated this way I just never could understand it."

Subjects: police, soldiers, and government officials were the first to be eliminated, Thai's family was next on the list to be killed, Vietnamese invasion in 1979, public hangings at the labor camp

01:06:58 - Surviving in the labor camp

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Subjects: Angkar, killing for stealing, exporting rice to China, foraging for food in the forest, lack of proper medical care

01:11:36 - Conditions in the labor camp worsen

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Keywords: "Why were we born, what's the meaning of life?"

Subjects: lack of medical treatment, stealing food before the New year's celebration, growing up in the labor camp, starvation, no contact with the outside world, people dying in their sleep from starvation and illness

01:17:46 - Worst memories in the labor camp

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Subjects: uncle being tortured in a concentration camp, waking up to find his friend beside him is dead, learning about death

01:20:14 - Vietnamese invade Cambodia

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Subjects: weakening of the Khmer Rouge power, Cambodian Freedom Fighters, confusion when the Khmer Rouge leaves

01:23:48 - Escaping from the labor camp

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Subjects: seeing dead bodies (both farmers, Vietnamese, and Khmer Rouge) on journey back to the village

01:25:20 - Returning to his family

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Subjects: Seeing his mother, sister, and brother for the first time, rescuing father from inside a concentration camp, fighting between the Vietnamese Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian Freedom Fighters

01:32:56 - Leaving the village

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Subjects: Encountering Vietnamese soldiers, learning about the mass graves in the country, eating a complete meal for the first time, watching people die when eating food for the first time, trying to get food and being shot at by the Khmer Rouge

01:37:35 - On the move

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Subjects: trading for food, crossing into Thailand

01:41:01 - Smuggling across the border of Thailand

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Subjects: Booby traps, landmines, Cambodian Freedom Fighters, Khmer Rouge, Thai army, Thai robbers, crossing the border in Thailand, smuggling sugar and cigarettes, story of a Cambodian smuggling a diamond across the Thai border

01:50:00 - Nightmares

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Keywords: "I felt good when she said you are in America"

01:52:41 - Leaving Cambodia

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Subjects: 1979, limited food sources, trips to Thailand increasing in danger, father decides for the family to go to Thailand and then to America, first time he realizes America is taking refugees

02:00:17 - Being attacked by the Thai robbers

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Subjects: stealing, beating, rape

02:02:23 - First experience with the Red Cross

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Subjects: Red Cross, Nong Chan

Hyperlink: Nong Chan
02:05:25 - Going to Dângrêk Mountain

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Subjects: loading onto buses for the journey, Thai people supplying them with food, Thai soldiers, Dângrêk Mountain

02:09:40 - Escape from Dângrêk Mountain

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Subjects: families being separated, terror, landmines exploding, soldiers attacking all refugees, brother being injured, leaving family members on top of the mountain

02:13:10 - Leaving Dângrêk Mountain

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Subjects: Traveling in the jungle for thirty days, foraging, rescue by Vietnamese soldiers

02:18:24 - Returning to Cambodia

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Subjects: experiences that cause nightmares, father's sickness, interactions with Vietnamese soldiers

02:25:27 - Attempting to come to America again

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Keywords: "She said I'm going to go die with y'all"

Subjects: Father's desire to come to America against the reluctance of the rest of the family, Khmer Rouge, Cambodian Freedom Fighters, and Thai army in combat, bombings of the camps, rape of the wife of a Cambodian Freedom Fighter by Thai official, Western reporters taking photos

02:31:34 - Further smuggling in Thailand

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Subjects: smuggling across the Thai border with his brothers, being caught by Thai soldiers, Red Cross, escaping from the truck

02:35:48 - Khao-I-Dang refugee camp

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Subjects: First time seeing Westerners, returning to his family, Khmer Rouge attacks, Thai soldiers beating people, Red Cross relief workers, watching a Chinese movie once a week, learning English

02:44:11 - Relocating to America

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Subjects: Writing letters to countries asking for sponsorship, France, Australia, mistreatment from the Thai soldiers, Clint Eastwood movies, California, New York

02:47:52 - Finding out his family can come to America

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Subjects: rejoicing with his brother, telling his family the news that they can come to America, testing and interviews for entrance

02:50:03 - Coming to the United States

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Subjects: Dallas Texas, first time flying on an airplane, getting sick, confusion over the time difference

02:51:24 - First Impressions of America

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Subjects: Arriving in Dallas, looking for Texas cowboys, learning about escalators and elevators, fascination with modern appliances

02:54:15 - Difficulties in America

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Subjects: experiencing crime for the first time, lack of air conditioning, older brother coming to the U.S. before the rest of the family and worked to buy the family a television, watching I Dream of Genie and Bewitched, having their television stolen, disbelief about crime in America, fear confronting the police in America

03:01:23 - Getting into law enforcement

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Subjects: working at Richardson High School as a janitor, working with a church printing shop, volunteering with All Saints Episcopal church, being hired as a translator for Dallas Baptist, sexual assault, language barrier, title as a public service officer, translating

03:07:35 - Service as a police officer

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Subjects: Representing the Asian community, ensuring safety in East Dallas area

03:11:24 - What family means

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Keywords: "Family means the whole world to me."

Subjects: separation from family creating more memory, loving and appreciating his family more after watching others lose their loved ones to violence

03:14:08 - Education

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Subjects: taking advantage of education in the U.S.

03:17:28 - Qualities that provide strength

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Subjects: family, American people, work in refugee camps

03:19:42 - Allowing genocide to happen

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Subjects: The Killing Fields movie, nightmares, telling his story for others