John Everingham in Thailand; story
Elliott Parker
Some people may know John Everingham or his journalistic work in SEA
and I thought this might be of interest.
Dirck posted this to one of my other lists (National Press
Photographers) and it is forwarded with permission. Dirck is part
of the White House press corps and accompanied the First Lady
to Thailand recently.
--elliott parker
=================== Forwarded Message ===================
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 18:46:16 -0500
From: Dirck Halstead <dirck.h...@PRESSROOM.COM>
Subject: The Saga of John Everingham (Dirck Halstead)
To: Multiple recipients of list NPPA-L <NPP...@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
TO: MEMBERS, NPPA-L LIST
FROM: DIRCK HALSTEAD
DECEMBER 8, 1996
THE SAGA OF JOHN EVERINGHAM
The night after the wonderful cigar dinner in Bangkok, I wandered into one
of my favorite
restaurants not far from the Oriental hotel.
For many years I have been going to Himali Cha Cha, a tiny Indian
restaurant that is hidden at the end of a side street behind what used to
be one of the most frequented massage parlors frequented by photo
journalists during the Vietnam war.
I knew that it was run by a former British Army "batman" for Lord
Mountbatten in the 1940s, who had then wound up leaving the army in and
going into the foreign service, serving as a cook for Indian ambassadors
abroad. He eventually wound up his last posting in Laos, where he opened a
small restaurant that became a favorite of the diplomatic and press
communities.
During the Vietnam war, as it began to spill over into Cambodia and Laos,
one of his clients was a young journalist, John Everingham who besides
being a photographer covering South east Asia for magazines such as
NEWSWEEK, also reported for the BBC, NBC and the Far Eastern Economic
Review.
As Vietnam was collapsing, Cha Cha, fearful of what would happen to him,
was reassured by Everingham, that if the worst happened, he would help him
to open a restaurant somewhere.
After the collapse in Vietnam, Everingham managed to stay on in Laos, as
one of the few western newsmen allowed to report from the country, and fell
in love with a beautiful young Laotian woman, as Everingham puts it , " I
was young and crazy in love."
However, the Communists were getting more and more displeased with
Everingham's reports, and one night in 1978 they came and threw him in
jail.
He was then thrown out of the country with just the shirt on his back.
His girl-friend, 22 year old Keo Sira, frantically tried to find him, but
it was too late.
For the next months, Keo tried everything to contact Everingham, who had
wound up across the river in Thailand. Through friends they managed to
contact each other, and Everingham promised her that somehow he would get
her out.
"I knew that in Laos, if you wanted to get somebody out, you had to do
something really different... I kept staring across the river, at
Vientiane, but it could have been the Berlin Wall".
Then he realized the obvious, that the best way to rescue Keo was to swim
across the river and bring her back with him.
" I was a strong swimmer and a good diver, so I just thought, well, I'll go
right across the middle ".
For the next three months he made four attempts to swim underwater, using
scuba gear to Vientiane. Because of the strong currents, he would have to
enter the river from Thailand several miles above Vientiane and fight to
make it across.
Word had been passed to Keo to be ready every time Everingham made an attempt.
Finally it was agreed that she would be waiting on a sandbar that stuck out
into the river.
Everingham, swimming blind in the dirty water , fighting the currents, just
looking up every few hundred yards wound up making the sandbar where Keo
was waiting, just as two young soldiers came up to her, and started to a
make a pass. Everingham could see the grenades on their belts.
Several days later, he tried again...this time the currents swept him 800
yards past the rendezvous point.. Keo could see him being swept past, and
cried in despair.
Finally, at the last chance before the monsoons made the river impossible
to cross, Everingham made one last try. This time, Keo was waiting, and
together , sharing his mouthpiece, they swam back to Thailand,
Several months later Everingham's old friend Cha Cha made it to Bangkok.
True to his promise, John went to the bank and got a loan to start the
restaurant.
Today, John Everingham is a successful publisher of glossy magazines for
the Thai hotel and tourist industry, and takes most of the photographs for
his magazine himself.
However, if you happen by a small Indian restaurant on New Road in Bangkok,
you may well find John telling his stories of love and war.
Forwarded by List Owner --------------------------------------------
Elliott Parker BITNET: 3ZLUFUR@CMUVM
Journalism Dept. Internet: elliott...@cmich.edu
Central Michigan University The WELL: epa...@well.com
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 USA URL:mailto:3zl...@cmich.edu
Claes Bratt
The John Everingham movie (called something like Coming Home & starring
Michael Landon as John, as well as Priscilla Presley as a friend) may be
among the worst movies ever made but it it will have you in stitches.
One memorable scene has John & the KGB general who runs Laos (yes!)
fighting over Keo in a form of Asian martial arts that features
five-fingered boxing gloves. Ringside, the Thai audience goes into a
frenzy.
One big loss resulting from John's arrest & expulsion from Laos was his
archive of thousands of slides, many of them unique. A loss for Laos,
too.
Claes
Peter E. Beal
On Mon, 9 Dec 1996, Elliott Parker wrote:
> Some people may know John Everingham or his journalistic work in SEA
> and I thought this might be of interest.
> Dirck posted this to one of my other lists (National Press
> Photographers) and it is forwarded with permission. Dirck is part
> of the White House press corps and accompanied the First Lady
> to Thailand recently.
> --elliott parker
>
The article doesn't mention a couple of things, e.g. the (terrible) movie
made about John's escape from Laos and rescue of Keo. And the fact that
Himali Cha Cha passed away a couple of years ago.
Peter E. Beal
Bangkok, Thailand