Ton That Thien - Journalism, Teaching and Government Service: 1964-1975

Journalism, Teaching and Government Service: 1964-1975

In August 1964 Thien left government service to take up journalism. He worked for the respected English language newspaper the Saigon Daily News, then for the Viet Nam Guardian, owned by a like-minded friend. As managing editor and columnist at both papers, he was stubbornly independent of government bias with often blunt commentary that offered constructive criticism. Vietnamese and foreign journalists were attracted by his blunt candour, convictions and independent political analysis. In December 1966 the Viet Nam Guardian was ordered by the government of Nguyễn Cao Kỳ to suspend publication for several months. Thien learned that he was on a police blacklist and at one point escaped an assassination attempt. During this time he was writing for a number of foreign publications including The Economist, and The Far Eastern Economic Review.

In 1967 he was asked by the Buddhist hierarchy to help establish a Faculty of Social Sciences at the Buddhist Van Hanh University, and was appointed Dean of that faculty although he was well known as an unrepentant close aide of the late President Diem.

In 1968, the war was brought home to Thien personally and painfully during the "Tet" Vietnamese New Year. Both Vietnamese warring sides had agreed to observe the customary one week holiday ceasefire. Although as a security precaution he usually avoided staying in Huế, on Tet's eve, Thien and his elder brother Hanh flew from Saigon to visit his ailing father for a quick three-day visit. On the night of the second day, the communist forces staged a surprise general offensive and succeeded in occupying almost the entire city including the area of Thien's family home. As a high-profile prisoner he risked execution or captivity in the North. Fortunately, a quick counter offensive by U.S. Marines through his area diverted his captors and he was able to escape. In later fighting in the area where Thien's home was located, Thien's mother, who had stayed behind, was wounded in the head by mortar shrapnel. With the central hospital still under communist occupation, and no other medical service available she died of cerebral hemorrhage and had to be buried on the spot, on the lawn of the old French Resident's office adjacent to the Huế bridge. Thien's sister-in-law, Thu Ba (Hanh's wife) risked her life to get a coffin with money given to Thien's family by an American journalist who happened to be in the area. During the week he was stranded in Huế, he was a witness to the duplicity and brutality of the communists. After the battle it was found that up to five thousand people had been executed, many of whom had been on prepared target lists. This experience deepened his conviction that the communists could not be trusted.

In April 1968, Thien was appointed Minister of Information by Prime Minister Tran Van Huong. His first act was to remove all censorship of the press although South Viet Nam was facing a widespread long standing insurgency and invasion from the North. In his view the country's security and freedom would be strengthened by greater freedom of expression.

In August 1968, the Philippine-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation awarded him the prestigious Magsaysay Award for journalism, literature and creative communication in recognition of "his enduring commitment to free inquiry and debate." The official citation read:

"Ton That Thien relentlessly has sought to digest the essence of Western scientific method and wed it to Vietnamese cultural values. Freedom of thought and expression he found were essential to this pursuit. His convictions led him to act with perceptive courage and staunch individualism as writer and editor, professor and government official. government.

At the end of 1968 he resigned his post after President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu twice failed to honor a pledge on a major policy issue. From 1968 to 1975 he continued to work as a journalist, newspaper editor and professor.