Plaek Phibunsongkhram

Plaek Phibunsongkhram (14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), commonly known in English language sources as Phibun and Chomphon Por in Thai, was a Thai military officer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1948 to 1957. He rose to power as a leading member of the Khana Ratsadon, becoming prime minister in 1938 and later consolidating his influence as a military dictator. His regime allied with the Empire of Japan during World War II, and his administration was marked by authoritarian policies and the promotion of Thai nationalism. He was closely involved in both domestic reforms and foreign policy during the war and played a central role in shaping modern Thai state ideology.

Born in Nonthaburi, Phibun graduated from the Royal Military Academy in 1914 before continuing his studies in France. After returning to Siam, he became involved in the Khana Ratsadon, a group that led the 1932 Siamese Revolution, which replaced the country's absolute monarchy with a constitutional monarchy. Phibun emerged as a prominent military figure following the revolution, gradually consolidating power within the armed forces.

In 1938, Phibun became prime minister while serving as Commander of the Royal Siamese Army. Inspired by the Italian leader Benito Mussolini, his government established an authoritarian regime run along fascist lines, and launched a series of cultural mandates aimed at modernizing Thai society. These policies included changing the country's name from "Siam" to "Thailand", promoting Western-style dress, emphasizing the Thai language, and encouraging Thai nationalism and Sinophobia. During World War II, Phibun aligned Thailand with Imperial Japan, allowing Japanese forces to pass through Thai territory and later declaring war on the Allies. This alliance was controversial and led to internal resistance, most notably the Free Thai Movement and Regent Pridi Banomyong, a former associate within the Khana Ratsadon. As the war progressed and Japan's position weakened, Phibun lost political support and was forced to resign by the National Assembly in 1944. Following the war, he faced war crime accusations, though he was later acquitted.

Phibun returned to power in 1948 through a military-backed coup and ruled during the early Cold War period. His second premiership adopted a strongly anti-communist stance and aligned Thailand closely with the United States. Despite economic development and continued modernization efforts, his government was plagued by political instability and several attempts to launch a coup against him were made, including the Army General Staff plot (1948), the Palace Rebellion (1949), and the Manhattan Rebellion (1951). Phibun attempted to transform Thailand into an electoral democracy from the mid-1950s onward, but he was overthrown by his subordinate Sarit Thanarat during a coup in 1957 and went into exile in Japan until his death in 1964. His legacy remains contested, as he is viewed both as a modernizer and as a symbol of military authoritarianism in Thai political history.

Early years

thumb|left|150px|Phibun in his youth

Phibun was born Plaek on 14 July 1897 in Mueang Nonthaburi, Nonthaburi Province, in the Kingdom of Siam to durian farmers. His family began using the surname Khittasangkha () after a 1913 decree on surnames.

He received his given name – meaning "strange" or "weird" in English – because of his unusual appearance as a child where his ears were positioned below his eyes, rather than above his eyes like others. enabling him to successfully conceal and deny his Chinese roots.

He studied in Buddhist temples The 1932 coup was followed by the nationalization of several companies and increased state control of the economy.

The following year, Phibun and his military allies successfully crushed the Boworadet Rebellion, a royalist revolt led by Prince Boworadet. The new king, Ananda Mahidol, was still a child studying in Switzerland, and the Parliament appointed Colonel Prince Anuwatjaturong, Lieutenant Commander Prince Aditya Dibabha, and Chao Phraya Yommaraj (Pun Sukhum) as his regents.

Prime Minister of Thailand

thumb|left|150px|Phibunsongkhram giving a [[nationalist speech to the crowds at the Ministry of Defence opposite Swasti Sopha gate of Grand Palace in 1940.]]

First premiership

On 16 December 1938, Phibun replaced Phraya Phahon as Prime Minister of Thailand and as the Commander of the Royal Siamese Army. Phibun became a de facto dictator, and established a military dictatorship, consolidating his position by rewarding several members of his own army clique with influential positions in his government.

After the revolution of 1932, the Thai government of Phraya Phahol was impressed by the success of the March on Rome of Benito Mussolini's Italian fascist movement. Phibun, also an admirer of Italian fascism, sought to replicate fascist-style propaganda tactics, valued in Italy as one of the most powerful propaganda instruments of political power. In Italy, its main purpose was to promote nationalism and militarism, strengthen the unity and harmony of the state, and glorify the policy of ruralisation in Italy and abroad. As a consequence of the fascist leanings of Thai political leaders, Italian propaganda films including newsreels, documentaries, short films, and full-length feature films, such as Istituto Luce Cinecittà, were shown in Thailand during the interwar period. Phibun adopted the fascist salute, modelled on the Roman salute, using it during speeches. The salute was not compulsory in Thailand, and it was opposed by Luang Wichitwathakan and many cabinet members as they believed it inappropriate for Thai culture. Together with Wichitwathakan, the Minister of Propaganda, he built a leadership cult in 1938 and thereafter. Photographs of Phibun 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.

Thai Cultural Revolution

thumb|left|150px|Thai poster from the Phibunsongkhram era, showing prohibited "uncivilised" dress on the left and proper Western-style dress on the right.

Phibun immediately promoted Thai nationalism (to the point of ultranationalism), and to support this policy, he launched a series of major reforms, known as the Thai Cultural Revolution, to increase the pace of modernisation in Thailand. His goal aimed to uplift the national spirit and moral code of the nation and instil progressive tendencies and a newness into Thai life. A series of cultural mandates were issued by the government, which encouraged all Thais to salute the flag in public places, learn the new national anthem and use the standardised Thai language (not regional dialects or languages). People were encouraged to adopt Western-style attire as opposed to traditional clothing styles, and eat with Western-style utensils, such as forks and spoons, rather than with their hands as was customary in Thai culture at the time. Phibun saw these policies as necessary, in the interest of progressivism, to change Thailand's international image from that of an undeveloped country into a civilized and modern nation.

Phibun's administration encouraged economic nationalism and espoused staunch anti-Teochew sentiment. Sinophobic policies were imposed by the government to reduce the economic power of Siam's Teochew-Hoklo population and encouraged the Central Thai people to purchase as many Thai products as possible. In a speech in 1938, Luang Wichitwathakan, himself of one-quarter Chinese ancestry, followed Rama VI's book Jews of the East in comparing the Teochew in Siam to the Jews in Germany, who at the time were harshly repressed.

On 24 June 1939, Phibun changed the country's official English name from "Siam" to "Thailand" at Wichitwathakan's urging. The name "Siam" was an exonym of unknown and probably foreign origin, which conflicted with Phibun's nationalist policies.

In 1941, in the midst of World War II, Phibun decreed 1 January as the official start of the new year instead of the traditional Songkran date on 13 April.

Franco-Thai War

thumb|Phibunsongkhram speech at Ministry of Defence demanding the return of Indochina from France, 8 Oct 1940

thumb|left|150px|Phibunsongkhram with Thai farmers in 1942 at Bang Khen

Phibun exploited the Fall of France in June 1940 and the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940 to advance Thai interests in French Indochina following a border dispute with France. Phibun believed Thailand could recover territories ceded to France by King Rama V because the French would avoid armed confrontation or offer serious resistance. Thailand fought against Vichy France over the disputed areas from October 1940 to May 1941. The technologically and numerically superior Thai force invaded French Indochina and attacked military targets in major cities. Despite Thai successes, the French tactical victory at the Battle of Ko Chang prompted intervention from the Japanese, who mediated an armistice where the French were forced to cede the disputed territories to Thailand.

Alliance with Japan

thumb|Plaek Phibun with Hideki Tojo in Bangkok on 6 July 1943

Phibun and the Thai public viewed the outcome of the Franco-Thai War as a victory, but it resulted in the rapidly expanding Japanese gaining the right to occupy French Indochina. Although Phibun was ardently pro-Japanese, he now shared a border with them and felt threatened by a potential Japanese invasion. Phibun's administration also realised that Thailand would have to fend for itself if a Japanese invasion came, considering its deteriorating relationships with Western powers in the area.

When the Japanese invaded Thailand on 8 December 1941, (because of the International Date Line this occurred an hour and a half before the attack on Pearl Harbor), Phibun 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 the British colonies of Burma and Malaya. Hesitancy, however, gave way to enthusiasm after the Japanese rolled through the Malayan Campaign in a "Bicycle Blitzkrieg" with surprisingly little resistance. On 21 December Phibun signed a military alliance with Japan. The following month, on 25 January 1942, Phibun 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. Phibun purged all who opposed the Japanese alliance from his government. Pridi Banomyong 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 an ambassador. The United States considered Thailand to be a puppet state of Japan and refused to declare war on it. When the Allies were victorious, the United States blocked British efforts to impose a punitive peace.

Removal

In 1944, as the Japanese neared defeat and the underground anti-Japanese Free Thai Movement steadily grew in strength, the National Assembly ousted Phibun as prime minister and his six-year reign as the military commander-in-chief came to an end. Phibun's 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 north central Thailand, and another was to build a "Buddhist city" in Saraburi. As early as 1939, his government had been looking to relocate the capital to Lopburi, and then to Saraburi before settling on Phetchabun. Announced at a time of severe economic difficulty, these ideas turned many government officers against him. After his resignation, Phibun went to stay at the army headquarters in Lopburi.

Khuang Aphaiwong replaced Phibun as prime minister, ostensibly to continue relations with the Japanese, but, in reality, to secretly assist the Free Thai Movement. At the war's end, Phibun 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 amid intense pressure as public opinion was still favourable to him, as he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests. Phibun's alliance with Japan had Thailand take advantage of Japanese support to expand Thai territory into Malaya and Burma.

Second premiership

thumb|right|Plaek Phibunsongkhram at [[Hyde Park, New York, 1955]]

thumb|right|Phibun coming back to Thai politics, led the junta in 1947 after the coup

In November 1947, Royal Thai Army units under the control of Phibun known as the Coup Group carried out the 1947 Thai coup d'état which forced then-Prime Minister Thawan Thamrongnawasawat to resign. The rebels installed Khuang Aphaiwong again as prime minister as the military coup risked international disapproval. Pridi Phanomyong was persecuted but was aided by British and US intelligence officers, and thus managed to escape the country. On 8 April 1948, Phibun assumed the position of Prime Minister after the military forced Khuang out of office.

Phibun's second premiership was notably different, abandoning the fascist styling and rhetoric that characterised his first premiership, and instead promoted a façade of democracy. The beginning of the Cold War saw Phibun align Thailand with the anti-communist camp.

Phibun supported UN action in the Korean War and dispatched an expeditionary force of 4,000 troops.

1957 coup and exile

thumb|200px|Phibunsongkhram in 1957

thumb|left|On 31 October 1956, the monk Bhumibalo visited the [[Government House of Thailand|Government House. Phibun is on the right. The King clashed with Field Marshal Phibun over his restriction of royal power.]]

In February 1957, public opinion turned against Phibun at the end of his second term when his party was suspected of fraudulent practices during an election, including the intimidation of the opposition, buying votes, and electoral fraud. In addition, critics of Phibun accused him of a lack of respect for the Thai monarchy, as the anti-aristocratic prime minister had always sought to limit the role of the monarchy to a constitutional minimum and had taken on religious functions that traditionally belonged to the monarch. For example, Phibun led the celebrations of the 2500th anniversary of Buddhism in 1956–57 instead of the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who was openly critical of Phibun. On 16 September 1957, Phibun was eventually overthrown in a coup d'etat by members of the Royal Thai Army under the command of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who had earlier sworn to be Phibun's most loyal subordinate. Sarit was supported by many royalists who wanted to regain a foothold, and there were rumours that the United States was "deeply involved" in the coup.

Phibun was then forced into exile after the coup, first fleeing to Cambodia, but later settled in Japan after Sarit's new regime rejected his requests to allow him to return to Thailand. In 1960, Phibun briefly travelled to India to be a monk in the Buddhist temple in Bodhgaya.

Death

Phibun died on 11 June 1964 from heart failure in Tokyo, Japan.

After his death, Phibun's ashes were transferred to Thailand in an urn and decorated with military honours in Wat Phra Sri Mahathat (also called "The Temple of Democracy") he had founded in Bang Khen.

Honours

Noble titles

7 May 1928: Luang Phibunsongkhram (หลวงพิบูลสงคราม)
15 May 1942: Abolition of nobility

Military rank

1916 – Second lieutenant
1920 – Lieutenant
1927 – Captain
1930 – Major
1933 – Lieutenant colonel
1934 – Colonel
1939 – Major General, Rear Admiral, Air Vice Marshal
1941 – Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet, Marshal of the Royal Thai Air Force
1955 – Volunteer Defense Corps General

Thai decorations

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

1941 – 70px Knight of The Ancient and Auspicious Order of the Nine Gems
1942 – 70px The Ratana Varabhorn Order of Merit
1942 – 70px Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of The Most Illustrious Order of Chula Chom Klao
1940 – 70px Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant
1937 – 70px Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand
1944 – 70x70px Bravery Medal
1941 – 70x70px Victory Medal – Franco-Thai War with flames
1943 – 70x70px Victory Medal – Pacific War
1934 – 70x70px Safeguarding the Constitution Medal
1934 – 70x70px Dushdi Mala Medal Pin Service to the Nation (Military)
1943 – 70x70px Dushdi Mala Medal Pin of Arts and Science (Military)
1943 – 70x70px Medal for Service Rendered in the Interior - Pacific War
1954 – 70x70px Border Service Medal
1930 – 70x70px Chakra Mala Medal
1938 – 70x70px King Rama VIII Royal Cypher Medal, 1st
1953 – 70x70px King Rama IX Royal Cypher Medal, 1st
1911 – 70x70px King Rama VI Coronation Medal
1925 – 70x70px King Rama VII Coronation Medal
1932 – 70x70px Commemorative Medal on the Occasion of the 150th Years of Rattanakosin Celebration

Foreign honours

:
1937 – 70x70px Order of the German Red Cross
1939 – 70px 1st Class of the Order of the German Eagle
:
1937 – 70x70px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
1938 – 70x70px Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy
:
1955 – 70px Grand Cross with White Decoration of the Order of Military Merit
:
1939 – 70px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
:
1955 – 70px Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit
:
1938 – 70x70px Grand-Croix of the Legion of Honour
:
1955 – 70x70px Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold
:
1955 – 70x70px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
:
1955 – 70x70px Grand Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
:
1955 – 70x70px Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
:
1955 – 70x70px Grand Cross of the Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol
:
1955 – 70x70px Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
:
1956 – 70x70px Grand Cross of the Order of George I
:
1955 – 70x70px Grand Cross 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
:
1956 – 70x70px Order of the Order of Sirisudharma

Academic rank

1939 Adjunct Professor of Thammasat University

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Duncan Stearn:A Slice of Thai History: The Japanese invasion of Thailand, 8 December 1941 Pattaya Mail – Pattaya's First English Language Newspaper (part one) Columns (part two) Columns (part three)