In Buddha's Company: Thai Soldiers in the Vietnam War

3 Muang PX

legends were conceived and born in the line outside Bearcat camp’s post exchange, or PX, as it was universally known. it was said that the only time the line ever dissipated in daylight was when the camp was under attack. even then, a popular story goes, there were always a few thai soldiers who held their places while mortar fire exploded around them. in numerous versions of this tale, the thai volunteers remained in the queue while their american and australian counterparts fled the precipitous bombs. if the thais did react, it was only to grab the shoulders or legs of the soldier waiting ahead of them so as to maintain the integrity of the line.1 lung thom, a signalman-driver who served in south Vietnam during the final phase of the Black Panther division’s deployment, survived one such close call when an unexploded mortar round landed beside him as he was squatting in the queue outside the PX: i had been waiting in line since the morning. it was nearly noon when it happened. i was in a bad mood. i had been in the queue for too long. then the round hit the group. Pop! it didn’t explode. When we heard the sound—pop!—we all went to have a look. the tail [of the mortar round] was glowing red. it was a dud. We were lucky. . . . the round landed between the headquarters and the PX. they said that the thais were brave. even though the mortar landed close by, they still didn’t desert the line at the PX. the soldiers from other countries had all run away.2 3 Muang Px Encounters with Consumerism, Americanism, and the Early Arrival of Modernity in South Vietnam 82 : chaPter 3 this example of the stalwart thai queue-holder succinctly conveys the thai volunteers’ preoccupation with the place that was central to their memories of south Vietnam, the war, and the american allies. it was the place where they immersed themselves in the peculiar expression of modern Western culture created by the us military, and assessed its associated values. it was the setting of their grandest revelations. and it was the site of their historical undoing, the place where they squandered their reputation as capable and committed fighters to assume the notoriety of opportunists, hustlers, and mercenaries. to many thais, especially those in noncombat positions, the PX was the Vietnam War. the PX was a commissary that sold equipment, provisions, clothes, and sundry items to military personnel, their dependents, and, in some cases, civilians with special privileges. the us military built these shopping centers throughout the world to provide comfort and aid to its overseas military community . in south Vietnam, PX shops could be found in the larger american military camps and in major cities. the PX sold goods at wholesale prices. its merchandise was often the best-quality name brands available in the united states at the time. anyone with shopping privileges at a PX in asia could acquire rare and expensive goods at the lowest possible price. access meant opportunities for enrichment. in asian countries hosting a significant american military presence, the PX was often the target of elaborate criminal schemes designed to divert goods to the black market. the us military constructed equally elaborate control measures to prevent such racketeering. despite its best efforts, fraud was common. the us military and its local military and police counterparts engaged in a cat-and-mouse struggle with americans and asians who acted as “fences” to funnel misappropriated or stolen items from the PX to the black market. the thieves were often american servicemen or local civilians employed at the PX. they siphoned off goods that passed through their control , exploiting the confusion generated by the difficulties in accounting for great volumes of goods.3 More commonly, though, they were people with PX privileges who bought items for resale on the black market. the thai volunteers took advantage of all the opportunities that came to them with their access to the PX network in south Vietnam. the stories they later told about the lucrative PX schemes under way around them reflected its potential for audacity and revelation. For thai soldiers the PX was a destination of wonder that surpassed any other in south Vietnam. the sheer volume of high-quality goods stacked in clean, brightly lit aisles made it a spectacle capable of drawing in even those thai troops who had vowed to save every baht...