Thai politician from the northeast and of ethnic Lao origin. After completing his studies in Bangkok, he returned to the northeast and was elected deputy for his home province of Sakhon Nakhon between 1938 and 1952. During World War II, he worked closely with Pridi Banomyong in the Free Thai movement. He was a strong supporter of greater autonomy for the Lao located in much of northeastern Thailand (Isaan). He also supported the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, providing shelter to Vietnamese fleeing the violent French re-occupation of Laos in mid-1946 and furnishing arms to Vietnamese soldiers fighting the French in Indochina. He was general secretary of the Thai-Vietnamese-conceived Southeast Asia League in 1947. He disappeared in mysterious circumstances. See also THAKHEK, BATTLE OF.