Pham Ngoc Thao - Undercover Communist in The South Vietnamese Army

Undercover Communist in The South Vietnamese Army

The U.S.-backed Diệm was passionately anti-communist. In 1957, He initiated an "Anti-Communist Denunciation Campaign" to root out Vietminh members and their sympathisers. Thousands of people were killed or jailed, and in time Diệm's campaigns created more sympathy for the Vietminh. Before 1960, various small-scale pro-Communist uprisings were taking place in the countryside. Thảo went on the run and hid in Vĩnh Long, worried that Diệm's men were after him. In December 1960, North Vietnam's Politburo authorised the creation of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, popularly known as the Vietcong. The Vietcong were dominated by communists, but portrayed itself as a nationalist militant organisation, stating its aim to be the "reunification of the fatherland" with the overthrow of the "disguised colonial regime of the U.S. imperialists and the dictatorial Ngo Dinh Diem administration". The creation of the Vietcong marked an escalation in the scale and organisation of the insurgency that developed into the Vietnam War.

Thảo's Catholic background helped him to avoid detection as a communist. He and his brother were the only members of the family who were not anti-communist. The remainder of the relatives were followers of Diệm's brother, Archbishop Thục, who had been Bishop of Vĩnh Long during the war against France. Thảo was known to have a face that revealed nothing of his inner feelings. Thục's intervention helped Thảo rise in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Thục put Thảo in touch with Trần Kim Tuyến, who was in charge of intelligence operations under Diệm's younger brother Nhu, who was the head of the secret police and controlled the ARVN Special Forces. Thảo began as a propagandist for various units of the army and for the secret Catholic Can Lao Party, whose system of informants and secret cells helped create the atmosphere of a police state and maintained the Ngô family's grip on power.

Tảng believed that Thục "undoubtedly considered that Thảo's Catholic and family loyalties were stronger and more durable than his youthful enthusiasm for revolution". He felt that Thảo had tricked Thục into believing that he was no longer a communist, and that his inside knowledge would be useful to the Ngô family. Thảo started by training the Civil Guard. As a result of his family's Catholic connections, Thảo rose steadily in the ARVN, since Diệm's regime had always promoted officers primarily on religious preference and loyalty. Nhu sent him to Malaysia to study counterinsurgency techniques, and upon his return, Thảo became a vital part of Nhu's efforts to purge the army of disloyal officers. As Thảo kept a close watch on those who commanded troops, lest they use their personnel in a coup, the leading officers were keen to maintain a good relationship with him, which increased his effectiveness as a spy. Thảo rose even further when the troops he commanded helped put down the November 1960 coup attempt against Diệm. Thảo assisted Khánh and Trần Thiện Khiêm to put down the revolt. All three were promoted, with the latter pair gaining the leadership of the ARVN and of the combined forces, respectively. This cemented the trio's close ties.

Thảo was promoted to the post of chief of Bến Tre Province. He covertly worked with the cadres of Nguyễn Thị Định, a Vietcong leader who later became the highest ranking female communist in post-war reunified Vietnam. The area was a traditional communist stronghold, and anti-government attacks had increased in recent times, but it suddenly became peaceful when Thảo arrived. There were rumours that Thảo and the communists had decided to cease fighting for their mutual benefit; the guerrillas could quietly strengthen themselves, while Thảo would appear to be successful and he would be promoted to a more powerful position where he could cause more damage to Diệm. The lack of fighting between Thảo's forces and the Vietcong proved to beneficial to the communist cause. In a three-month period in 1963, the Vietcong were able to recruit 2,000 men in Bến Tre and formed two more battalions. Thảo was praised by the Ngô family and U.S. military advisors, unaware of his ruse. He received another promotion, and with it, more influence and contacts among the officer corps.

The US ambassador, Elbridge Durbrow, described Bến Tre Province as an "agricultural showplace" and advised journalists to travel there to see Thảo's successful administration. The influential American journalist Joe Alsop changed his plans so that he could spend more time in Bến Tre, saying that the province "particularly inspires hope". In one operation by Thảo's ARVN forces, American field journalists covering the battle saw their hours-long attempt to box in a Vietcong battalion yield only one farmer who lived in a hut with antigovernment slogans. Despite this, the American journalists and Vietnamese officers remained unaware that Thảo was a double agent. In fact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam misinterpreted the lack of attacks in Bến Tre, while other provinces were being ravaged, as proof that Thảo was one the few capable government officials in the Mekong Delta. Journalist Robert Shaplen wrote: "In all respects, Thao is one of the most remarkable Vietnamese around, being a conspiratorial revolutionary figure straight out of a Malraux novel and, at the same time, a highly sophisticated and astute man, whose talents, if only they were properly channeled, could profitably be used right now." As Thảo was a former leader of the Vietminh, outsiders thought that his apparent success was due his first-hand knowledge of communist tactics. During his period as the province chief, Thảo set up the Council of Elders, a consultative body of 20–200 men and women, who were allowed to criticise local officials. He advocated the creation of the Council of Patrons, a philanthropic body to raise money for community projects.