Ong Kommandam

Who was Ong Kommandam?

Ong Kommandam was the confidante and successor of Ong Keo as the leader of the Mon-Khmer tribes of southern Laos in their struggle for independence from French and Lao rule. Ong Keo was assassinated in 1910 by the Commissioner of Salavan, Jacques Dauplay. Kommandam survived the attack, which added to his status, and he quickly picked up the struggle for independence with great success, uniting the highland minorities of Southern Laos. An ethnic Alak, he claimed that the "Khom" were indigenous to the area and previously held much more prestige and glory, first when the Khmer Empire ruled them, and later when they were a part of the Kingdom of Lan Xang. As part of his resistance activities, he invented a secret script to convey messages, the Khom script. He continued the fight for independence from 1910 until 1936 when he was killed.

For a 21st century perspective of such resistance activities, see Zomia, a geographical term coined in 2002 by historian Willem van Schende, a term which includes north Vietnam and all Laos, and is used by Yale University Professor James C. Scott in his 2009 book, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia.