Ayutthaya New Directions

After 1932, the power once exclusively the king's was to be shared by three major blocks: government and civil service administrators, the armed forces and a growing merchant class. Through the years the king remained the central focus of national unity and, freed from the daily administration of the country increasingly became the symbol of moral authority.The period immediately following the 1932 Revolution was a fascinating interval of experimentation with various forms of Western parliamentary democracy. Unicameral and bicameral forms were tiled in quick succession, but neither could be readily grafted onto a social organism which had evolved through many centuries of totally centralized control by absolute monarchs. The result was a reversion to more autocratic regimes centered on strong individual leaders, with military backing.Two major figures, one civilian, one military, dominated Thai politics throughout the period. Individualistic, ambitious, fired by dissimilar visions, they shared the common goal of putting Thailand on the path to economic and social development The civilian was Pridi Phanomyong, a brilliant young lawyer; the soldier was Lt. Luang Pibulsongkhram, a young army officer.Pridi gained early prominence when, shortly after the coup, he unveiled a very innovative and highly socialistic plan for economic development. He believed that Thailand could best prosper if national and industrial resources were nationalized and people, with few exceptions, became state employees. Branded a radical, his vision was bitterly opposed by conservative officials and military officers whose subsequent political manoeuvres forced him into temporary exile.A 1933 right-wing attempted counter-coup saw Pibul gain ascendancy, and a year later be appointed to the cabinet of Prime Minister Phya Phahol Phayuhasena, one of the major leaders of the 1932 coup. The exonerated Pridi was appointed interior Minister to guarantee civilian support. Throughout this period each of the two men tried to consolidate a base of power, Pibul through the military and Pridi through the country's intellectual community and, through the foundation of Thammasat University, its students.In 1938, Phya Phahol resigned and Pibul succeeded him as Prime Minister. In conformity with his view that a strongly enforced discipline backed by military strength was vital for Thailand's development he aimed at focusing nationalism to maximum intensity. Pibul continued his authoritarian regime until, in 1941, he was forced into collaboration with the occupying Japanese. Pridi, during the same period, was sympathetic to the Allies and worked with Thailand's underground resistance movement.With the end of World War II, Pibul and his collaborative government fell into disgrace and resigned. In the same year King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) returned from Switzerland, and Pridi became prime minister in 1946. But the unexpected death of King Ananda Mahidol generated mass popular dissatisfaction and once again the tide turned. Pridi was forced into exile, and Pibul again assumed power.This time his period of leadership was to be a long one. It would witness the establishment of parliamentary democracy in Thailand and see the emergence of the country's students as a powerful political force whose protests contributed to Pibul's eventual overthrow. In 1946, Thailand joined the United Nations, viewing it as a forum where small nations might have a voice in world affairs. In 1950, shortly after the outbreak of war in Korea, Thailand announced her support of United Nations intervention and promptly sent a 2000-man fighting force, smaller naval and air force contingents and several tons of rice.