Plaek Phibunsongkhram

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Field Marshal
Plaek Phibunsongkhram
PChW MPCh MWM NR
แปลก พิบูลสงคราม
Plaek Pibulsonggram.jpg
3rd Prime Minister of Thailand
In office
December 16, 1938 – August 1, 1944
Monarch Ananda Mahidol
Preceded by Phraya Phahol Pholphayuhasena
Succeeded by Khuang Abhaiwongse
In office
April 8, 1948 – September 16, 1957
Monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej
Preceded by Khuang Abhaiwongse
Succeeded by Pote Sarasin
Personal details
Born (1897-07-14)July 14, 1897
Nonthaburi, Nonthaburi, Thailand
Died June 11, 1964(1964-06-11) (aged 66)
Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan
Nationality Thai
Political party Khana Ratsadon (1927-)
Seri Manangkasila Party (1955-1957)
Spouse(s) La-iad Bhandhukravi
Religion Buddhism
Military service
Service/branch Royal Thai Army
Years of service 1914 - 1957
Rank Field Marshal
Commands Supreme Commander

Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Thai: แปลก พิบูลสงคราม; Thai pronunciation: [plɛ̀ːk pʰíbuːnsǒŋkʰrāːm]; alternatively transcribed as Pibulsongkram or Pibulsonggram; July 14, 1897-June 11, 1964), contemporarily known as Luang Pibulsonggram, often as Phibunsongkhram (Pibul Songgram) or simply Phibun (Pibul) in Western, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.

Contents

Early years [edit]

He was born Plaek Khittasangkha in Nonthaburi Province to Keed Khittasangkha and his wife.[1] Keed was of Chinese-Thai heritage; his father was a Cantonese-speaking Chinese immigrant.[2] His parents owned a durian orchard. He received his given name - Plaek, meaning "strange" in Thai - because of his unusual appearance as a child. Plaek Khittasangkha studied at Buddhist temple schools, then was appointed to Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. He graduated in 1914 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the artillery. Following World War I, he was sent to study artillery tactics in France. In 1928, as he rose in rank, he received the honorary title of Luang from King Prajadhipok and became Luang Phibunsongkhram. He would later adopt Phibunsongkhram as his surname.

1932 Revolution [edit]

Phibunsongkhram was one of the leaders of the military branch of the People's Party (Khana Ratsadon) that staged a coup d'état and overthrew the absolute monarchy in 1932. Then-Lieutenant Colonel Phibunsongkhram rose to prominence as a man-on-horseback.[3]

Abdication of the king [edit]

The following year, Phibunsongkhram, along with officers allied in the same cause, successfully crushed the Boworadet Rebellion. This was a royalist revolt led by Prince Boworadet. While King Prajadhipok was never directly involved in the rebellion, it marked the beginning of a slide which ended in his 1935 abdication and replacement by King Ananda Mahidol. As the new King was still a child and studying in Switzerland, the parliament appointed Colonel Prince Anuwatjaturong, Lieutenant Commander Prince Artit Thip-apa, and Chao Phraya Yommaraj (Pun Sukhum) as his Regents.

Prime Minister of Thailand [edit]

Phibunsongkhram in tradition uniform.

In 1938, Phibunsongkhram replaced Phraya Phahol as Prime Minister, and consolidated his position by rewarding several members of his own army clique with influential positions in his government.

Phibunsongkhram began to increase the pace of modernisation in Thailand. By manipulating the mass media, Phibulsonggram supported fascism and nationalism. Together with Luang Wichitwathakan, the Minister of Propaganda, he built a leadership cult in 1938 and thereafter. Photographs of Phibunsongkhram 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 poster from the Marshal Plaek era, noting prohibited "uncivilised" dress on the left, and proper western dress on the right.

"Aimed to uplift the national spirit and moral code of the nation and instilling progressive tendencies and a newness into Thai life", a series of Cultural Mandates were issued by the government. These mandates encouraged that all Thais were to salute the flag in public places, know the new national anthem, and use the Thai language, not regional dialects. People were encouraged to adopt western attire, as opposed to the traditional dress of Thai men and women. Similarly, people were encouraged to eat with a fork and spoon, rather than their traditional hands. In Phibunsongkhram's perspective, these policies were necessary for Thailand to change the minds of foreigners that Thailand was an undeveloped and barbaric country. In the interest in progressivism, Thailand needed to be recognised by foreigners as a civilized and modernized country.

In 1939, Phibunsongkhram changed the country's name from Siam to Thailand. In 1941, in the midst of World War II, he decreed January 1 as the official start of the new year instead of the traditional April 13. On 5 August 1941, Thailand joined a group of nations that recognized the puppet state of Manchukuo.

His administration also encouraged economic nationalism, in which the Thai people were to purchase as many Thai products as possible and therefore destroy the Chinese proportion in markets. Anti-Chinese policies were imposed. In a speech in 1938, Luang Wichitwathakan compared the Chinese in Siam to the Jews in Germany.

While ardently pro-Japanese at the beginning, Phibunsongkhram and his administration soon considerably, but cordially, distanced itself from Japan following the aftermath of the French-Thai War, which lasted from October 1940 to May 1941, when Japanese territorial ambitions were skilfully realized during the peace talks. The Japanese gained the right to occupy French Indo-China. Being threatened by the war, Phibunsongkhram stated that the Japanese would be the transgressors. The administration also realized that Thailand would fend for itself when the Japanese invasion came, considering the deteriorating relationships with the major Western powers in the area.

Alliance with Japan [edit]

When the Japanese invaded Thailand on December 8, 1941, (because of the international date line this occurred an hour and a half before the attack on Pearl Harbor),[4] hesitant Phibunsongkhram was reluctantly forced to order a general ceasefire after just one day of resistance and allow the Japanese armies to use the country as a base for their invasions of Burma and Malaya.[5] Hesitancy, however, gave way to enthusiasm and sent his army to support Japan when the Japanese rolled their way through Malaya in a "Bicycle Blitzkrieg" with surprisingly little resistance.[6][7] On December 12, Phibunsongkhram signed a military alliance with Japan. The following month, on January 25, 1942, Phibunsongkhram 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.[8] All who opposed the alliance were sacked from his government. Pridi Phanomyong 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 the Thai ambassador to Japan.

As Japan neared defeat and the underground Seri Thai anti-Japanese resistance steadily grew in strength, the pro-Seri Thai National Assembly forced out Phibunsongkhram. His six-year reign as the military commander-in-chief was at an end. His resignation was partly forced by two grandiose plans. One was to relocate the capital from Bangkok to a remote site in the jungle near Phetchabun in northern Thailand. The other was to build a "Buddhist city" near Saraburi. Announced during a time of economic difficulty, these plans turned many government officers against him.[9] Phibunsongkhram went to stay at the army headquarters in Lopburi.

Khuang Abhaiwongse replaced him as Prime Minister, ostensibly to continue relations with the Japanese, but in reality secretly assisting the Seri Thai underground.

At the war's end, Phibunsongkhram 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 amidst intense public pressure. Public opinion was favourable to Phibunsongkhram as he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests.[10]

Coup, second premiership and more coups [edit]

Plaek Phibunsongkhram at Hyde Park, New York, 1955
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In November 1947, Army units under the control of Phibunsongkhram carried out a coup which forced then Prime Minister Thawal Thamrong Navaswadhi to resign. Khuang was again installed as Prime Minister as the military coup risked international disapproval. Pridi Phanomyong was persecuted. He was, however, aided by British and American intelligence officers, and thus managed to escape the country. On April 8, 1948, the military forced Khuang out of office and Phibunsongkhram assumed his second premiership.

On October 1, 1948, the unsuccessful Army General Staff Plot was launched to topple the government of Phibunsongkhram. As a result of this plot, more than fifty Army and Reservist and several prominent supporters of Pridi Phanomyong were arrested.

A Palace Rebellion in 1949 was another failed coup attempt. The aims of its plotters were to overthrow the government of Phibunsongkhram and to restore his main civilian rival Pridi Phanomyong to the Thai political scene.

Instead of the Fascism that characterized his first premiership, Phibunsongkhram and his regime promoted a façade of Democracy. American aid was received in large quantities following Thailand's entry into the Korean War as part of the United Nations' multi-national allied force in the Cold War against the communists.

Phibunsongkhram'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 Phibunsongkhram arranged to send to China two of the children of Sang Phathanothai, his closest advisor, with the intention of establishing a backdoor channel for dialogue between China and Thailand. The girl, aged eight, and her brother, aged twelve, were sent to be brought up under the assistants of Premier Zhou Enlai as his wards; the girl, Sirin Phathanothai later wrote The Dragon's Pearl an autobiography telling her experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s among the leaders of China.

On June 29, 1951, Phibunsongkhram was attending a ceremony aboard the Manhattan dredge when he was taken hostage by a group of naval officers, who then quickly confined him on board 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 Air Force. Phibunsongkhram was able to swim back ashore when the Sri Ayutthaya was bombed by the Air Force. With their hostage gone, the sailors and marines were forced to lay down their arms.

On November 29, 1951, the "Silent Coup," was staged by the Army-led Coup Group and it consolidated the military's hold on the country. It reinstated the Constitution of 1932, which effectively eliminated the Senate, established a unicameral legislature composed equally of elected and government-appointed members, and allowed serving military officers to supplement their commands with important ministerial portfolios.

On November 13, 1956, Thailand's Criminal Code BE 2499 was signed into law by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the present king of Thailand. Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram countersigned the Code.

Sarit seizes power [edit]

At the end of his second term, suspicions of fraudulent practices during an election emerged. The American-equipped Thai army played a major role in the coup d'état of 1957, and the United States was "deeply involved"[11] The resulting unrest led to a second coup in October 1958 by Field Marshal Sarit Dhanaraj, who had earlier sworn to be Phibun's most loyal subordinate. Sarit was supported by many royalists who wanted to regain their foothold in Thailand's royalty. Phibunsongkhram was then forced into exile in Japan. He lived there until his death in 1964.

Royal decorations [edit]

Plaek Phibunsongkhram received the following royal decorations in the Honours System of Thailand:[12]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ (Thai) ผู้นำทางการเมืองไทยกับสงครามโลกครั้งที่ 2: จอมพล ป.พิบูลสงคราม และ ปรีดี พนมยงค์
  2. ^ Benjamin et al., 1990, p. 64, ...Phibun was a Thai by nature. Although it was said that his grandfather was a Cantonese, he had no features of an overseas Chinese.
  3. ^ "man on horseback". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved June 30, 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" 
  4. ^ Churchill, Winston S. The Second World War, Vol 3, The Grand Alliance, p.548 Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1950
  5. ^ A Slice of Thai History: The Japanese invasion of Thailand, 8 December 1941 (part one)
  6. ^ Ford, Daniel (June). "Colonel Tsuji of Malaya (part 2)". The Warbirds forum. Retrieved June 30, 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" 
  7. ^ "The Swift Japanese Assault". National Archives of Singapore. 2002. Retrieved June 30, 2011. "Even the long legged Englishmen could not escape our troops on bicycles." 
  8. ^ A Slice of Thai History: The Japanese invasion of Thailand, 8 December 1941 (part three)
  9. ^ Roeder, Eric (Fall 1999). "The Origin and Significance of the Emerald Buddha". Southeast Asian Studies Vol. 3. Southeast Asian Studies Student Association. Retrieved June 30, 2011. "Judith A. Stowe, Siam becomes Thailand (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991), pp. 228-283." 
  10. ^ Aldrich, Richard J. The Key to the South: Britain, the United States, and Thailand during the Approach of the Pacific War, 1929-1942. Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN 0-19-588612-7
  11. ^ Western Political Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Mar., 1962), pp. 93-110
  12. ^ Biography of Field Marshal P., Royal Thai Army website. Retrieved on December 4, 2008.

Bibliography [edit]

  • Batson, Benjamin Arthur; Shimuzu, Hajime; Asada, Shunsuke; The Tragedy of Wanit: A Japanese account of wartime Thai politics, Issue 1 of Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, Dept. of History, National University of Singapore, 1990, ISBN 9971622467

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Plaek Pibulsonggram
  • Duncan Stearn:A Slice of Thai History: The Japanese invasion of Thailand, 8 December 1941 [1] (part one) [2] (part two) [3] (part three)
Preceded by
Phraya Phahol Pholphayuhasena		 Prime Minister of Thailand
1938–1944		 Succeeded by
Khuang Abhaiwongse
Preceded by
Khuang Abhaiwongse		 Prime Minister of Thailand
1948–1957		 Succeeded by
Pote Sarasin
Flag of the Prime Minister of Thailand.svg
  • "italics" indicate military officeholders
  • "†" indicate acting or caretaker officeholders.


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