In The maquis
Son Sen's political views, which opposed the ruling Sangkum regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, were soon to have an impact on his career. In 1962 he was removed from his post at the Institute after being accused of spreading anti-Sangkum ideas amongst the students, though he was permitted to continue teaching and was appointed principal of a high school in Takeo. By 1963, when Saloth Sar took over the Communist Party leadership, a number of leftists were beginning to escape Phnom Penh for the countryside; Sen went underground and was to follow them in 1964, hidden in the car boot of a Chinese diplomatic vehicle.
Sen was initially to join Saloth Sar and other former colleagues at a Vietnamese Communist military base called Office 100, located in the border areas of Cambodia. There are indications that he was soon sent to the remote, malarial Ratanakiri Province, in the far north-east of the country, in order to build up anti-government activity amongst the Khmer Loeu tribesmen. By the later 1960s, Sen - with increasing experience of guerrilla warfare - had built up a reputation as a talented field commander, and had risen to a senior rank within the Party. In 1968, he was responsible for several successful uprisings in the south-west of the country, and was reported to be the chief of the political committee for Kampot, Takeo, and Kampong Speu.
Read more about this topic: Son Sen