Ban Me Thuot is also called both Buon Me Thuot and Buon Ma Thuot. Whichever name you choose to call it, it means “village of Thuot’s uncle.” Just who this Thuot person was is a mystery, but he and his nameless uncle must have been well-known during their time.
The Snake Platoon was never based in Ban Me Thuot, but most of us traveled there on missions supporting a MAC V or Special Forces team or some other organization. Some earlier platoon members may even have stayed in Emperor Bao Dai’s hunting lodge while working with MAC V Team 125. Teddy Roosevelt had used this lodge, which was built of teak wood, as his base when he hunted tigers in the Central Highlands. The later members of the platoon would not have had the opportunity to stay in the lodge, as a fire rendered it unusable in December 1969, and the MAC V team had to relocate. Even its burned-out shell, though, was impressive.
Some platoon members will remember Ban Me Thuot as the place they got caught up in the 1968 Tet offensive, particularly those who were wounded during that battle. For more on this, refer to the Snake Platoon History, Tet Offensive 1968.
The South Vietnamese leadership, as had the Americans, considered Pleiku to be the key to holding the Central Highlands. The North Vietnamese, however, considered Ban Me Thuot to be that key. Intelligence that the NVA were amassing for an assault on Ban Me Thuot in March 1975 was dismissed, since that idea was inconsistent with the South’s defensive plans. The NVA had also conducted diversionary attacks on Pleiku and Kontum, confirming the South Vietnamese leaders’ beliefs and leading them to concentrate their defenses in those areas, pulling troops away from Ban Me Thuot. So, although the South had numerical superiority in the Central Highlands, they were outnumbered 5 to 1 at Ban Me Thuot and, with all roads blocked by the NVA, reinforcement was problematic to say the least. Despite attempts to counterattack, the result of the assault was a decisive victory for the North.
President Thieu ordered the secret evacuation from the Central Highlands, although no real plan for this option was in place. Soldiers were reluctant to leave without their families and took them with them, or deserted to stay with them. When the civilian population noticed the exodus, they joined it as well. The Army had chosen to escape the highlands via the little-used and poorly maintained route 7B from south of Pleiku to Tuy Hoa on the coast. When the NVA learned of the massive retreat, they pursued the fleeing South Vietnamese. The poor roads and excessive numbers of vehicles resullted a bottleneck in the area of Cheo Reo, where NVA artillery compounded the chaos on Highway 7B. Three-quarters of the retreating South Vietnamese would never reach the coast. Ban Me Thuot had fallen, the Central Highlands were abandoned, within ten days all South Vietnamese military formations in II Corps were destroyed, and South Vietnam was cut in two, exactly as the communists had planned for years. The end of the war would come by the end of April.
The Victory Monument, marking the ‘liberation’ of Ban Me Thuot on March 10, 1975, stands in the center of the city’s largest roundabout. The monument features a replica of a soviet tank and a pedestal atop which stand North Vietnamese soldiers with their arms raised in a victorious pose.
More often than not, people associate Vietnamese agriculture with rice. Vietnam, however, is the world’s second major producer of coffee, right behind Brazil. And Ban Me Thuot is the coffee capital of Vietnam, coffee fields having taken place of the rubber plantations. One of the most notable attractions is the Trung Nguyen Coffee Village, which is also one of the top places to eat. And one of the better places to stay is the Coffee Tour Resort, another part of the Trung Nguyen Coffee enterprise. ‘Trung Nguyen’ appears to be Vietnamese for ‘Starbucks.’ In addition to the large café, there is a coffee museum where one can view coffee paraphernalia from through the ages and around the world. There is also a gift shop where different types of coffee are sold, including cà phê Chồn, at 50 dollars for a half-pound bag. Cà phê Chồn translates roughly to “weasel coffee.” In other countries, it is called either civet coffee or kopi luwak. The Asian palm civet eats the coffee ‘cherries,’ which pass through its digestive system, and the coffee bean is excreted, intact but changed somehow by the civet’s digestive enzymes. Traditionally, the beans have been gathered in the forest where it is deposited by the civets. Today, some producers use captive civets, which has raised ethical questions. I have read that the process yields a coffee that is less bitter and acidic with a slight taste of chocolate. On the other hand, I have also read that it tastes like poorly brewed Folger’s, that it is barely drinkable, and that people buy it for the novelty rather than the taste. Even so, it is one of the most expensive coffees in the world.
This city of a half million people, which manages also to be a rustic backwater town, has a relatively mild climate with average daily temperatures which range from a low of 68 degrees to a high of 85. The rainy season is from May through October, when the vast majority of the annual 71 inches of rain is received.
Like most cities in the Central Highlands, Ban Me Thuot serves more as a jumping off place for tourists rather than as a destination in itself. Its plentiful hotels and restaurants do make it a good base for those wishing to explore the many nearby Montagnard villages, jungles and waterfalls. Within the city, though, is the Ethnographic Museum, which contains displays of local history and culture and the various local ethnic groups.
There is also the Ban Me Thuot prison, which was built under French supervision in the 1930s to house Vietnamese patriots. The prison has been rebuilt and now contains 3-dimensional displays of French cruelties to the incarcerated dissenters. The prison is open for research studies.
There is no true ‘nightlife’ in Ban Me Thuot unless one counts the Coffee Festivals, which are held every other year in March, when the coffee blossoms are at their peak. The purpose of the festival, of course, is to promote the area’s coffee. It includes musical performances, coffee tasting and other activities open to the public. The local ethnic minorities (Montagnards) attend and compete against each other in folk games, and there is an elephant parade. Hmm. Elephant coffee, anyone?
