Operation Phiboonpol

Operation Phiboonpol
Part of Laotian Civil War; Vietnam War
Date 9 – 11 June 1971 Location Moung Phalane Result Unsuccessful Royalist attempt to capture the Bolaven Plateau
Belligerents
Kingdom of Laos Supported by  United States	North Vietnam Supported by:  Soviet Union  People's Republic of China
Units involved
Bataillon Infanterie 20 1 Special Guerrilla Unit Bataillon Volontaires 43 Bataillon de Parachutistes 104 Thai mercenary company Royal Lao Air Force U.S. Air Force	Group 559
Strength
Battalion and regimental-size	~50,000 Three PT-76 tanks
Casualties and losses
Heavy	Heavy

Operation Phiboonpol (9–11 June 1971) was a "short but very intense engagement" of the Laotian Civil War. Five Royal Lao Government battalions went on the offensive in Military Region 4 of the Kingdom of Laos to try to regain the Boloven Plateau, which overlooked the vital Ho Chi Minh Trail lying to its east. Stopped in its tracks by the People's Army of Vietnam, with its first use of tanks in southern Laos, the Royalists held firm while close air support inflicted heavy casualties on North Vietnamese attackers. A Thai mercenary company sent as a Royalist relief force was ambushed and wiped out. For weeks after the battle, vultures feasted on unburied corpses.