Um Savuth
Um Savuth (? – 1972) was a Cambodian army officer who came to his greatest prominence during the Cambodian Civil War, where he was responsible for commanding the Khmer National Armed Forces during their disastrous 1971 offensive, Operation Chenla I. The son of a government chauffeur, and the younger brother of politician Um Samuth, Savuth began his career in the Royal Cambodian Army under the regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, and became a supporter of General Lon Nol after the latter's 1970 coup against Sihanouk.

Savuth was largely paralyzed down one side of his body, walked with the aid of a cane, and was, reputedly, continually drunk to numb the pain of his condition. This had come about due to an incident earlier in his career in which he had drunkenly insisted that a subordinate shoot a live cat off his head, stating that it was a direct order when the soldier resisted. The shot missed, and part of Savuth's head was blown away: nevertheless, he continued his military career.

Under Sihanouk's regime, Savuth (along with a fellow officer, Les Kosem) was closely involved in the formation of FULRO, a guerrilla resistance movement seeking autonomy for the Degar tribes of Vietnam. When Kosem disagreed with the direction being taken by FULRO's leader, Y-Bham Enuol, he forcibly detained him and placed him under house arrest at Savuth's residence in Phnom Penh. Like Kosem, Savuth was also known to be deeply implicated in Sihanouk's secret arrangement with North Vietnam by which weapons were smuggled through Cambodia (along the "Sihanouk Trail") to the Viet Cong.

Subsequent to the Khmer Republic's declaration, Savuth rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. Despite assurances, from the Republic's US backers, that Savuth was "better drunk than most Cambodian officers sober", his most prominent campaign (Operation Chenla I) was a military disaster.

In 1971, Savuth wrote to US President Richard Nixon, offering him his pet elephant "Khaat" ("Little Frog") as a gift. Nixon did not respond to the offer, though Savuth's wife told Peter R. Kann of the Wall Street Journal that she was rather pleased with this as "giving away an elephant is bad luck".

Savuth was killed in a car accident in November 1972, though Khmer Rouge radio claimed that he had died during an attack by CPNLAF troops along National Route 5. A newsreel of his subsequent cremation (in accordance with traditional Buddhist practices) is still held by the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Q424
Cambodia
LOC
Q817206
Cambodian Civil War
EVE
Q6401875
Khmer National Armed Forces
ORG
Q7096890
Operation Chenla I
EVE
Q216541
chauffeur
Concept
Q160318
Norodom Sihanouk
PER
Q313400
Lon Nol
PER
Q4919446
1970 coup against Sihanouk
Concept
Q146
cat
Concept
Q6529657
Les Kosem
PER
Q1389839
FULRO
ORG
Q2261258
Degar
PER
Q881
Vietnam
LOC
Q1850
Phnom Penh
LOC
Q172640
North Vietnam
LOC
Q7513404
Sihanouk Trail
LOC
Q174423
Viet Cong
ORG
Q1054184
Khmer Republic
LOC
Q9588
Richard Nixon
PER
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elephant
Concept
Q2077682
Peter R. Kann
PER
Q164746
Wall Street Journal
MEDIA
Q191764
Khmer Rouge
ORG
Q1935146
National Route 5
LOC
Q207315
cremation
Concept
Q748
Buddhist
Concept
Q766928
Documentation Center of Cambodia
ORG
Q7880988
Um Savuth
PER
1972-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1972
DATE
1971-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1971
DATE
1970-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1970
DATE
1971-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1971
DATE
1972-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 1972
DATE
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5
NUMBER
country of citizenship
part of
location
part of
country of citizenship
conflict
commander of (DEPRECATED)
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country