Phuket History
Struggle For Democracy
 In
June 1932, during the reign of King Prajadhipok Rama VII (1893-1941),
a small group of Thai military and political leaders organized a
successful revolt against the government, until then an absolute
monarchy. The insurgents, led by Pridi Phanomyong and Colonel Phibul
Songgram, proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. In March 1935 Rama
VII abdicated in favor of his nephew, Prince Ananda Mahidol (1924-46).
In 1932 Phuket Island was made a separate province
The new government was very nationalistic and became an active supporter
of Japanese initiatives that promoted "Asia for Asians"
as a foreign policy. In 1933, Thailand abstained from voting on
a motion to condemn Japan for occupying Manchuria. One of its first
parliamentary acts was to invalidate all treaties with foreign nations,
and greatly enhance the budgets for the army and navy. In September
1939 Thailand declared its neutrality but continued to openly side
with Japan. In June 1940 Thailand signed non-aggression pacts with
Britain and France.
In September 1940 with Japanese encouragement and
support, Phibul's government made demands on occupied France, to
return territory ceded in and after 1893. In November 1940 the Thai
army attacked and occupied parts of Laos and Cambodia. The dispute
was settled, with Japanese mediation, in January 1941. By the terms
of the settlement, Thailand received part of western Cambodia and
all of Laos west of the Mekong River. There was in Thailand great
rejoicing in reasserting control over this territory and the relations
between Japan and Thailand became increasingly friendly thereafter.
On December 8, 1941, a few hours after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan demanded the right to move troops
across the country to the Malayan frontier. The Japanese landed
at Bangkok and at several locations along the east coast of southern
Thailand. The Thai army put up a nominal resistance for some six
to eight hours before determining it would be impossible to defend
the kingdom from the Japanese and granted them free passage. On
December 21, 1941, Thailand and Japan signed an alliance with a
secret protocol wherein Tokyo agreed to help Thailand get back territories
lost and Thailand undertook to assist Japan in her war against Allied
forces. Japan made a pledge to respect the sovereignty and independence
of Thailand. On January 25, 1942 Thailand declared war on the United
States and Great Britain.
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The Thai version of history during WWII is largely
at variance with the facts, and is usually summarized with a few
very short sentences in Thai history books. Regarding war crimes
committed in Thailand during the war there is near total amnesia.
Thailand allowed the Japanese to move Allied POWs (prisoners of
war) to central Thailand where they were forced to work on a railroad
link with Burma (made famous with the movie ‘Bridge over the
River Kwai’). At least 16,000 Allied POW’s, and 100,000
plus Asian workers were starved and worked to death on Thai soil
and are buried outside of Kanchanaburi. In May 1944 Allied planes
intensified the bombing campaign on Bangkok and targets throughout
Thailand. In July 1944 with the war going badly for the Japanese,
Phibul's pro-Japanese government was voted out by the Thai parliament.
Under the new prime minister, and with the support and leadership
of pro-western Pridi Phanomyong considerable sympathy for the Allied
cause developed among the Thai people.
After the war ended, Thailand was in an awkward
position it that it was neither an occupied country nor a liberated
one. Thailand was allowed to nullify its declaration of war against
the United States, sparing Thailand the ignominy of becoming part
of the defeated Axis alliance. Thailand over the objections of several
neighboring countries and Britain avoided prosecution for war crimes.
To prevent Thailand from gaining any territory from its duplicity
during the war, Thailand was obliged to conclude a treaty with Great
Britain and India, renouncing, among other things, its claims to
Malayan and Burmese territory obtained during the war. In November
1946 Thailand reached an agreement with France providing for the
return to France of the territory obtained in 1941.
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A civilian government under Seni Pramoj led the
nation between 1945 and 1946. Meanwhile, on June 9, 1946, King Ananda
Mahidol (Rama VIII) was killed under mysterious circumstances. A
regency was appointed to rule until his brother (the current king)
and successor, King Rama IX, came of age. Thailand was admitted
to the United Nations on December 15, 1946, becoming the 55th member.
 In
1947 a bloodless military coup brought General Phibul Songgram back
to power. Except for a brief period early in 1948, Phibul retained
control of the government until 1957. His regime, essentially a
dictatorship, based its foreign policy on maintaining close relations
with the U.S. and Great Britain. On November 29, 1951, a group of
army officers seized control of the government in a coup d'état
and reestablished the authoritarian constitution of 1932. Phibul
was retained as premier. In September 1957, Phibul's government
was overthrown by a military coup d'état led by General Sarit Thanarat,
commander in chief of the Thai armed forces. A coalition government
was formed in January 1958 under the premiership of General Thanom
Kittikachorn. Another coup in October 1958, again headed by General
Sarit, overthrew the General Thanom government. The constitution
was suspended, a state of martial law was proclaimed, and all political
parties were banned. A permanent constitution was promulgated in
June 1968 (it lasted a little over three years) and parliamentary
elections were held in February 1969. In November 1971 the military,
led by General Thanom, abolished the new constitution and dissolved
Parliament. In December 1972 a new constitution was proclaimed.
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General Thanom was replaced in 1973, after a series
of student-led demonstrations against the military government initiated
public demand for demographic reforms. In late 1974 a new constitution
was approved, and a freely elected government was formed in early
1975. Stability, however, remained elusive, and new elections in
April 1976 made little difference. In September of that year the
return of former Prime Minister Thanom from exile in Singapore
led to bloody battles in Bangkok between students and his right-wing
supporters. In early October, as disorder was spreading, a military
group led by Admiral Sa-ngad Chaloryu seized control of the country
and installed a conservative government. A year later, however,
that government also was brought down by Sa-ngad and his group,
who charged a new cabinet with trying to bridge the divisions of
Thai society and improve relations with the neighboring Communist
regimes. Yet another constitution was promulgated in December 1978,
and in April 1979 elections were held for a new house of representatives.
The military-installed government, however, remained in power for
another year, when it was faced with a vote of no confidence and
resigned. A new cabinet, headed by General Prem Tinsulanonda, took
power in March 1980. Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, the new prime minister,
survived attempted coups in 1981 and 1985 and remained prime minister
following elections in 1981 and 1986. Invited to remain in office
after elections in 1988, Prem unexpectedly refused and ex-General
Chatichai Choonhavan became prime minister.
In February 1991, the military overthrew the Chatchai
government in a bloodless coup, and handed power to the newly formed
National Peace-Keeping Council (NPKC) led by General Suchinda Kraprayoon.
It was Thailand’s 19th coup attempt and one of ten successful
coups since 1932 however it was only the second coup to overthrow
a democratically elected civilian government. At the time of the
coup General Chatchai had served longer than any elected prime minister
in Thailand’s’ history 2 year and seven months. Charging
Chatchai’s civilian government with corruption and vote-buying,
the NPKC abolished the 1978 constitution and dissolved parliament.
Whether or not Chatchai’s government was guilty of vote-buying,
one of his major mistakes was his appointment of General Chaovalit
Yongchaiyuth (who is the current Prime Minister) as defense minister.
He was considered the enemy of the generals who engineered the coup
General Suchinda a group of Class 5 members. (Graduates of the Chulachomklao
Royal Military Academy are grouped into year groups that tend to
bond them together as a fraternity for the rest of their careers.
The infamous Class 5 graduated in 1958). The Chatchai government
had been encroaching into areas of foreign policy traditionally
reserved for the military, most specifically relations with Burma,
Laos, and Cambodia, and the generals may have feared that the prime
Minister would attempt to replace them.
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Following the coup, the NPKC appointed a hand-picked
civilian prime minister, Anand Panyarachun, former ambassador to
the USA and the UN to dispel public fears that the junta was planning
a return to military rule. Anand claimed to be his own man, but
like his predecessors --elected or not-- he was allowed the freedom
to make decisions only insofar as they did not affect the military.
In spite of the obvious constraints, many observers felt Anand’s
temporary premiership and cabinet were the best Thailand had ever
had. In December of 1991, Thailand’s national assembly passed
a new constitution that guaranteed an NPKC-biased parliament, 270
appointed senators in the upper house stacked against 360 elected
representatives. Under this constitution, regardless of who is chosen
as the next prime minister or which political parties fill the lower
house, the government will remain largely in the hands of the military.
A general election in March 1992 ushered in a five
party coalition government, led by pro-military parties. When the
new prime minister designee was linked to Thailand’s drug trade,
the military sought to defend the honor and integrity of the new
Thai government by immediately replacing him with General Suchinda.
The NPKC promised to eradicate corruption and build democracy.
In May 1992, several huge demonstrations demanding
Gen. Suchinda’s resignation led by the charismatic Bangkok
Governor Chamlong Srimuang rocked Bangkok and larger provincial
capitals. In a bloody encounter reminiscent to many with the military
put-down in Beijing’s Tian’an Men Square. Street confrontations
in Bangkok between protesters and the military resulted in at least
50 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The brutal suppression of the
demonstrations by the army forced prime minister Suchinda to resign
after less than six weeks as premier. The king reinstated Anand
Panyarachun as interim prime minister for a four-month term, once
again winning praise from most people for his even-handed and efficient
administration.
Pro-democracy parties who won a slim majority in
the September 1992 elections squeezed in veteran Democrat Party
leader Chuan Leekpai. A food vendor’s son and a native of the
southern Thailand province of Trang. The new premier did not fit
the mold of past Prime Ministers, as he was neither a general, a
tycoon, nor an academic. Though well regarded for his honesty and
high morals, the Chuan administration hampered by coalition partners
accomplished little in the areas of major concern. The Chuan government
was brought down by a land scandal that was centered on the Phuket
Island. A land-reform program that was devised to give ownership
of land to the poor was discredited when it was publicly disclosed
that rich owners of property were the largest recipients of the
program.
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From June 1995 to June 1996, the country celebrated
the 50th anniversary of the rule of King Rama IX. Banharn Silpa-archa
became prime minister after elections in July 1995. Plagued with
accusations of graft and corruption from the first day in office
the Barnhan government was forced to call for elections in the November
of 1996 after only 16 months in office. The elections in November
were among the "dirtiest" in the short history of democracy
in Thailand. It is widely accepted that at least twenty five billion
baht was spent buying votes from the rural areas of the country.
The National Aspiration Party (NAP) lead by Chaovalit Yongchaiyuth
and a coalition of five parties formed a government. The new government
walked into an economic buzzsaw for which it was ill prepared to
deal with. The banking and finance sector of the economy was being
crushed under the weight of bad loans. As internationl banks and
investors became more suspicious of the veracity of the figures
and projections being made by the banks and government officials
it set off the "mother-of-all" capital flights from the
country. So much money left the country so fast the IMF had to be
called in to prevent a complete collaspe of the Thai economy. The
stock market crashed as the true amount of borrowed money invested
in un-productive segments of the economy became apparent and the
currency lost over half of its value in just six months. When the
end results of decade of spectacular economic growth in Thailand
were laid bare for the world to examine; it ignited the Asian economic
crisis that is on-going today.
With it's already tiny credibility shattered and the economy in
tatters the Chaovalit government stepped aside in November
of 1997 and let the Democratic Party led by Chuan Leekpai again
assume the reigns of power. Widely regarded as the most honest polictian
in Thailand the Chuan II Government has its work cut out. To date
the Chuan government is widely popular and appears poised and able
to continue making the tough decisions that are required
to restore international credability in the Thai economy.
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