A father and son in Quang Ngai Province have been living in the forest for decades, and despite the advice of family and medical professionals, wish to return to their old lifestyle.

Ho Van Loan with new clothes 

Ho Van Thanh and his son, Ho Van Loan, have been living a secluded life in the forest for many years, subsisting on foraged food interspersed with some agriculture. They have managed by making tools, such as knives, axes, cooking utensils and even clothes, from the materials available to them, including left over bomb and bullet fragments from the American War.

Occasionally Loan would enter nearby fields to take seeds to plant by their tent.

Thanh reportedly returned home from the war facing mental health issues. After serving in the army and, after the war, moving his place of residence several times, he decided to take his son and live in the wild areas on and around Apon Mountain located in Tra Xinh Commune. Since then they have maintained their transient existence.

A coat made of tree bark 

According to the People's Committee of Tra Phong Commune, after the two men were found in 2004 to have been living in the forest several members of their family visited them and urged them to return home. They refused, however, preferring their independent life to that of the traditional Vietnamese family.

One of those who made requests for their return was his nephew, Ho Van Pho. After Pho's death these visits virtually ceased and the father and son were left in their isolation until August, when several locals of the area went in search of Thanh. Finding him suffering from what they deemed mental illness, they notified authorities and asked for help.

Hoang Anh Ngoc, Chairman of Tay Tra District People’s Committee, commented, “The frequent visits to the forest by family and community members in search of Thanh and his son, as well as their requests for his return, were to no avail. Thanh would usually flee when he caught sight of anyone seeking him out."

Changed by so many years of nearly complete isolation, Thanh has been relocated to Tay Tra General Hospital for treatment. Doctors bound him to his bed to prevent him from fleeing again. However, their only diagnosis so far has been depression, treatable by several days of rest.

 The father, Ho Van Thanh is receiving treatment at a local hospital

Meanwhile, Loan has not been coping well with reintegration to society either, refusing any type of food except for cakes and milk.

Both local authorities and Loan’s family are worried about him when he is not adaptable to the normal life. Both local authorities and the family have been searching for ways to adapt the two to normal life and take care of their health.

 Local authorities visit the "forest men" 

The chairman of Tay Tra District People’s Committee, said, “We are giving support to the family. They have been provided with VND2 million and rice, milk, sugar, salt and other necessities. They are also given health treatment." He added that there are plans in the works to build them a house and enough land for farming. Thanh's contributions to the war efforts will also be officially recognised, giving him access to certain benefits from the state.

Although doctors have not diagnosed either with any specific physical illness, a long process of reintegration is expected.