Laos - Two Unknown Medals

[ThaiDave]

Hello all,

Over the years, there has been much research in these two medals, and no real information can be found so far.



A summary of what I have so far (http://www.indochinamedals.com/laos/ls11.12_unknown_medals.html)

So if anyone has any information it would be useful to study.

Rgds,
RDave

[ThaiDave]

There is some information on the site royalark.net (http://www.royalark.net/Laos/Titles.htm) with the information they are somehow merit medals military or police, but if the lead is followed, the information has no source (just a story without supporting evidence).

Similar information is repeated elsewhere, but so far there is no real source.

However, if anyone has any further information about this aspect, it would be good to investigate.

[ThaiDave]

I should add that a large stock of these medals were bought in Laos and sold in recent years by a single seller on ebay. These can be a major source of current stock? Maybe some people can remember how they saw these medals?

Recently, the same seller has started to identify as Thai because he "new information"

However, when this lead is followed, the information is questionable:

Also these medals are not in any Thai medal literature. So, it is doubtful ...

[ThaiDave]

Some additional comments from a Thai dealer:

However, this is based on two ebay items from the dealer selling them (mentioned in the previous message).

[Hugh]

I've had the LS11 version (red ribbon) for years. Bought it in The Angel, London for a minimal amount. Have always thought it was Lao. A couple of points to support that opinion:

1) It does not appear in my basic Thai reference book, a large format (A4) exhaustive book 1-1/2" thick with many color pictures.

2) John Sylvester (quoted above) cites them as a mystery, but includes them in the Lao section of his book.

3) If they are Thai, what accounts for the red star version? I'm unaware of any significant communist force with sufficient organization to be issuing such a medal. I'm not aware of Thai military / police using a red star in their iconography.

Still, the comments from the Thai dealer in post above are a little unsettling.

Perhaps James Hoard will weigh in. He seems to know a bit about this part of the world.

Best,

Hugh