The Malaysian Battalion in Cambodia

MALBATT in UNTAC was the single longest serving contingent, deployed for a total of 16 months on active service in Cambodia without a break. MALBATT carried out all THREE phases of the UNTAC operations, and succeeded in meeting and exceeding all the objectives set. The first phase of the operations that saw MALBATT deployed to almost all corners of the country (including some forays into KR territories, I will tell next) to ensure the safe transportation and resettlement of refugees from all over the world back into Cambodia. This operations involve close cooperation with almost every component of the UN including the UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and supported by numerous NGOs like OXFAM, Medicines Sans Frontiers, blah blah. For the record, MALBATT handled almost all the refugees returning from the border camps along the Thai-Cambo border, coming in through the border town of Poipet into the rest of the country, processed the final destination and resettlement into the interior for refugees returning by flight through Pochetong Airport, Phnom Penh. In total, I believe it could be up to half a million refugees in more than six months, not bad for a contingent consisting of only 850 men. And throughout the operation by MALBATT, everything was planned down to the last details and cooperation from all UN components, local authorities and communities, so throughout the resettlement of the refugees, there was not 1 single civilian casualty! Not that the operations is not without its dangers, most of the areas for resettlement were only recently cleared of land mines. There is also some tensions between the existing communities and the returnees coming into these areas, bringing extra strain into the existing infrastructure. And then there was the final few batched of refugees who were the hard core who did not believe that they could not be resettled into the greener pastures of USA and Canada. These groups were forcible evicted from Thailand by the RTA and excorted to the border. Some were even evicted by the burning of the refugee camps and the destruction of all the infrastructure. So we had a really hard core bunch of disgrunlted people to content with, and were only gaining information of the forced eviction from Thailand via the news, not by the UNHCR. So one group being held at the temporary camp of Toul Makak close to Battambang decided to riot one night before their resettlement into the countryside. A few hundred of them gathered close to the main gates manned by MALBATT and demanded to be paid money (go figure) instead of being resettled. The situation was almost out of control and the guard detachment of an infantry section raised the alarm. Toul Makak is only one of the dozens camps guarded by MALBATT throughout the countryside, in an area the size of the state of Pahang. The responsibility then fell on the Quick Reaction Force based at Battambang to respond. We had a reinforced section on a 3 tonner and a land rover and quickly rushed to the location. The scene confronting us was a huge wave of humans seething in the shadows, our guard section watching the front gates while the UNHCR rep and their interpreter try to reason with the group spokes person. Upon reaching the gates, I saw one refugee being held in the monsoon drain, water up to his chest, to cool him down after he tried to grab a weapon from the sentry (he got clobbered for his effort). But there was also a few instigators (batu api) challenging the guards in defiance. One particular instigator came up shouting abuse and claiming himself to be from the KR, tearing off his shirt to show me his tatoos (tangkal, konon), challenging me to shoot him. I just told him that I will hand over KR criminals and all their families over to the CPAF (their sworn enemy) who were watching from outside the gates. Tangkal ke mana, hero ke mana, he quickly ran away into the crowd. But to control the entire crowd was a different matter altogether. So we issued orders via loud hailers that whoever damages UN property will be immediately shot. This warning was broadcasted three times. Then following that, all the sentries and the QRF was lined up, the front line kneeling and the second line standing and the order to load weapon and to bring the weapon to bear was issued, loud enough for all to hear. The face of the white UNHCR rep became pale at our action. Then the order to disperse is issued and the warning that whomever who disobeyed this order will be shot. For effect, the order is given in Khmer, English, Malay and Tamil. The terrified UNHCR rep then came running up to our firing lines screaming, "no! no! you cannot do that!". The answer, "I don't care, these ppl are breaking our laws (?) and threating UN property, I have the right to shoot!". The UN rep then ran back to the crowd shouting to them, pleading them, "please listen to me, go home, they are crazy! they will shoot you!". The crowd then quickly dispersed back to their buildings and so a very bad incident was adverted, through quick action and strict rulings. Phew... berketak-ketak juga kepala lutut berhadapan dengan beribu-ribu orang tuh! On the way back to Battambang, we stumbled into an night attack being launched on a local political office. The RPG projectile just zipping across the front of the TATA truck in a trail of sparks... we were passing through a village then, so no opening fire unless we could see our target, but nothing showing in the shadows and we could not tell who was shooting at whom. We have pressed our luck too much that night already and so we left that attack behind us but made a report to the Sector HQ for the local cambodian military commander to investigate. Other incidents for phase 1 operations next...

Now, the KR attack on Siem Reap... Sometime during the third month, the airport in Battambang was declared unsafe for the operations of the large C130 operated by TUDM. It was still open to the C160 twin turbo props operated by the French and the smaller russian built twin engined turbo prop operated by Kampuchea Airlines (now defunct). So our monthly resupply flight from Subang was diverted to Siem Reap airport and we were forced to convoy from Battambang to Siem Reap to collect our supplies, mail (emails not popular , maybe unknown then) We were also expecting visitors, reporters as well as high ranking officials coming for a visit. Unknown to us at that time, the KR was planning a massive attack on Siem Reap town, the Angkor structures as well as the airport but when it was known to them that MALBATT was to be in Siem Reap airport for a few days, the attack was delayed. We received the flight as well as entertained our guests and visitors for the day, bringing them into town and also to visit the Angkor complex. The flight departed for Subang AFB late in the evening and so we stayed the night and made the return journey to Battambang the next day. 2 days later, the flash message of an attack on Siem Reap came from the UN Headquarters and we were all put on alert for other attacks and also to respond to any calls for help. The KR attacks drove the CPAF troops from the Angkor complex into town and many parts of the town was lost to them and looted. Simultinously, the attack on the airport took place, with the Kr achieveing complete surprise, driving the government troops away in one fell sweep and exposing the airport to shelling and infantry attacks. The Bangladesh battalion then responsible for the protection of UN facilities at the airport reacted quickly, deserting their posts as fast as their legs can carry them, suffering zero casualties in the lightning operation. The only remaining UN troops at the airport were the australian signals platoon who actually counterattacked and drove the KR away from the airport helter skelter. It was probably the apperance several singlet clad, wholesomely breasted, european featured women soldiers of the australian signals platoon, firing GPMGs from the hip that actually shifted the tide of that battle...

The first phase of UNTAC operation was for the disarmament and the cantonment of all the factions involved in the fighting as well as monitoring the withdrawal of all foreign troops. In order to achieve this, UNTAC identified several camps within Cambodia that are to be the collection centres for the demob process. Being stationed in Battambang province, MALBATT was responsible for the most volatile province in Cambodia including the hot areas of Pailin, Pursat and Siem Reap at that time. We were stretched thin on the ground and every sub unit was operating almost autonomously. The emphasis then was to make the factions responsible for the peace and law and order in their respective areas instead of trying to show off our strength (and all the weaknesses). We worked closely with all the local authorities, the militia leaders, the local military commanders and stressed that it was their responsibility as the UNTAC is only the organization that has been made responsible for the monitoring and facilitation of the peace process, not a 'penjajah'. That fact made a lot of difference to them and we accorded them the necessary clout and responsibility to carry out their jobs properly. Very soon, we could see that even the personnel of the militia started to take pride in their role and were soon imitating us in our revelle (morning parade) and other parades! Previously, they spent most of their time in the hammocks. MALBATT was able to carry out its allocated tasks in all the zones of operations without any mishap or untoward incidents for the first 3 months. Some of the areas were slowly taken over by the contingents from other nations beginning the 4th month with Bulgaria Batt taking over Pursat, Netherlands Batt taking over Sisophorn and Bangladesh Batt taking over Siem Reap. No UNTAC contingent troops were allowed into Pailin throughout the mission although the Military Observers were allowed there in the first few months. It was after the handover of the other areas of responsibilities that reports of incidents started coming in. A Bulgaria Batt base was attacked one night by the local militia due to a dispute concerning some local women, the Netherlands Batt who built fortresses around all their bases, looking something like US designed fire bases from the Vietnam war, were constantly being shot at, the Bangladesh Battalion positions were almost overrun one day when the Khmer Rouge attacked Siem Reap (detailed story on this later). Now, there is much talk of the stubborness and prowress of the Khmer Rogue apart from their known history of atrocities. Well, the Khmer Rogue actually enjoyed a certain level of support from the local population due to the fact that they were fighting the Vietnamese invaders. Even among the other factions fighting the Viets and the CPAF, the KR was quietly acknowleged as the main fighting force (the other two are the Khmer Peoples National Liberation Armed Forces KPNLAF and the Armee Nationali Khmer Independence ANKI (royalists)) However, in order to sustain a gureilla warfare, the most important factor is naturally the support from the masses. And the KR was enjoying this support being part of the Independence movement, however, they realized that without the Vietnamese in the country, then their movement for independence will but fizzle out and gone shall be their power. So the KR decided to discredit UNTAC and try to prolonge the conflict. They started to accuse UNTAC of being a puppet of the Viets and the CPAF, and tried to sow fear and cause panic by launching attacks on people they identified as Vietnamese settlers. However, the one group in UNTAC that the KR actually recognized and respected was MALBATT. This is due to the ground work MALBATT made to reach out to the people on the ground, as well as to work closely with the local authorities to get the message across that the fighting must end and that the peace process must not fail. I made trips to most of the front line poositions throughout our area of responsibility, travelling on our convoys, in our Land Rover Defenders, with the UN Military Observers in their pick ups (4 door pick ups much like those on our roads today), by our dispatch motorbike, 250cc single cylinder 4 stroke Kawazaki scramblers, by Cambodian army 6x6 GaZ trucks, and also on the top of the Cambodian Army 8x8 BTRs. The 6x6 GaZs are incredible trucks, petrol burners, they guzzle a heck of a lot of fuel but are incredable stable and the ruts and potholes on the cambodian countrysides hardly even disturbs the interior. In comparison, the TATA 4x4 that we were equipped with was dropping and tossing over every hump and bump. Just imagine, there is another 2 feet of headroom while seated in the cab of the TATA but the bumps are so bad that we are hurled out of the seat right into the ceiling! Even the doors of the TATA pop open due to the strain. Ok, toilet break, will be back...

MALBATT’s arrival to Kampuchea was immediately followed with the deployment of the infantry elements throughout the countrysides. The deployment coverage was as follows, 1 Company in Siem Reap, 1 Company in Sisophon, 1 Company in Pouthsat minus a platoon in Phum Leach, 1 Company in Phum Treng and 1 Company in Battambang. Within Battambang, the MALBATT HQ was located in the Russian Hospital together with the Rear Communications Unit (Long Range HF radio to Malaysia) and the MALBATT Hospital component, The Sector HQ where the Contingent Commander is located at the airport complex, the logistics and support elements based under tentages nearby the Russian Hospital. The first order of the day was to secure the logistics requirement of the entire contigent and with the public facilities within Battambang town mostly in ruins or disrepair, MALBATT had to improvise from the start. Electricity supply was mainly from our own generator sets that was brought in via Thailand, unfortunately not Kubotas but some unknown Indian made? generators that made lots of noise but provided only a little power. Water was a bigger problem as the only source of water for the entire town was the Sanke River that flows through the town. But try to imagine the river more like a constant mud flow more than a river of water… the water pumps have to work overtime to draw the mud laden water out of the river into our black water bladders installed by the river side for water purification purposes. Upon filling the first bladder, alum is added to separate the sediment from the water, alum makes the sediment settle fast, leaving a layer of clear water on top. For every bladder of raw muddy water we extract from the river, we could only get about half a bladder of clear water for the next process. The next process is the clorination of the water before it is pumped onto a large water bladder mounted on the top of a tower. This back breaking work starts early in the morning before dawn and continues throughout the day until dark as we eventually provided water to ALL the UN components located in Battambang including the Indian Medical Battalion, the Pakistan Logistics Company, the UN civilian component, etc apart from our own units there. The main problem with our water plant location was that it is located about 2 km from our nearest units and the equipment are pretty much left in the open. By the end of the day, most of the assault pioneer platoon manning the water plant are worned out and were almost sleep walking and we were warned that leaving equipment unattended would invite pilfering and theft. So we organized breakfasts, lunches and dinners to be served to the local police personnel who were manning the bridge nearby plus entertainment by way of a television set with the VCR, and soon we were enjoying 24 hour protection from the local police and militia so that our most exposed location actually became the safest and most peaceful one in the end. That settled, the next project undertaken was weapons familiarization for all the troops, ie, to train our troops how to handle the weapons that are being used by the warring factions in Cambodia. Most, if not all our troops have been trained to handle the M16, M40 Grenade Launcher, HK G33, HK 11A1, Experenza 60mm mortar, Commando 60mm mortar and the General Purpose Machine Gun. But most of the weapons used by the factions were Eastern Bloc manufactured or their Chinese/Vietnamese copies. So I called on the local military commander, Battambang province was under the responsibility of the Cambodian People’s Armed Forces (CPAF) 5th Military Region. He was most cooperative and so I collected a full Land Rover load of light infantry weapons from him including the PPSh-41 Sub Machine Gun of WW2 vintage, the Dektarev Light Machine Gun also of WW2 vintage, the SKS Carbines, the AK-47 Assault Rifle or the Type-56 China made copy, the RPD Light Machine Gun, the RPK GPMG, the B-40 Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher and lots more. The DShK Heavy Machine Gun was a little too much to handle so we left that behind. The core group of trainers took about 1 week to familiarize ourselves with these weapons and then began a tour to all the MALBATT component locations throughout the country to conduct training in situ and to meet the troops at all the forward locations. --- to be continued ---

OK, here goes. Most of what I write is based on experience and typed off the cuff. Anyway, also working on the book for public distribution now, and look forward to having it launched soon. I was on the last flight from JB to Battambang. Thats coz I was handling the passenger manifest lists for all the flights outbound from JB, I was also responsible for the last flight. So finally when my turn came, I just had enough time to ride my bike back to the camp before dawn, grab my rucksack and dump it onto the next truck roaring by the barracks. Deployed! The flight was long, monotonous and cramped. Whenever we fly the 'Charlie', we usually stuff in all the luggage before squeezeing in ourselves. So we have luggage above, behind, under and in front of us. It was fasting month too, so no in flight rations... sigh, no sahur, no breakfast, no sleep, nothing. After almost 4 hours, we could see land and our destination. First thing we noticed through the tiny windows were... hmm, anti aircraft guns surrounding the airfield but no one in sight. The charlie overflew the runway once, for the pilot to have a look see before deciding to land. Everything visual and manual and yet another feather in the cap for the Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia. It was a three point landing despite the load on board and a huge crater along the runway. The rear ramp dropped open... and our first impression was the heat wave that swept into the aircraft. Aw shite, they have sent us to Kuwait! (at that time, the Battle of Kuwait just unfolding) A familiar figure strolled up, our Battalion 2IC, lugging a 5 gallon water container. He dropped it at the base of the ramp, gave us all a wink of the eye and hollered, 'Jangan malu-malu.' The container was dry within 5 minutes. So we started unloading and started marching out of the airport towards the MALBATT base camp set up in an abandoned russian hospital building about 5 klicks away. The town was silent, somber but quietly hopeful with our presence. There are sounds of shooting every night and so the streets are empty by five every evening. ... to be continued ...

I was in Cambodia, then known as Kampuchea, for almost 2 years in 1992/1993 with the blue berets. It was really a challenging operations as we were given the instructions to deploy there within 30 days as there was suddenly a breakthrough in the Paris Peace Accords and the UN capitalized on it immediately. Everything had to be brought with us for an extended operations without any external support for the first 60 days of deployment. The force level for the Malaysian Battalion approved by the UN was 850, and the core unit for the operations was the 1st Royal Ranger Battalion based in Johor Bahru, reinforced with a company from the 7th Royal Ranger Battalion. The first flight with the Contigent Commander and the advanced party left from Subang AFB to Battambang using only basic topographical maps but made the flight safely and subsequent flights took off from Senai Airport and completed deployment within a week. Heavy equipment moved by ship from Pasir Gudang to the port of Utapao in Thailand for the overland drive to Aranyaprathet and entered Cambodia through Poipet. Thus, the second phase of the UN sponsored operations was secured by the quick deployment of the armed military component of the UN into Cambodia, thereafter renamed the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) from the earlier United Nations Advanced Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) with MALBATT deployed on the front line provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap, Sisophorn, Pursat, Kamping Poay; covering the entire western hemisphere of the country while the Indonesian Battalion provided security in Phnom Penh. In the meantime, the other battalions gradually deployed from the home countries to bring UNTAC up to strength. There are many memorable incidents throughout the operations and I would not mind relating some of them here if you are interested. Ciao.

Incredible thank you for your very tourisy description of your visit to Cambodia. I remember my visit to Toul Sleng 13 years ago before they cleaned up the place to accomodate the tourists, most of the cell walls were still up, the dried blood, body parts, feces littered the floor. There was even a cell where the blood stains on the floor was said to be fresh every night and looking at the stains in the day seems like it was just spilled...*brrr* Of course, that time, there were armed men prowling the streets, armoured vehicles at every junction, just like those Vietnam war movies. And the nights are usually filled with the sounds of shootings. Out in the country side, the roads were really bad, made worst by the sabotage and occational minings by the many bandits and factions. Apart from the killing fields of Cheong Ek, there are numerous other killing fields spread out all over the provinces and cities. At Battambang, on the way west, there are several lime stone hills and caves where the bodies of the victims have mummified due to the action of the limestone, where else in the world can you find dozens of mummified bodies piled up one upon another? There are also villages that have been entirely wiped out in the fightings, the only thing left are the concrete floors. Guns, grenades, mortar pits, gun positions and ammunition dumps dot the country sides, mines are a perpetual threat as everyone there has them. The number stood at around 13 million mines for a country with a population of only 3 million at that time. A wonder everyone not wiped out. Mine injuries are the worst, you see mine victims in the local hospitals lining up, awaiting their turn for the seorgeon to saw off their shattered limbs, some swollen larger than a football with blood and stuff oozing out. Medicines were scarce in the hospitals, but costly at the marketplaces. The less you have to pay, the more doubtful the quality of the medicines... Today, I really enjoy walking the bustling streets of Phnom Penh and the crowded lanes in Battambang. It is incrediable, the misery and distruction that man can bring upon their own kind. May it never repeat itself again... I am off to Phnom Penh again on the 10th.. ciao!