Eddie Adams

“ After the police had towed the boat out to sea for three hours, they took in their 300-foot tow rope and prepared to return to Khlong Yai. The Vietnamese shut off their engine and told the police it had broken down.
The police told them to get moving because the Cambodian Communists patrolled the area. They warned that if they tried to return to Thailand, police guns would be waiting.
"If we must die, we must," said a young woman as the police pulled away. "It's better than to live under communism. If we return to Vietnam, we would all be killed." ”

“ More and more will escape no matter what it costs. Only the very rich can survive now in Vietnam."
Then the boat moved away, its meager supply of water and fuel in a few rusty cans. A white shirt was tied to the bow by the sleeves as a flag of truce.
I rode for several hours with the marine police. We returned to the general area in which we had seen the boat last. We heard what sounded like machine-gun fire, but there was no sign of the refugees or their boat. ”

“ But Thai marine police, armed with M-16 rifles, refused them permission to come ashore and towed the crammed fishing boat three hours back out into the Gulf of Siam.
Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries that have more than 100,000 refugees from Indochina on their hands are becoming increasingly hostile to new arrivals from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. ”