Udon Ho!

[GWR]

A quick search suggests that Ho Ch Minh's domicile in Thailand is within hawking distance of Udon Thai. Anyone in that vicinity fancy a quick trip over there to take a few photos and write an appraisal of the site? Map below. I can't guarantee this is the exact 'Nong On', but it certainly seems the closest match out of over 170 Nongs in the Province.

President Ho’s birthday celebrated in Thailand
05/19/2006 -- 21:46(GMT+7)


Bangkok, May 19 (VNA) – Activities have been held in Thailand to mark the 116th birthday of Viet Nam’s late President Ho Chi Minh.

On May 19, Thailand’s Nakhon Phanom province hosted a ceremony to celebrate President Ho’s birthday. The ceremony was attended by the provincial leaders and hundreds of overseas Vietnamese who came from Thailand's north-eastern provinces of Nakhon Phanom, Ubon, Mucdahan and Sakon Nakhon.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice Governor of Nakhon Phanom province Thiladej Vonglan praised President Ho's life and revolutionary career, which are considered good examples of morality and loyalty, strengthening bilateral cooperation between Viet Nam and Thailand in particular and cooperation among regional countries in general.

The same day, a complex commemorating President Ho was officially inaugurated in Thailand’s Udon province.

The 500-sq.m complex, built in Nong On village, 15 km from the province's centre, includes a house where President Ho once stayed and worked under the alias of "Thau Chin" (Th?u Chín).

Pham Quang Vinh, Charge d'Affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok, said that President Ho's life was not only meaningful to Viet Nam’s revolution but also to oppressed people throughout the world.

He also expressed his thanks to the local authorities for facilitating the Vietnamese community’s construction of the symbol of bilateral friendship.-Enditem
http://i4.tinypic.com/106byg0.jpg

[GWR]

http://www.thaitourism.com/images/articles/uncle_ho_1.jpg

There is an existing museum at another Ho Ch Minh house just outside Nakhon Phanom : -

http://www.thaitourism.com/articles/09_04_1.asp

[GWR]

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/lifestyle/2005/05/436049/

This article suggests the map location is about right. It also gives a pointer to the Nakhon Phanom location that I will follow up.

Thais pledge tribute to Ho Chi Minh
15:15' 20/05/2005 (GMT+7)

According to the May 7th Puchatan newspaper in Thailand, Udon Thani province plans to build a monument in Nong Han village, Chieng Poen commune, Muong district, where President Ho once lived.



During his visit to this relic, Governor of Udon Thani, Charuk Prinyapol, said local government funds would be allocated to the project, which should draw more Vietnamese visitors.



Legend has it that Ho Chi Minh stayed in the village for around three months in 1928. The Ho Chi Minh souvenir house and the Thai-Viet friendship village were opened in Ban Na Chok, Nakhon Phanom, in 2004.



This year, Vietnamese in Thailand will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the day when President Ho received the first Vietnamese who returned home from Thailand to join the war effort and aid the country’s development.



(Source: Ha Noi Moi)

[GWR]

http://www.nhandan.com.vn/english/news/180505/bacho.htm

Maybe there are other Ho locations likely in future. I'm told there are even Ho celebrations in many NE cities, where folk still like to talk about radical politics: -
Another Memorial site for President Ho Chi Minh built in Thailand

Thailand's Udon Thani province has a plan to build a historical site in Nong Han village, Chieng Poen commune of Muong district, as it was a place where Vietnam's President Ho Chi Minh once lived and worked during his revolutionary activities abroad.

Udon Thani governor, Charuk Prinyapol, said that the construction of the memorial site will also help attracting Vietnamese tourists to the place.

Local people said President had stayed in the village for three months in 1928. From 1928-1929, he was working in Thailand, was calling himself Thau Chin, and shuttled between Phit Chit, Phisanulok, Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Nakhon Phano provinces and Bangkok to hold many training courses on how to save the country from foreign rule for overseas Vietnamese living in Thailand.

Last year, Thailand inaugurated a memorial site for President Ho Chi Minh and a Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village in Ban Na Chok of Nakhon Phanom province.

Meanwhile, a ceremony was organised by the Vietnamese Consulate General in Thailand's northeastern province of Khon Kaen on May 16 to celebrate Uncle Ho's birthday. The ceremony was attended by many Vietnamese nationals who are residing in the province and the neighbouring localities.

During the ceremony, which was also participated in by the Consul General of the Lao Consulate General in Khon Kaen, Vietnamese Consul General Nguyen Van Pham recalled President Ho Chi Minh's great dedication to the Vietnamese country and people. In addition, he called for solidarity among the overseas Vietnamese community, asked them to remember their homeland and make more contributions to its social development. (VNA)

[GWR]

Dong Chok/Nong Chok looks to be only about 5 kms from Nakhon Phanom downtown. Again, anyone care to go out there and do a bit of investigative blognalism. I cut the scale off this map by mistake:-

http://i4.tinypic.com/106fpdx.jpg