After re-acquiring Bounleut's troops, Kouprasith turned on the national police force and its commander, Siho Lamphouthacoul, as he felt they were untrustworthy and likely to join Phoumi's coup.
Only a scanty lowland Lao urban elite received a better education, usually at Vientiane's Pavie Lycee by French instructors.
At the top of the rank structure, generals were commissioned into the army from civilian life, with no military experience.
[2] On 25 December 1959, Captain Kong Le and his paratroopers bloodlessly seized the Royal Lao Government in Vientiane, and installed General Phoumi Nosavan in power.
[4] On 18 April 1964, Phoumi would be surprised by another coup, staged by Siho Lamphouthacoul and his Directorate of National Coordination police.
Nevertheless, after the coup was quashed, Phoumi lost his Defense Minister's post in the RLG, as well as any troops to command.
[5][6] However, Phoumi still had access to a training battalion stationed outside Vientiane; on 4 August 1964, he ordered them into an attempted coup.
[7] On 20 January 1965, an electrical malfunction caused a disastrous chain reaction accident that destroyed nine T-28 Trojan bombers at Wattay Airfield outside Vientiane.
Taking advantage of the distractions caused by such a serious loss to the government,[8] on 27 January 1965, Phoumi managed to inveigle the dispatch of Military Region 2 troops south from the Plain of Jars to counter a purposed attack on Vientiane by the local troops of Military Region 5.
Sullivan had convinced a drunken Australian technician to sever the station's connection to its antenna to quiet it.
He turned out the remaining companies of GM 17, garbed them with identifying orange scarves, and sent them out to quell the insurrection.
Though the companies from BI 13 turned back, BV 22 pressed on to attack the docks on the Mekong River outside of Vientiane before withdrawing some 47 kilometers to a defensive position.
[14] Siho now ordered his two remaining companies of police commandos to ambush Route 151 in and around Ban Nava.
After Kouprasith's Bataillon Volontaires 52 (Volunteer Battalion 52) failed to dislodge the DNC troops, he called for air strikes on the police.
General Thao Ma, who headed the Royal Lao Air Force, managed to deflect the request.
Kouprasith then commandeered an RLAF L-20 Beaver, mounted a .50 caliber machine gun in its door, and directed it to attack the DNC ambush.
Though inaccurate, the improvised air strike terrified the police into surrender to troops of Bataillon Volontaires 53 (Volunteer Battalion 53) and GM 17.
On the 28th, the Royal Lao Army General Staff sent two regiments and a battalion southward to counter the perceived threat.
[8] As the elite families settled scores behind the scenes, some of the best junior officers in the RLA were jailed, murdered, or otherwise purged, further weakening the Lao military.