Thanat Khoman
Thanat Khoman | |
---|---|
ถนัด คอมันตร์ | |
![]() Thanat Khoman c. 1975 | |
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand | |
In office 11 March 1981 – 19 March 1983 | |
Prime Minister | Prem Tinsulanonda |
In office 3 March 1980 – 28 February 1981 | |
Prime Minister | Prem Tinsulanonda |
Leader of the Democrat Party | |
In office 26 May 1979 – 3 April 1982 | |
Preceded by | Seni Pramoj |
Succeeded by | Bhichai Rattakul |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 20 February 1959 – 17 November 1971 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Prince Wan Waithayakon |
Succeeded by | Thanom Kittikachorn |
Personal details | |
Born | Bangkok, Siam | 9 May 1914
Died | 3 March 2016 Bangkok, Thailand | (aged 101)
Nationality | Thai |
Political party | Democrat Party |
Other political affiliations | Free Thai Movement |
Spouse | Molee Khoman |
Alma mater | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch/service | ![]() |
Years of service | 1963–2016[citation needed] |
Rank | ![]() |
Thanat Khoman (also Thanad; Thai: ถนัด คอมันตร์; RTGS: Thanat Khoman, 9 May 1914 – 3 March 2016)[3][4] was a Thai diplomat and politician. He was foreign minister from 1959 to 1971, leader of the Democrat Party from 1979 to 1982, and deputy prime minister from 1980 to 1983. He died at the age of 101 on 3 March 2016, a couple of months shy of his 102nd birthday.[5]
Early life
Thanat was born in Bangkok and came from a Thai Chinese family. His father, Phraya Phiphaksa Satayathipatai (Po Khoman) was one of Siam's first law school graduates and a judge on the Supreme Court of Thailand. Thanat attended Assumption College in Bangkok, before he went to France, graduating from a Bordeaux lycée. Supplied with a scholarship from the Thai foreign ministry, he continued his studies in Bordeaux and Paris, earning degrees from the Institute of Higher International Studies (IHEI) and Sciences Po in 1939, as well as a doctor of law degree from the University of Paris in 1940.[6][7]
Diplomatic career
After his return to Thailand, Thanat was obliged to join the diplomatic service, as the foreign ministry had financed his studies. During World War II he was stationed as a second secretary at the Thai embassy in Tokyo from 1941 to 1943. During this time, the Thai-Japanese agreement of 1942 was concluded, allowing Japanese troops to march through Thailand and use it as a base for attacks on British Burma and Malaya and leading to Thailand's entry into the war on the Axis side. However, Thanat disagreed with what was perceived as a virtual Japanese occupation of Thailand and joined the Seri Thai ("Free Thai") resistance movement that was supported by the British Force 136 and the American OSS. In February 1945, he was a member of a secret delegation to the Allied South East Asia Command in Kandy, Ceylon.[8][9]
After the Second World War, he held a number of diplomatic posts, including chargé d'affaires at the Thai embassies in Washington, D.C. and Delhi.[8] In 1950 he was chosen as the chairman of the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) in New York City. From 1952 to 1957 he served as the deputy to the Permanent Representative from Thailand to the United Nations. In 1957 he was promoted to the post of the Ambassador of Thailand to the United States.
Political career
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/JFK_Thanat_Khoman.jpg/220px-JFK_Thanat_Khoman.jpg)
On 10 February 1959, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand in the government of authoritarian Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat. His major contribution was in promoting regional reconciliation and cooperation in Southeast Asia. He was a participant in SEATO talks in 1961.[10] In March 1962 he signed a joint communiqué with United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk in which the United States promised Thailand support and defense against potential communist aggression. Despite being only an informal protocol, it was celebrated in Thailand as a bilateral pact of the two countries, dubbed the Thanat–Rusk Communiqué.[11][12]
In the 1960s Thanat played a key role in mediating between Indonesia and Malaysia. The choice of Bangkok as the founding place of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on 8 August 1967 was an expression of respect for his active role in the formation of this institution. On 17 November 1971 he resigned his post after a coup d'état.
After his resignation as foreign minister, Thanat entered national politics in 1979 and served as chairman of the Democrat Party until 1982. Between 1980 and 1982 he was also deputy prime minister in the government of Prem Tinsulanonda. In 1982 he retired from political life. He celebrated his 100th birthday in 2014.[13] His wife, Molee, is a maternal granddaughter of Tan Kim Ching.[14]
Honours
- 1968 -
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Chula Chom Klao[15]
- 1968 -
Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the White Elephant
- 1960 -
Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand
- 1966 -
Dushdi Mala - Medal for Distinguished Services in Arts and Sciences (Silpa Vidhya)
- 1942 -
Medal for Service in the Interior - Indochina
- 1963 -
Border Service Medal
- 1966 -
Chakrabarti Mala Medal
- 1960 -
King Rama IX Royal Cypher Medal 2nd
Foreign honours
1949 - Special Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star
1963 - Purple Grand Cordon of the Order of Brilliant Star
1961 - Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
1961 - Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
1961 - Grand Cross of the Order of Christ
1961 - Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog
1961 - Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav
1961 - Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star
1961 - Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
1961 - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX
1961 - Grand Cordon of the Ordre de Leopold
1961 - Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
1961 - Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown
1962 - Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of the Realm
1963 - Grand Cordon 1st Class of the Order of the Rising Sun
1963 - Grand Cross of the Royal Order of George I
1964 - Exceptional class of the Order of Kim Khanh
1966 - Recipient of the Order of Service Merit (1st class)
??? - Grand Collar of the Order of Lakandula
??? - Grand Cross of the Order of Sikatuna
??? - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Menelik II
??? - Grand Cross of the Order of the Liberator General San Martín
??? - Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
??? - Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross
??? - Sash of the Order of the Aztec Eagle
??? - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
See also
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ "สิ้น"ถนัด คอมันตร์"วัย 102 ปี". 3 March 2016.
- ^ http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2506/D/017/465.PDF [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Khoman, Sirilaksana (2014). Thanat Khoman: The Formative Years (แด่พ่อที่รักของลูก) (in Thai). Bangkok. p. 60. ISBN 9789744018243.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "สิ้นแล้ว! ถนัด คอมันตร์ ด้วยโรคชรา อายุ 102 ปี" (in Thai). The Nation Broadcasting Corporation Limited. 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-03-03.
- ^ Paddock, Richard C. (7 March 2016). "Thanat Khoman, Thai Statesman and Co-Founder of Asian Alliance, Dies at 101". The New York Times.
- ^ Marjorie Dent Candee, ed. (1958). Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson. p. 226.
- ^ "Thai Foreign Minister to Lecture at Gaston". The Hoya. 24 October 1968. p. 3.
- ^ a b Judith A. Stowe (1991). Siam Becomes Thailand: A Story of Intrigue. C. Hurst & Co. p. 377.
- ^ E. Bruce Reynolds (2004). Thailand's Secret War: OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press. p. 291. ISBN 9780511081026.
- ^ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "SEATO May Decide War Or Peace". March 26, 1961, p. 6. Retrieved on May 29, 2013.
- ^ Louis J. Smith; David H. Herschler (2003). Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969-1976. Foreign Relations of the United States. Vol. I. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. pp. 181–182.
- ^ Arne Kislenko, "The Vietnam War, Thailand, and the United States" in Richard Jensen et al. eds. Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century(Praeger, 2003) pp 217–245.
- ^ Somkiat Onwimon (2014-02-26). บันทึกอาเซียนกับ ดร.สมเกียรติ อ่อนวิมล. Daily News (in Thai). Archived from the original on 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-08-14.
- ^ "Bangkok Travelbug - November 10 - The Siamese-Singapore connection". Tour Bangkok Legacies. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ ราชกิจจานุเบกษา, แจ้งความสำนักคณะรัฐมนตรี เรื่อง พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์, เล่ม ๗๕, ตอน ๓๙ ง, ๒๐ พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. ๒๕๑๑
- Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
- Deputy Prime Ministers of Thailand
- Ambassadors of Thailand to the United States
- Recipients of the Dushdi Mala Medal, Pin of Arts and Science
- Thai centenarians
- Men centenarians
- Thai people of Chinese descent
- Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur
- Recipients of the Order of the Liberator General San Martin
- Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria
- Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau
- Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Grand Crosses of the Order of George I
- Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun
- Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Pope Pius IX
- Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
- 1914 births
- 2016 deaths
- Thai diplomats
- Grand Collars of the Order of Lakandula
- University of Bordeaux alumni