Continuing from the previous post: https://www.fmkorea.com/9274334752
"If it weren't for the wave of communism that swept the Indochina Peninsula, Thailand's democracy would never have regressed." - Sir John Major, Former UK Prime Minister
◆ Queen Norodom Monineath (1936~), who was the head of the Cambodian Red Cross and a victim of the 1975–1979 Khmer Rouge Killing Fields.
During a French TV interview in the mid-90s, while recalling the atrocities of the communization process, she sobbed seeing many Southeast Asian children losing limbs to landmines and unexploded ordnance: "What do children know about war? For the sake of children who should never have to know what war is, adults must remember its horrors."
(The '90s, when the global communist bloc collapsed, was a time when the past actions of former communist regimes were under heavy fire.)
(Among the declassified top-secret Soviet documents from that time, the use of Soviet chemical weapons by the Vietnamese communist regime to 'exterminate' ethnic minorities was revealed.)
Queen Mother Norodom Monineath (French-Khmer, born in Saigon 1936, Miss Cambodia 1951, second wife of King Sihanouk).
◆ The Kingdom of Thailand, located right in the heart of the Indochina Peninsula.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927–2016). King Bhumibol once entered the monkhood for Buddhist practice (the King of Laos did as well). He ascended to the throne suddenly after his older brother, Rama VIII, died under mysterious circumstances after only one year of reign. One of his eyes is a prosthetic due to a car accident during his studies in Switzerland. Unlike previous kings of the Siam Kingdom, and like his relative the King of Laos, he never took concubines throughout his life.
(Official photo of King Bhumibol and the Queen.)
(The Kings of Laos and Thailand, despite a 20-year age gap, were relatives.) Historically, Thailand and Laos are very close, with similar scripts and mutually intelligible languages.
King Sisavang Vatthana of Laos. It was just before the Laotian royal family—who had been evicted from the palace and placed under house arrest after the Kingdom became a People's Republic—were to be sent to a remote prison with no electricity or phones. The King of Laos made one final call to Bangkok.
"I have a clear conscience; I have no regrets. Please, be a great sovereign. I'll miss you, little brother." "Your Majesty, brother, please take care of yourself."
The King of Thailand had begged the King of Laos several times to abandon Laos and come to Bangkok. (The three kingdoms that formed Laos were once tributary states of the Kingdom of Siam.) No matter how deep their Buddhist faith was, if this was the end, the 'next life' felt meaningless.
It is said that when the King of Laos died of malaria, he was holding a set of prayer beads gifted by the Thai royal family. After the prison was cleared out, the whereabouts of the beads became unknown.
◆ In 1957, Sarit Thanarat, the Minister of Defense and a pro-US, anti-communist far-right leader, staged a military coup in Bangkok, leading Thailand into decades of military dictatorship under various generals.
(Giant statue of Sarit Thanarat) The Thai military summarily executed those suspected of being communists without trial and received massive military aid from the US. At the time, about 50,000 US troops were stationed in Thailand.
The US Air Force (USAF) within Thai territory.
(US Army stationed in Thailand) Additionally, Thailand dispatched over 40,000 troops to the Vietnam War.
(VIETNAM PROPAGANDA POSTERS: Representing the desperation that Thailand would stand together even if pushed to a cliff.) The purpose of the Thai military's deployment to the Vietnam War was "to protect my homeland," facing the heavy reality that "if South Vietnam falls, we are next." The Thai troops endured high-intensity training and didn't have the luxury to act like lazy occupiers like some US units.
◆ The October 14, 1973 Student Uprising. Meanwhile, the progressive 'anti-war movement,' a coalition of Thai labor groups and student activists, was intensifying. Violent clashes between police and students escalated, peaking on October 14, 1973, when the Thai military intervened and killed over 100 protesters.
Taking responsibility for the bloodshed, the supreme military leader PM Thanom Kittikachorn resigned at the request of King Bhumibol and went into exile.
For the first time since 1932, the Thai King directly intervened in politics to form a new government. A civilian government led by former diplomat Seni Pramoj (1905–1997) was born.
(Prime Minister Seni Pramoj) The rise of progressive movements after the October 14 uprising challenged the authority of the existing ruling class, sparking the King's concern that the government might tilt toward left-wing communism. If the Kingdom turned into a People's Republic, the fate of the royal family was obvious.
(The British and Thai Royal Families.)
Progressive protesters filling the streets of Bangkok now began calling for the withdrawal of US troops. ◆ The reformist constitution promulgated in 1974 brought a brief period of parliamentary democracy to Thailand. However, reform policies slowly crumbled. Wages began to skyrocket, strikes occurred in both public and private sectors, and foreign capital inflow stopped as Western banks withdrew. The nationwide strike rate hit an all-time high.
◆ While Thailand was in such turmoil, red flags were covering Southeast Asia. In 1975, South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos fell to communism one after another, and it looked like Thailand would be next.
In July 1976, US troops stationed in Thailand withdrew at the request of the Seni Pramoj administration, which had been making the US very uncomfortable. (A small number of US military advisors remained for a specific reason.)
(The total of 7 US military bases at the time.)
(Thai military mobile units were trained by the US.)
In October, former PM Thanom Kittikachorn returned from exile to trigger an anti-communist coup orchestrated by the CIA. The CIA Director at the time was George H.W. Bush.
Protests against Thanom broke out in Bangkok, and the Thai military used this as a signal to rise again.
King Bhumibol was agonizing. "It felt like the cohesion of the entire society was breaking. If the Communist Party wins, the Thailand that has come this far after long efforts will be ruined." "If stripping away the right to criticize is the only way to maintain domestic order, a decision must be made."
After meeting with the US Ambassador in Bangkok, King Bhumibol had already promised to let the far-right military take power again. In October 1976, this time with the King's support, the far-right military established the National Administrative Reform Council (NARC), seized power again, and suspended both parliament and the constitution.
(Anti-communist posters displayed across Thailand at the time) ◆ October 1976, the Thai Prime Minister's official residence.
PM Seni Pramoj sat frozen as dozens of phones on his desk rang incessantly. No one was there to defend the Seni Pramoj government now that the King had turned his back on it.
With the Army, Navy, and Air Force all participating in the coup, Bangkok was as helpless as a stranded whale. Before surrendering to the coup forces, one enraged young soldier guarding a stronghold in downtown Bangkok fired his rifle into the sky.
Bangkok became as quiet as an exhausted city. When a reporter asked a coup soldier if he would shoot again today, the soldier grimaced. "I am a Thai citizen too. Go tell the armed students."
◆ 4,000 people, including the leadership of student movements, labor unions, farmer movements, political parties, and left-wing media, were arrested at once. Political party activities were banned, the media was censored, and over 1 million books were seized from libraries and bookstores and burned.
The most famous incident was the massacre at Thammasat University. Hundreds of student protesters were brutally killed or injured by military and police gunfire.
(Students taking cover and covering their ears during the massive shooting inside the campus.)
(A crowd lynching the body of a dead female student hanging from a tree; photojournalist Neal Ulevich won the 1977 Pulitzer Prize for this photo.) That evening, as the Thai military successfully executed the coup that would sustain their rule for decades, they installed the anti-communist far-right leader Thanin Kraivichien as the new Prime Minister.
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