Operation Phalat | |||||||||
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Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Thailand Laos |
Pathet Lao Communist Party of Thailand |
Operation Phalat (2 April–20 August 1971) was a military offensive of the Laotian Civil War aimed at an active defense of the Kingdom of Thailand's northern border with the Kingdom of Laos. Evoked by the approach of The Chinese Road, and despite feeble cooperation from the Royal Lao Government, the Thai military established a three-battalion presence on Lao territory south of the Mekong River as a defense against potential invasion by the People's Republic of China.