Phao Siyanon
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Police General Phao Siyanon เผ่า ศรียานนท์ | |
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Minister of Interior | |
In office 31 March 1957 – 16 September 1957 | |
Prime Minister | Plaek Phibunsongkhram |
Preceded by | Plaek Phibunsongkhram |
Succeeded by | Praphas Charusathien |
Director-General of the Royal Thai Police | |
In office 2 July 1957 – 14 September 1957 | |
Preceded by | Luang Charttrakankosol |
Succeeded by | Luang Charttrakankosol |
Director of the Department of Administrative Intelligence | |
In office 15 January 1954 – 14 September 1957 | |
Prime Minister | Plaek Phibunsongkhram |
Personal details | |
Born | 1 March 1910 Bangkok, Siam |
Died | 21 November 1960 Geneva, Switzerland | (aged 50)
Spouse | Udomlak Siyanon |
Children | Phonglak Prasatwinitchai |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Branch/service | Royal Thai Police |
Rank | General Admiral Air Chief Marshal Police General |
Police General Phao Siyanon (Thai: เผ่า ศรียานนท์, also spelled Sriyanond and Sriyanon; 1 March 1910 – 21 November 1960) was a director general of Thailand's national police who was notorious for his excesses against political opponents. He eventually fled the country and died in exile.
Rise to power
An ambitious army officer of Thai-Burmese ancestry,
Made deputy director of the police, Phao quickly staged a show trial of the alleged "assassins" of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), in which three members of the palace staff were found guilty despite a lack of evidence and were eventually executed even though they had earlier been found innocent.
Police terror
Phao was promoted to the position of director of the police in 1951, by which time he had become one of the country's all-powerful triumvirate. A client of the
Phao established an intimate circle of police officers, known generally as the "knights of the diamond ring", which was notorious for its treatment of opponents of the government and the police generals, even resorting to assassination and murder. Their crimes were many:
- In March 1949, four MPs from Isanand an associate, all one-time disciples of the exiled Pridi, were arrested on charges of treason. They were shot dead by their police escort while supposedly being transferred from one jail to another.
- On 12 December 1952, Kanchanaburi Province.
- A successful newspaper publisher, Ari Liwara, refused to sell out to Phao and was killed in March 1953.
- In 1954 Phon Malithong, MP for Samut Sakhon who provided evidence of corruption against Phao in Parliament, was found tied to a concrete pier in the Chao Phraya River, having first been strangled.
Phao was extremely wealthy. He demanded protection money from businessmen, rigged the gold exchange, and blackmailed corporations into giving him huge shareholdings. He also profited greatly from the opium trade. Police units transferred opium from the poppy fields of the
Downfall and exile
Phao lost power when Phibun was overthrown by Sarit Thanarat in 1957. He fled to Switzerland, where he died at the age of 50.
Honour
- 1952 - Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
- 1951 - Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Noble Order of the Crown
- 1953 - Dame Grand Commander of the Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao
- 1941 - Victory Medal - Franco-Thai War
- 1934 - Safeguarding the Constitution Medal
- 1943 - Medal for Service Rendered in the Interior
- 1956 - Border Service Medal
- 1942 - Chakra Mala Medal
- 1950 - King Rama VIII Royal Cypher Medal, 2nd Class
- 1953 - King Rama IX Royal Cypher Medal, 2nd Class
- 1950 - King Rama IX Coronation Medal
- 1932 - 150 Years Commemoration of Bangkok Medal
- 1957 - 25th Buddhist Century Celebration Medal
Foreign Honour
- Taiwan :
- Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Tripod (1954)
- Kingdom of Laos :
- Cambodia :
- Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Sahametrei (1955)
- USA :
- Commander of the Legion of Merit (1955)
Military rank
Police rank
- Police General[5]
Volunteer Defense Corps of Thailand rank
References
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica[full citation needed]
- ^ "One big happy family in Cambodia". Archived from the original on 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
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