Plain of Reeds

Plain of Reeds (in Vietnamese: Đồng Tháp Mười) is an inland wetland in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Most of the wetlands are within Long An Province and Đồng Tháp Province.

Plain of Reeds from above

Physical characteristics
Lotus in Đồng Tháp Mười

Đồng Tháp Mười is a "back swamp" forming a large inundated depression of highly acidic soil. Until the 1970s, only primitive floating rice could be grown in the area. It is similar to a very large swampy floodplain stretching along the Bassac River from Châu Đốc to the foot of the Takeo Plateau. It was around 1,000,000 hectares in the 18th Century, and is now half that size due to drainage.[1][2] Within Đồng Tháp Mười the Tràm Chim National Park has been protected for the conservation of wetland ecosystems.[3]

History

Pre-Angkor remains along the Vàm Cỏ indicate that the Vàm Cỏ originally connected with the main Mekong riverways at Dong Thap Muoi, and would have formed the main route from Cambodia to the South China Sea. However, when the river silted up the Khmers abandoned the area.[4]

Đồng Tháp Mười had served as a base for rebels and bandits throughout Vietnam's recent history. During the First Indochina War, the swamp frequently served as a base for the Viet Minh, though the French anticipated and prevented this on at least one occasion.[5]

The area was used as a base by Ba Cụt.

During the Vietnam War the Plain covered an area of 2500 square miles across Kien Tuong, Kien Phong, Hậu Nghĩa, Long An and Định Tường Provinces and again served as a base for Vietcong forces.[6] From 1–8 January 1966 U.S., Australian and Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces conducted Operation Marauder/Operation An Dan 564 in the area.[7]

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See also

References
  1. Nola Cooke, Tana Li Water Frontier: Commerce and the Chinese in the Lower Mekong Delta 2004 Page 37 "Inland Back Swamp — Dong Thap Muoi - The inland Back Swamp probably formed from a shallow sea left ... Around 500,000 hectares now, Dong Thap Muoi was twice that size in the eighteenth century."
  2. Fragile Lives in Fragile Ecosystems Page 740 1995 "The main agroecological zones (Table 1) are strongly acid sulfate soils located in the Plain of Reeds (Dong Thap Muoi), Long Xuyen Quadrangle, and Ca Mau Peninsula, and saline soils form a narrow fringe along the coast.."
  3. Magnus Torrell, Albert M. Salamanca, Blake D. Ratner Wetlands Management in Vietnam: Issues and Perspectives 2003 - Page 75 "The Tram Chim Protected Area was recently recognized by the Government as a national park for the conservation of typical wetland ecosystems in the Dong Thap Muoi area of the Mekong Delta."
  4. Nola Cooke, Tana Li Water Frontier: Commerce and the Chinese in the Lower Mekong 2004 Page 38 "After the river junction silted up, the Khmer abandoned Dong Thap Muoi for about a thousand years."
  5. Hue-Tam Ho Tai Millenarianism and peasant politics in Vietnam 1983 "The Third Division had stationed itself in Cao Lanh and Dong Thap Muoi, thus depriving the Communists of the possibility of taking refuge in this traditional rebel stronghold."
  6. Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. pp. 5–409. ISBN 978-1555716257.
  7. "MACV Command History Chronology - 1966". Dcbsoftware.com. Retrieved 6 January 2015.

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