Lt. Gen. Tea Banh, Co-minister of defence born in Koh Kong province, Tea Banh joined the communist underground as company commander in the so-called militia unit of Koh Kong province. He was stationed in Koh Kong and along the Cambodian-Thai border until sometimes before the Vietnamese invasion in Cambodia in 1979. He was trained in Hanoi, and is very fluent in Vietnamese. He is also fluent in Thai and still maintains a huge house in Bangna, Bangkok. Most of his relatives have their second houses in Thailand and also hold Thai identification cards. He was a strong connection with Say Phou Thang, the most senior and powerful figure within the CPP. Say Phou Thang is widely believed to directly report and receives orders from the Vietnamese communist party. Tea Banh who speaks Khmer very bad, was interviewed with Radio Free Asia early 2002. If some of us-Khmers didnt learn to speak Khmer properly, we would not understand what he was talking about. Its terrible accent he uses on Radio Free Asia.
Lt. Gen. Chay Saing Yun, Co-secretary of state widely believed as a Vietnamese national, Chay Saing Yun rarely appears in public meeting, especially with the press. He does not want to be questioned about his background. He is one of the hard-liners and difficult to deal with. During the so-called aborted coup of July 1994 sin song and prince Chrapong, Chay Saing Yun fled to Vietnam.
Lt. Gen. Meas Sophea, Deputy chief of the general staff widely believed as a Vietnamese national, Meas Sophea has a strong connection with Hun Sen. His father was known to be a north Vietnamese (Vietcong) Colonel. He played a major role during the 5-6 July coup.
