ABSTRACT
On top of the complex Vietnamese immigration and commercial activities based in Thailand I have described so far was yet another layer of operations, a diplomatic one. Between the end of World War II in 1945 and the November 1947 coup that brought Phi bun back to power by early 1948, the DRV developed a largely unknown diplomatic relationship with Southeast Asia and the world thanks to its access to Thailand. Indeed, between 1945 and 1948, if not 1951 (see Chapter 8), Bangkok was the DRV's most important diplomatic outlet to the region and one of its few windows to the world.
