But instead he received news of an armed uprising in Vietnam, led by Hoàng Hoa Thám (Đề Hoàng Yên-Thế). So he assembled his comrades in Hong Kong, and sent two people to Japan to buy 500 of the Arisaka Type 30 rifles. But after buying the weapons to support the uprising with, they could not afford to hire a ship to smuggle the rifles into Vietnam. So, in July, Phan went to Thailand to ask their government to help with the smuggling. The foreign minister refused, since it would be a major diplomatic incident with France if it leaked out. So he had to return to Hong Kong and wait for the money needed for smuggling. The money never arrived, and news arrived that his fundraising organizer - , also known by courtesy name Ngư Hải - was dead, and that the uprising was going badly. Phan donated 480 of the rifles to the forces of Sun Yat-sen. He then tried to smuggle the remaining 20 of the rifles via Thailand, disguised as first-class luggage. This attempt failed. He spent the first half of 1910 begging on the street, selling his books, and spending all his money getting drunk at the pub. This went on until he met an elderly woman, Chu Bá Linh (Chu sư-thái), who took the entire movement into her house. Funds arrived and he planned to move to Thailand. He arrived in Thailand in November 1910, and all his students and followers who could, took up farming there.
