Plaek Phibunsongkhram

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Plaek Phibunsongkhram
แปลก พิบูลสงคราม
Phibunsongkhram c. 1940s
3rd Prime Minister of Thailand
In office
8 April 1948 – 16 September 1957
MonarchBhumibol Adulyadej
Deputy
Preceded byKhuang Aphaiwong
Succeeded bySarit Thanarat
(de facto)
In office
16 December 1938 – 1 August 1944
MonarchAnanda Mahidol
Deputy
Preceded byPhraya Phahon
Succeeded byKhuang Aphaiwong
Ministerial offices
1934–1957
Prayun Phamonmontri
Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army
In office
9 November 1947 – 15 May 1948
Preceded byAdun Adundetcharat
Succeeded byPhin Choonhavan
In office
4 January 1938 – 5 August 1944
Preceded byPhraya Phahon
Succeeded byPhichit Kriangsakphichit
Personal details
Born
Plaek Khittasangkha

(1897-07-14)14 July 1897
Supreme Commander
Battles/wars

Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram (

Prime Minister of Thailand
from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.

Phibunsongkhram was a member of the

Thai Cultural Revolution that included a series of cultural mandates, which changed the country's name from "Siam" to "Thailand", and promoted the Thai language
.

Phibun was ousted as prime minister by the

political instability and several attempts to launch a coup d'etat against him were made, including the Army General Staff plot in 1948, the Palace Rebellion in 1949, and the Manhattan Rebellion
in 1951. Phibun attempted to transform Thailand into an electoral democracy from the mid-1950s onward, but was overthrown in 1957 and went into exile in Japan, where he died in 1964.

At fifteen years and one month, Phibun's term as Prime Minister of Thailand was the longest to date.

Early years

Phibunsongkhram as a teenager

Phibun was born Plaek Khittasangkha (

Luang from King Prajadhipok
, and became known as Luang Phibunsongkhram. He would later drop his Luang title but permanently adopted Phibunsongkhram as his surname.

1932 revolution

In 1932, Phibun was one of the leaders of the

People's Party (Khana Ratsadon), a political organization that staged a coup d'état which overthrew Siam's absolute monarchy and replaced it with a constitutional monarchy. Phibun, at the time a lieutenant colonel, quickly rose to prominence in the military as a "man-on-horseback".[4] The 1932 coup was followed by the nationalization of several companies and increased state control
of the economy.

The following year, Phibun and his military allies successfully crushed the

.

Prime Minister of Thailand

nationalist speech to the crowds at the Ministry of Defence opposite Swasti Sopha gate of Grand Palace
in 1940.

First premiership

On 16 December 1938, Phibun replaced

Commander of the Royal Siamese Army. Phibun became a de facto dictator, and established a military dictatorship
, consolidating his position by rewarding several members of his own army clique with influential positions in his government.

After the revolution of 1932, the Thai government of Phraya Phahol was impressed by the success of the

fascist salute, modelled on the Roman salute, using it during speeches. The salute was not compulsory in Thailand, and it was opposed by Luang Wichitwathakan and many cabinet members as they believed it inappropriate for Thai culture. Together with Wichitwathakan, the Minister of Propaganda, he built a leadership cult in 1938 and thereafter. Photographs of Phibun were to be found everywhere, and those of the abdicated King Prajadhipok were banned. His quotes appeared in newspapers, were plastered on billboards, and were repeated over the radio.[citation needed
]

Thai Cultural Revolution

Thai poster from the Phibunsongkhram era, showing prohibited "uncivilised" dress on the left and proper Western-style dress on the right.

Phibun immediately promoted

new national anthem and use the standardised Thai language (not regional dialects or languages). People were encouraged to adopt Western-style attire as opposed to traditional clothing styles, and eat with Western-style utensils, such as forks and spoons, rather than with their hands as was customary in Thai culture at the time. Phibun saw these policies as necessary, in the interest of progressivism, to change Thailand's international image from that of an undeveloped country into a civilized and modern nation.[5]

Phibun's administration encouraged

Rama VI
's book Jews of the East in comparing the Teochew in Siam to the Jews in Germany, who at the time were harshly repressed.

On 24 June 1939, Phibun changed the country's official English name from

exonym
of unknown and probably foreign origin, which conflicted with Phibun's nationalist policies.

In 1941, in the midst of World War II, Phibun decreed 1 January as the official start of the new year instead of the traditional Songkran date on 13 April.

Franco-Thai War

Phibunsongkhram inspecting troops during the Franco-Thai War
Phibunsongkhram with Thai farmers in 1942 at Bang Khen

Phibun exploited the

Rama V because the French would avoid armed confrontation or offer serious resistance. Thailand fought against Vichy France over the disputed areas from October 1940 to May 1941. The technologically and numerically superior Thai force invaded French Indochina and attacked military targets in major cities. Despite Thai successes, the French tactical victory at the Battle of Ko Chang prompted intervention from the Japanese, who mediated an armistice
where the French were forced to cede the disputed territories to Thailand.

Alliance with Japan

Phibun and the Thai public viewed the outcome of the Franco-Thai War as a victory, but it resulted in the rapidly expanding Japanese gaining the right to occupy French Indochina. Although Phibun was ardently pro-Japanese, he now shared a border with them and felt threatened by a potential Japanese invasion. Phibun's administration also realised that Thailand would have to fend for itself if a Japanese invasion came, considering its deteriorating relationships with Western powers in the area.[citation needed]

When the Japanese invaded Thailand on 8 December 1941, (because of the

Malayan Campaign in a "Bicycle Blitzkrieg" with surprisingly little resistance.[8][9] On 21 December Phibun signed a military alliance with Japan. The following month, on 25 January 1942, Phibun declared war on Britain and the United States. South Africa and New Zealand declared war on Thailand on the same day. Australia followed soon after.[10] Phibun purged all who opposed the Japanese alliance from his government. Pridi Banomyong was appointed acting regent for the absent King Ananda Mahidol, while Direk Jayanama, the prominent foreign minister who had advocated continued resistance against the Japanese, was later sent to Tokyo as an ambassador. The United States considered Thailand to be a puppet state of Japan and refused to declare war on it. When the Allies were victorious, the United States blocked British efforts to impose a punitive peace.[11]

Removal

In 1944, as the Japanese neared defeat and the underground anti-Japanese

Lopburi
.

Khuang Aphaiwong replaced Phibun as prime minister, ostensibly to continue relations with the Japanese, but, in reality, to secretly assist the Free Thai Movement. At the war's end, Phibun was put on trial at Allied insistence on charges of having committed war crimes, mainly that of collaborating with the Axis powers. However, he was acquitted amid intense pressure as public opinion was still favourable to him, as he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests. Phibun's alliance with Japan had Thailand take advantage of Japanese support to expand Thai territory into Malaya and Burma.[13]

Second premiership

Plaek Phibunsongkhram at Hyde Park, New York, 1955

In November 1947, Royal Thai Army units under the control of Phibun known as the

Siamese coup d'état of 1947 which forced then-Prime Minister Thawan Thamrongnawasawat to resign. The rebels installed Khuang Aphaiwong
again as prime minister as the military coup risked international disapproval. Pridi Phanomyong was persecuted but was aided by British and US intelligence officers, and thus managed to escape the country. On 8 April 1948, Phibun assumed the position of Prime Minister after the military forced Khuang out of office.

Phibun's second premiership was notably different, abandoning the fascist styling and rhetoric that characterised his first premiership, and instead promoted a façade of democracy. The beginning of the

communist forces of North Korea and the People's Republic of China. Phibun's anti-Chinese campaign was resumed, with the government restricting Chinese immigration and undertaking various measures to restrict economic domination of the Thai market by those of Chinese descent. Chinese schools and associations were once again shut down. Despite open pro-Western and anti-Chinese policies, in the late 1950s Phibun arranged to send two of the children of Sang Phathanothai, his closest advisor, to China with the intention of establishing a backdoor channel for dialogue between China and Thailand. Sirin Phathanothai, aged eight, and her brother, aged twelve, were sent to be brought up under the assistants of Premier Zhou Enlai as his wards. Sirin later wrote The Dragon's Pearl
, an autobiography telling her experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s among the leaders of China.

Phibun was reportedly thrilled by the democracy and

free elections. Phibun founded and became chairman of his own new political party, the Seri Manangkhasila Party, which was dominated by the most influential in the military and the government. The Employment Act of January 1957 legalized trade unions, limited weekly working hours, regulated holidays and overtime, and instituted health and safety regulations. The International Workers' Day
became a public holiday.

Power play

Thai Triumvirate, 1947–1957
Field Marshal
Sarit Thanarat
Police Gen.
Phao Siyanon
The other is Phibunsongkhram.

Phibun's second premiership was longer but plagued with

political instability
, and there were numerous attempts to oppose his rule and remove him from power. Unlike his first premiership, Phibun faced noticeable opposition from people connected to the Free Thai Movement due to his alliance with the Japanese, including from within the military. Additionally, Phibun was indebted to the powerful Coup Group that had returned him to power.

On 1 October 1948, the unsuccessful

Army General Staff Plot
was launched by members of the army general staff to topple his government, but failed when discovered by the Coup Group. As a result, more than fifty army and reserve officers and several prominent supporters of Pridi Phanomyong were arrested.

On 26 February 1949, the Palace Rebellion was another failed coup attempt against Phibun to restore Pridi Phanomyong by occupying the Grand Palace in Bangkok and declaring a new government led by Direk Jayanama, a close associate of Pridi. The civilian rebels were quickly ousted from the palace, but fighting broke out between military rebels and loyalists which lasted for over a week.

On 29 June 1951, Phibun was attending a ceremony aboard the Manhattan, a US dredge boat, when he was taken hostage by a group of Royal Thai Navy officers, who then quickly confined him aboard the warship Sri Ayutthaya. Negotiations between the government and the coup organizers swiftly broke down, leading to violent street fighting in Bangkok between the navy and the army, which was supported by the Royal Thai Air Force. Phibun was able to escape and swim back to shore when the Sri Ayutthaya was bombed by the air force, and with their hostage gone, the navy were forced to lay down their arms.

"...tell your father [Pridi] that I want [him] to come back [and] help me work for the nation. I alone can no longer contest Sakdina."[14]

Plaek to one of Pridi's sons in June 1957.

On 29 November 1951, the

unicameral legislature composed equally of elected and government-appointed members, and allowed serving military officers to supplement their commands with important ministerial portfolios
.

In 1956, it became clearer that Plaek, allied to Phao, was losing to another influential group led by Sarit which consisted of "Sakdina" (royalties and royalists). Both Plaek and Phao intended to bring home Pridi Banomyong to clear his name from the mystery around the death of King Rama VIII. However, the US government disapproved, and they cancelled the plan.[14]

1957 coup and exile

Phibunsongkhram in 1957
On 31 October 1956, the monk Bhumibalo visited the Government House. Phibun is on the right.

In February 1957, public opinion turned against Phibun at the end of his second term when his party was suspected of fraudulent practices during an election, including the intimidation of the opposition, buying votes, and

aristocratic prime minister had always sought to limit the role of the monarchy to a constitutional minimum and had taken on religious functions that traditionally belonged to the monarch. For example, Phibun led the celebrations of the 2500th anniversary of Buddhism in 1956/57 instead of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was openly critical of Phibun. On 16 September 1957, Phibun was eventually overthrown in a coup d'etat by members of the Royal Thai Army under the command of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who had earlier sworn to be Phibun's most loyal subordinate. Sarit was supported by many royalists who wanted to regain a foothold, and there were rumours that the United States was "deeply involved" in the coup.[15]

Phibun was then forced into exile after the coup, first fleeing to

]

Death

Phibun died on 11 June 1964 from heart failure while in exile in

Bang Khen
.

Honours

Noble titles

  • 7 May 1928:
    Luang
    Phibunsongkhram
    (หลวงพิบูลสงคราม)
  • 15 May 1942: Abolition of nobility

Military rank

Thai decorations

Plaek Phibunsongkhram received the following royal decorations in the

Honours System of Thailand:[18]

Foreign honours

Academic rank

See also

References

  1. ^ (in Thai)ผู้นำทางการเมืองไทยกับสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 2: จอมพล ป.พิบูลสงคราม และ ปรีดี พนมยงค์ Archived 27 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. . Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  3. ^ Ansil Ramsay (2001). Grant H. Cornwell; Eve Walsh Stoddard (eds.). The Chinese in Thailand: Ethnicity, Power and Cultural Opportunity Structures. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 63. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "man on horseback". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 30 June 2011. n. A man, usually a military leader, whose popular influence and power may afford him the position of dictator, as in a time of political crisis
  5. S2CID 162373204
    .
  6. ^ Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War, Vol 3, The Grand Alliance, p.548 Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1950
  7. ^ "Pattaya Mail – Pattaya's First English Language Newspaper". pattayamail.com.
  8. ^ Ford, Daniel (June 2008). "Colonel Tsuji of Malaya (part 2)". Warbirds Forum. Retrieved 30 June 2011. Though outnumbered two-to-one, the Japanese never stopped to consolidate their gains, to rest or regroup or resupply; they came down the main roads on bicycles.
  9. ^ "The Swift Japanese Assault". National Archives of Singapore. 2002. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2011. Even the long-legged Englishmen could not escape our troops on bicycles.
  10. ^ "Columns". pattayamail.com.
  11. ^ I.C.B Dear, ed, The Oxford companion to World War II (1995) p 1107
  12. ^ Roeder, Eric (Fall 1999). "The Origin and Significance of the Emerald Buddha". Southeast Asian Studies. 3. Southeast Asian Studies Student Association. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011. Judith A. Stowe, Siam becomes Thailand (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991), pp. 228-283
  13. ^ a b "สมศักดิ์ เจียมธีรสกุล: พูนศุข พนมยงค์ ให้สัมภาษณ์กรณีสวรรคต พฤษภาคม 2500". prachatai.com.
  14. JSTOR 446100
    – via JSTOR.
  15. ^ "Data" (PDF). ratchakitcha.soc.go.th. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Data" (PDF). ratchakitcha.soc.go.th. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  17. ^ Biography of Field Marshal P. Archived 26 August 2002 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Thai Army website. Retrieved on 4 December 2008.
  18. ^ Royal Thai Government Gazette. แจ้งความสำนักนายกรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง ให้ประดับเครื่องราชอิสสริยาภรณ์ต่างประเทศ Vol. 56 Page 3594 on 11 March 1939
  19. ^ a b ราชกิจจานุเบกษา, แจ้งความสำนักคณะรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานพระบรมราชานุญาตประดับเครื่องอิสริยาภรณ์ต่างประเทศ, เล่ม ๗๒ ตอนที่ ๖๓ ง หน้า ๒๐๘๕, ๙ สิงหาคม ๒๔๙๘
  20. ^ "Data" (PDF). ratchakitcha.soc.go.th. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2021.

Bibliography

External links