Description
Thailand, and the Boat People 1975-1985
Memoirs of a Field Officer is a personal account of a young UN officer’s experiences working in Thailand in the aftermath of the Communist takeovers of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, and in particular, dealing with the influx of mainly Vietnamese “Boat People” along the shores of Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries.
“For millions in Southeast Asia, the final quarter of the 20th century was a time of terror and violence in the aftermath of war, sparking a mass exodus of ‘boat people’ and other desperate escapees. In Memoirs of a Field Officer, Graham Lean presents a lucid and unflinching memoir of his time as a young Thailand-based officer with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This revealing and compulsively readable inside account sheds light on a multinational body’s efforts to address an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, laying bare both the best and worst aspects of the human condition. Although the boat people have faded from public memory, this testament to Vietnam and Cambodia’s tumultuous 1970s and 1980s demands to be read by anyone tasked with addressing today’s humanitarian crises.”
– Colin Donald, Editor, Trust Magazine