VHM_0016

Journal with a pink paper cover decorated with flowers and a white bunny, and fixed with painter's tape. The diary belonged to Nguyễn Văn Đoàn, a Vietnamese refugee who wrote in it during the year he was imprisoned in Thailand following his escape attempt from Vietnam. The diary describes his escape from Vietnam, two pirate attacks, and the subsequent months of captivity in a Thai prison. 

He fled Vietnam by boat with about 100 people in 1981. During the voyage, they were attacked by Thai pirates who abducted a girl from their boat. Then they were attacked a second time, during which they fought back and killed several pirates. As a consequence, Nguyễn Văn Đoàn and 18 other refugees were arrested by Thai police and imprisoned for almost a year.

(Internal pages of the diary have been digitized but are not made public due to privacy concerns)