The Demon Beneath the Pagoda

Laotians rarely worry, but they are always concerned with the state of Vientiane's Thai Dam pagoda. They believe that the black Buddhist shrine is in reality a cork that holds back an evil demon. Last week, when flares arched over the Thai Dam and the rattle of rifle fire broke Vientiane's predawn quiet, many Laotians feared that the cork had come unstuck.

Strange Birds. The flares and gunfire were the work of two right-wing Laotian generals whose aim was the overthrow of the ramshackle coalition government headed by Neutralist Prince Souvanna Phouma. Jeep loads of paratroopers under the command of General Siho Lamphouthacoul, 28, chief of the military security police, set up roadblocks all over the capital and arrested every neutralist in sight--including Premier Souvanna.

Leader of the Revolutionary Committee was Rightist General Kouprasith Abhay, 38, a fervent anti-Communist and pillar of the local Rotary Club who won 1960's Battle of Vientiane; he thus blocked the neutralists and pro-Communist Pathet Lao, only to have his victory stalemated by the 1962 Geneva agreement that established Laos's neutralist regime. The coup leaders were a pair of strange birds, even for the wild aviary of Southeast Asia: Kouprasith is a nervous strongman with a pet baby elephant, an incipient ulcer and a reliance on sedatives; Siho plays the dandy, wears three gold rings and affects an ivory-handled pistol to go with his favorite blue dress uniform. Although Siho is generally regarded as a henchman of rightist, anti-Communist boss, General Phoumi Nosavan, both coup leaders claimed to have acted without involving Phoumi, who, as Deputy Premier and Defense Minister in Prince Souvanna's government, could not very well be leading a coup d'etat. Said Phoumi after the coup: "I am in rather large difficulties." So was everybody else.

Red Refusal. With Vientiane secured, the coup leaders confronted irate foreign diplomats, all of whom wanted nothing more than a return to the neutralist status quo, no matter how shaky. In from Saigon jetted William Bundy, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, to join Ambassador Leonard Unger in protesting against the coup. Some people, notably neighboring Thailand's strongly anti-Communist government, were delighted by the prospect of a right-wing regime in Laos; but the U.S. argues that such a government simply could not maintain itself in power. The Reds, who were at least theoretically members of Souvanna's coalition, would go back on the warpath. And since the Pathet Lao already control nearly two-thirds of the country, further fighting might only lead to total Communist control.

Western and Russian envoys in odd alliance bullied and cajoled, but the coup leaders insisted on a new government more to their liking. Finally, the combined persuasion of the U.S., Russia, Great Britain, Canada, France, India and Australia paid off. Kouprasith announced that the junta would permit Souvanna to remain in office and that the coalition government would continue--though slightly enlarged and altered to meet the rightist demands for "greater stability." He did not explain just what alterations he had in mind. That decision having been reached, Kouprasith gulped a sleeping pill, and Siho went off to the Green Latrine nightclub to relax with a pair of lissome chippies.

Souvanna was persuaded to accept the terms. Still to be heard from, however, was Souvanna's halfbrother, Prince Souphanouvong, leader of the Pathet Lao. One of his spokesmen accused the junta of "sabotage" and indicated that the Pathet Lao was ready to make plenty of trouble. Souphanouvong could still refuse to stay in the modified government. If so, the demon under the Thai Dam temple may yet come forth.

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