Pridi to be honoured on birth centenary

10 april 2000

INDONESIAN President Abdurrahman Wahid will visit Bangkok next month to preside over a ceremony organised by Thammasat University to mark the birth centenary of the late statesman Pridi Banomyong, according to a diplomat.

The diplomat said East Timorese leader Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos Horta had also been invited.

Wahid's visit in May will be his third in six months since being elected president in October last year.

He was in Thailand in early November 1999 as part of a familiarisation trip to Asean countries. He came to Bangkok again in February this year to attend the first United Nations-Asean informal summit held during the tenth UN Conference on Trade and Development.

The source said Wahid's visit to attend Pridi's centenary on May 11 showed the leader's recognition and respect for Pridi's struggle for democracy and peaceful revolution.

In October the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) announced at the General Assembly that Pridi was being posthumously honoured with the Great Personality of the World Award, which recognises an individuals' contribution to mankind. as the great figures of the century

In 1934 Pridi founded the University of Moral and Political Sciences as an open university, which later changed its name to Thammasat University. Prominent alumni of the university include Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, and Prachakorn Thai Party leader Samak Sundaravej.

Pridi was prime minister from March to August 1946 and earlier served as interior, foreign and finance minister.

He is recognised for his pivotal role in leading the 1932 political revolution, which transformed Thailand from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy and opened the door for democracy in Thailand. During World War II Pridi headed the Free Thai Movement leading the resistance against Japanese imperialism.

His ability to convince the allies that most Thai citizens did not agree with the government's pro-Japanese policy helped ensure victory for Thailand at the end of the war.

In November 1947 a military coup headed by Field Marshal Pibulsongkhram forced Pridi into exile. He first took refuge in Singapore and then China, eventually arriving in France, where he died of a heart attack in Paris on May 2, 1983 at the age of 83.

BY SA-NGUAN KHUMRUNGROJ

The Nation / National