Thao Ma - Aviation Service

Aviation Service

Thao Ma's original training as an aviator took place under the French. A French military mission began training Lao on 28 January 1955, with the aim of staffing the newly founded Lao Air Force, the Aviation Laotienne. Thao Ma, already trained as a paratrooper, retrained as a transport pilot.

In 1959, Thao Ma rose to command the Aviation Laotienne; the following year, it became the Royal Lao Air Force, with him still in command. Along the way, he mastered flying strike aircraft—first the T-6 Texan, then the North American T-28 Trojan.

In 1964, as the air war in Laos heated up, Thao Ma led the RLAF's T-28s in raids against the Ho Chi Minh Trail and in support of Vang Pao's guerrilla forces in northeast Laos. He also innovated an early version of the AC-47 gunship, by using Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports as weaponry. He improvised removable gun mounts to arm the transports with 50 caliber machine guns. He also had cargo rollers installed leading to the loading door; 250 pound bombs could be thus be rolled out the door while in flight.

Although his personal involvement led to high esprit de corps in the RLAF, Thao Ma came into conflict with other Lao generals, as his whole-hearted commitment of RLAF aircraft to military purposes blocked their plans for opium smuggling. In February 1965, he refused to be bribed by higher-ranking officers, and categorically informed them he would not allow his pilots to be coerced into drug smuggling. The generals' counter was to move the RLAF headquarters to Savannakhet; the T-28 pilots there tended to be Thai rather than Lao. Also in the Summer of 1965, a number of RLAF pilots were bribed to mutiny against their commander. In response, Thao Ma attempted a coup d'état on 4 June 1965. By August 1965, the RLAF had grown to include 27 T-28s, and the aggressive and charismatic Thao Ma had been promoted to brigadier general. Thao Ma had not only greatly increased the T-28s' combat sortie rate, but still personally flew many strike missions.

In the wake of the failed coup, Thao Ma was both pressured to allow drug smuggling in the RLAF C-47s and enticed with bribe offers. He remained intransigent. Finally, in May 1966 the Lao General Staff summoned Thao Ma from RLAF headquarters at Savannakhet to inform him they had split off the transport planes into a separate air command and placed them under Sourith Don Sasorith. Thao Ma was also ordered to move his headquarters to Vientiane, under the General Staff's eye. Instead, he pled for a six month grace period before relocating his headquarters and fled to Luang Prabang. By now, he was fearful of assassination and psychologically deteriorating under stress. As the six month grace period ran, he desperately sought alternatives to the ordered move. He unsuccessfully sought intercession by his King Savang Vatthana, by his American sponsors, and by his friend Kong Le.

On 22 October 2012, Thao Ma attempted a coup via air strike when he led Lao T-28 pilots loyal to him in a sortie directed at Vientiane. An attempt to kill General Kouprasith Abhay with rocket fire aimed at his home failed. Two ammunition dumps at Wattay Airfield outside the city were blown up, and over 30 people on the ground were killed and many more wounded.

The dissident T-28 pilots returned to Savannakhet. Thao Ma was then persuaded by American officials not to fly a followup strike. At 0145 hours 23 October 1966, he and ten pilots loyal to him took off and flew their RLAF T-28s into exile in Thailand. The loss of a third of its T-28 pilots was a serious setback for the RLAF.