Sarit Thanarat

Sarit Thanarat
จอมพลสฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์

In office
February 9, 1959 – December 8, 1963
Monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej
Preceded by Thanom Kittikachorn
Succeeded by Thanom Kittikachorn
Born June 16, 1908(1908-06-16)
Bangkok, Thailand
Died December 8, 1963 (aged 55)
Bangkok, Thailand
Nationality Thai
Spouse(s) Nuanchan Thanarat (two children), Chawee (two children), Praima (two children)Vichitra Thanarat (no children, but adopted nephew and gave the Thanarat last name)

Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (Thai: สฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, RTGS: Sarit Thanarat), (June 16, 1908 - December 8, 1963) staged a coup in 1957 and served as Thailand's Prime Minister until his death in 1963. Sarit was the son of a Thai linguist[1] and his Laotian wife,[2] and came from Thailand's northeast region. He was a patron of the Lao strongman General Phoumi Nosavan.

Contents

Before his coup

Sarit spent the summer of 1958 in the United States for recuperation of liver cirrhosis. During his recuperation Sarit thought broadly about how he should govern Thailand. He looked for ways to defeat the country's greedy, undisciplined, and ungrateful politicians and journalists in the same sort of military order that he found in the army. In the end, he wanted to run the country according to "Thai" ideologies, not imported Western ideologies. He would take as his model, not the democracies of Europe and America, but the supposedly benevolent despots of Thailand's ancient past.[3]

Sarit's tenure

Sarit as a Field Marshal of the Royal Thai Army.

On October 19, 1958, Sarit told his generals his plans for a "revolution". The following day, to no one's surprise, he declared martial law, silencing the experiments in open politics since 1955. Sarit justified his authoritarianism in two ways: firstly he argued for a return to Thai traditions of social law and order, and secondly he accelerated economic development under an economic plan designed by the United States and the World Bank that promoted market competition and private investment. As part of this effort, he founded iconic institutions such as National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the Board of Investment (BOI), and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) which continue to play important roles in Thailand's economic development to this day. His favorite word was "patana" or development, and his favorite motto was: "Nation, Religion, King", represented by red, white and blue colors respectively in the Thailand's flag.

Sarit's new regime was the most repressive and authoritarian in Thai history. His "revolution" abrogated the constitution, dissolved parliament, and vested all power in his newly-formed Revolutionary Party. Although he pledged to appoint a constituent assembly to act as a legislature and draft a constitution, no one doubted that the body would merely rubber-stamp his orders. In fact, the assembly never functioned as a parliament, and a constitution was promulgated only after a decade. Sarit banned all other political parties from the very beginning. He imposed strict censorship[4] of the press after the coup, moreover, that was stricter than that of the Phao tenure when he commanded the police. Immediately, the Revolutionary Party banned eighteen leftist, neutralist, and opposition newspapers, and prohibited new newspapers from reporting.

In addition to press censorship, Sarit's "revolution" brought the most intense crackdown on the leftists Thailand had ever witnessed. Although real communists, who worked illegally were hard to come by, the mildly socialist but strongly neutralist leftists in parliament, universities, and the press proved easy targets. The police arrested dozens of dissidents and Chinese on the first day of Sarit's coup, and hundreds in subsequent weeks. Those captured in the crackdown included Sang Phathanothai, Kulab Saipradit, Jit Phumisak and Prasert Sapsunthorn.

The Monarchy

Relief of Sarit Thanarat's life in Khon Kaen, show the story of his coup d'état in 1957.

Under Sarit, the monarchy, which had been repressed by Phibun, was revitalized. Sarit arrange for King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) to attend public ceremonies, tour the provinces, patronise development projects and personally hand university diplomas to Thailand's growing educated class, bringing the monarchy closer to the people and raising the status of the King to become a personally revered figure. Sarit instituted the well-known practice of playing the Royal Anthem at the beginning of every cinematic screening in the nation, requiring every audience member to stand up in respect. Such practices, like Sarit's institutionalization of playing the Thai National Anthem at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. , which socially requires everyone in public space to stand still in respect, are rooted in Sarit's military background. Today, the have become so integral in Thai civilian society that in April, 2008, it was reported that a Thai citizen was facing criminal charges of "Lèse majesté" for failing to stand for the playing of the Royal Anthem at a movie theatre in Bangkok.[5]

Under Sarit, the practice of prostrating with the head touching the ground before royalty during audiences, banned by King Chulalongkorn, was revived. In turn, the palace openly endorsed Sarit, granting his regime legitimacy by way of the King's own popularity. Sarit introduced to government a new generation of economically liberal technocrats, encouraged private and foreign direct investment, launched major rural development programmes and rapidly expanded educational facilities.

After Sarit's tenure

When Sarit died in December 1963 from liver failure, power transferred peacefully to his deputy Generals Thanom Kittikachorn, who became Prime Minister, and Praphas Charusathian, who became the Deputy Prime Minister. Thanom and Praphas maintained Sarit's authoritarian style of government, corruption, anti-communist and pro-American policies. HM the King Bhumibol set aside 21 days of mourning in the palace, and, after lying in state under royal sponsorship for 100 days HM the King Bhumibol and HM the Queen Sirikit presided at his cremation on March 17, 1964. He had one of the closest relations of any Thai Prime Minister with HM the King Bhumibol.

Post-tenure reputation

After his death, an inheritance battle between his son, Major Setha Thanarat, and his young wife, Thanpuying Vichitra Thanarat, revealed to the public the massive extent of Sarit's wealth (US$ 140 million). Sarit owned a trust company, a brewery, 51 cars, and some 30 parcels of land, most of which Sarit gave to a score of mistresses. Newspapers published the names of 100 women who claimed to have shared his bed at some time or other.[6]

Royal decorations

Sarit received the following royal decorations in the Honours System of Thailand:[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Smith Nieminen Win. Historical Dictionary of Thailand. Praeger Publishers. pp. 225. ISBN 0-8108-5396-5. 
  2. ^ Richard Jensen, Jon Davidann, Sugita. Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century. Praeger Publishers. pp. 222. ISBN 0275977145 [Amazon-US | Amazon-UK]. http://www.amazon.com/Trans-Pacific-Relations-America-Twentieth-Perspectives/dp/0275977145/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product/104-7867281-3169568. 
  3. ^ Thak Chaloemtiarana. Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Thammasat University Press (1979). 
  4. ^ Albert G. Pickerell. The Press of Thailand: Conditions and Trends. Journalism Quarterly (Winter 1960). 
  5. ^ http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/23Apr2008_news04.php
  6. ^ Time, "Sarit's Legacy", 27 March 1964
  7. ^ Bio of Sarit Thanarat at the Royal Thai Army website (in Thai). Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  8. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 58, Page 2966. September 18, B.E. 2484 (C.E. 1941). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  9. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 65 No. 71, Page 3979. December 7, B.E. 2491 (C.E. 1948). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  10. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 66 No. 66, Page 5425. December 6, B.E. 2492 (C.E. 1949). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  11. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 67 No. 67, Page 6346. December 12, B.E. 2493 (C.E. 1950). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  12. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 67 No. 39, Page 3039. July 18, B.E. 2493 (C.E. 1950). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  13. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 68 No. 74, Page 5646. December 11, B.E. 2494 (C.E. 1951). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  14. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 69 No. 29, Page 1287. May 13, B.E. 2495 (C.E. 1952). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  15. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 69 No. 72, Page 4647. December 9, B.E. 2495 (C.E. 1952). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  16. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 70 No. 29, Page 2053. May 12, B.E. 2496 (C.E. 1953). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  17. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 76 No. 53, Page 1400. May 19, B.E. 2502 (C.E. 1959). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
  18. ^ The Royal Gazette, Vol. 76 No. 115 (Special), Page 36. December 16, B.E. 2502 (C.E. 1959). Retrieved on November 20, 2008.
Preceded by
Thanom Kittikachorn		 Prime Minister of Thailand
1959 – 1963		 Succeeded by
Thanom Kittikachorn

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