Thoại Ngọc Hầu

[2] Nguyễn Văn Thoại was born on 26 November 1761 in Dien Ban district of the Quang Nam province under the Nguyen dynasty.

His father, Nguyễn Văn Lượng, was a small official in charge of offering sacrifices at temples or shrines established by the state.

Nguyen Van Thoai was born and raised when Trinh and Nguyen fought constantly, followed by the Tay Son revolt (1771), therefore, his mother had to lead him and his two brothers to flee to the South in 1775, finally settling in Thoi Binh village on Dai islet, lying between Bang Tra and Co Chien rivers; now belongs to Vung Liem District, Vinh Long province.

On the occasion of rewarding his servants with meritorious services, Nguyen Van Thoai was only granted the title of Kham sai Thong military commander, accepted the task of conquering the North and then held the position of Tran guard there.

In Vinh Thanh town, he fervently took care of reclamation, establishing hamlets, digging canals, developing and protecting the new land.

In 1825, he built a road from Chau Doc to Lo Go (now Angkor Borei town) - Soc Vinh connecting the villages together, very convenient for people to travel.

After finishing, he had the stele "Chau Doc Tan Lo Kieu Luong" carved on Sam mountain in 1828 to commemorate.

When the power grew, Sai Ke claimed to be Chieu Vuong, led his subordinates to attack many places in Phien An town (Gia Dinh), and harassed the whole of Cambodia.

In 1821, he held the position of Marshal of the Protectorate of Cambodia, concurrently the keeper of Chau Doc fortress and the governor of Ha Tien.

During the days in the countryside, he restored An Hai market, and at the same time worshiped money to build the village's communal house and pagoda.