Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu ( th, บุญผ่อง สิริเวชชะพันธ์; , 21 April 190629 January 1982) widely known as Boon Pong was a Thai merchant and member of the underground "V" organization during the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese occupation of
Thailand during
World War II.
World War II
Boon Pong, using as cover his contract with the Imperial Japanese Army to supply the camps of
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
POWs working on the
Burma Railway in Kanchanaburi, smuggled medicine, money and contraband food to the POWs and is credited by many with saving thousands of lives during the building of the railway.
Although Thailand was officially allied with the Japanese, there was an active underground movement. One prisoner recalls Boonpong was the merchant with the lowest prices and the smallest mark up. However he performed other services risking his life and those of his family. He lent money, provided extra medicines and ran messages. With access to medicines, the death rate of the prisoners was reduced from five a day in May 1943 to one a week by the following November.
Post-war
After the war, Boonpong was attacked by Thai police in some mistaken retribution. Sir
Edward "Weary" Dunlop, another hero of the POW camps, ordered a report on 'the condition of Mr. Boonpong, injured Thai civilian, who had done so much for prisoners of war.’ In 1947 he was in financial difficulties and so a
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
association on hearing of it organised a collection for him. Shortly thereafter, Boonpong started the Boonpong Bus Company. He was awarded the British
King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom and named an officer of the Dutch
Order of Orange-Nassau.
Later an Australian medical scholarship was named in honor of him and Sir Edward Dunlop. The documentary film “The Quiet Lions” is about both of them. Boonpong also figures prominently in ''Beyond the Bamboo Screen'', a collection of anecdotes by Scottish PoWs.
In popular culture
Ruangsak Loychusak
Ruangsak Loychusak ( th, เรืองศักดิ์ ลอยชูศักดิ์), also known as James Ruangsak, is a Thai actor and singer. His first album was ''Dai Wela...James'' ("It's time for James"). He then released ''Siren L ...
portrayed Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu in ''Boon Pong'' a
thai television soap opera based on him. ''Boon Pong'' was broadcast on
Thai PBS from 8 May 2013 to 20 June 2013.
See also
*
Philip Toosey
Brigadier Sir Philip John Denton Toosey (12 August 1904 – 22 December 1975) was, as a Lieutenant Colonel, the senior Allied officer in the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp at Tha Maa Kham (known as Tamarkan) in Thailand during World War II. Th ...
References
* ''Sort of a Cricket Person'' by E. W. Swanton - Collins - London - 1972 .
Detailed information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirivejjabhandu, Boonpong
Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu
Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu
Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu
Boonpong Sirivejjabhandu
Recipients of the King's Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom
Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau
1906 births
1982 deaths