Pisidhi Indradat

Phisit Intharathat (, sometimes translated as Pisidhi Indradat) is a Thai citizen who was retrieved during a successful prisoner of war rescue of the Vietnam War. After service as a commando in the Thai Border Patrol Police Parachute Aerial Resupply Unit, he went to work as a civilian with Air America during the Laotian Civil War.

On 5 September 1963, he was a member of a Curtiss C-46 Commando air crew shot down near Ban Houei Sane, Laos. He was held in nine jungle prisons while the Vietnam War officially began. After two escape attempts, including one spell of 32 days spent starving in the jungle, he was still struggling to flee when rescued by the Ban Naden raid of 5 January 1967. He returned to work for Air America until they departed from Southeast Asia. After working for a Bangkok company, he retired there.

Background Phisit Intharathat trained and served as a paratrooper in his native Thailand's Border Patrol Police. After that experience, he found employment with Air America as a cargo handler on refugee relief missions dropping rice and other supplies into the Kingdom of Laos. On 4 September 1963, as part of Laotian Civil War operations, he was scheduled to fly such missions the following day with his usual flight crew on a Curtiss C-46 Commando. One of them had a hunch that he should not fly this schedule; he resigned that night. Prasit Thanee replaced him the following morning. Later, upon the death of his mother, Intharathat wrote an account of this flight and his imprisonment.

Mission On 5 September 1963, Phisit took off from Vientiane on a flight to Savannakhet Province in Laos, with fellow Thais Prasit Promsuwan and Prasit Thanee, Chinese Y.C. To, and Americans Eugene DeBruin, Joseph C. Cheney and Charles Herrick. At Savannakhet Airport, they loaded up and took off for their resupply drop near Ban Houei Sane, Laos. On their second drop, a 300 kilo sack of rice struck the left tail fin on its way to the ground. After a nervous return flight, mechanics checked the aircraft for damage, and passed it as safe to fly. By this time, it was nearly 16:00. The crew loaded up; they had time enough for their third and final drop before sunset. Phisit notes it was a routine day, no different from others of his thousands of flying hours in Laos.

Ban Houei Het Prison The seven prisoners were incarcerated in Ban Houei Het Prison near Ban Naden on 1 May 1966. Their march there had taken them past massive communist military construction, including a road being bulldozed. The new compound was about 22 meters square. The seven were divided into two huts, with eight guards per unit. However, the 16 guards dined together in a communal mess.

Phisit, normally 70 kilos in weight, weighed only 39 kilos when recovered. After debriefing, he was taken to hospital in Bangkok. As a result of his debriefing, the CIA changed its emphasis on operations in the military region where he had been held. From passive information gathering, they now moved on to ambushes, sabotage, and calls for air strikes.

Aftermath There was no publicity concerning the rescue mission. The King of Laos Savang Vatthana privately commended Inthrarathat, but he received no other reward. Upon recovery, Air America retained him as their assistant manager for security until 1974. After Air America departed Southeast Asia in 1975, Inthrarathat worked in Bangkok for a Thai company before retiring.

Phisit Intharathat was portrayed in films about Dieter Dengler (notably Little Dieter Needs to Fly and Rescue Dawn by director Werner Herzog). The fates of Y.C. To, Eugene DeBruin, Prasit Promsuwan and Prasit Thanee remain unknown.