Due respect to a wronged statesman

07 May 2000

The Nation today begins a series on the late prime minister Pridi Banomyong to mark his centennial anniversary week. Nithinand Yorsaengrat looks at his life.

Could cowardice or deaf ears be used to describe Thai society? As far as the life of Pridi Banomyong is concerned, yes. This man contributed so much to the modernisation of the country, but he received little recognition. The Thai people who benefited from what he did for the country in terms of democracy building and legal and administrative reforms ignored him for decades as though they were deaf.

What Pridi did to shake Thailand out of its political and social impasse during and after World War II was monumental. Yet in return he was expelled from his own country, which he was dedicated to serving, and condemned by the silent majority.

He was labelled a pariah by previous dictators and extreme rightists and for years; few people dared even to mention his name.He was implicated in all sorts of political schemes and was called a communist and a traitor.

The happy ending to Pridi?s story, that for the first time he is receiving full state recognition, would never make up for the repression and propaganda campaigns he suffered through during the authoritarian years that followed World War II.

Unesco now regards Pridi Banomyong as one of the most praiseworthy persons of the 20th century.

Pridi was born on May 11, 1900 into a typical family in Ayutthaya province. All his ancestors, including his parents, were farmers and small traders. For Pridi, as for most children at that time, nothing but education would ensure a better future.

His father sent him to schools in Ayutthaya and Bangkok. Pridi was an exceptional student and was always top of his class. He studied law at the Ministry of Justice?s Law School and earned a barrister?s degree when he was just 19 years old.

The year he graduated, Pridi took on the role of attorney and won a case in court proving that a trader from Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Limsunnguan Limpichat, whose boat had struck King Rama VI?s pavillion on the bank of the Chao Phya River was innocent.

The triumph made him famous. A year later he won a scholarship to study law in France. In 1923 he received his law degree from Caen University followed by a doctorate of law with commendation and a diploma of higher studies in political economics from the University of Paris in 1927.

While studying in Paris, known at the time as the city that groomed revolutionary students, Pridi discovered an interest in academic works on the role and duty of the state. To him it was obvious that a democratic state in which sovereignty belonged to the people would bring a better quality of life to the majority than a state in which sovereignty belonged to an absolute monarch or dictator and that a good monarch could be intelligent, warmhearted and kind to everyone, but if people were not aware of their rights and duties as free men, the state would not enjoy true glory and prosperity.

Thailand during the reigns of King Rama VI and King Rama VII was faced with a severe economic crisis. Ninetynine per cent of Thais were poor farmers who could barely feed themselves despite owning their own land. Almost all the money they earned went in taxes.

The few people who could live decently were foreign traders, the elite group of society, and some members of the royal family. The government of the monarch could not solve problems.

Democracy was spreading around the world. In Asia, Emperor Matsuhito of Japan had given the Meiji Constitution to his subjects in 1890.

Although the Meiji Constitution had its shortcomings, it was a benevolent gift from the ruler. Under the terms of the constitution, political power and all the rights of sovereignty were consolidated in the person of the emperor. In practical terms, however, the emperor did not normally make decisions relating to public policy, and he himself wielded no identifiable political power.

According to his July 23, 1926 letter to Dr Francis B Sayre, a consultant to the Thai government, King Rama VII planned to present a constitution to his subjects during his first year on the throne. His aim was thwarted by Prince Damrong, a halfbrother of King Rama V who was then advisor to King Rama VII.

The news was not made public. Pridi, returning to Thailand, still cherished his idea of establishing democracy. Like most Thais, who are bound together by love for their king, Pridi supported the King and did not plan to destroy the monarchy. He wanted to establish democracy with the King under a constitution.

To him, a king should be merely a symbol of the state and of the people?s unity, not the country?s sovereign ruler.Pridi and his supporters, Thai students in France, were already planning for a revolution. They were simply waiting for the right time.

After he returned to Thailand, Pridi became a law lecturer and was appointed secretary of the Department of Legislative Redaction. He kept working on his plan for democracy and won more supporters, including military and naval officers.

Finally the People?s Party, made up of 49 military and naval officers under Col Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena, Major Luang Sinthusongkhramchai, Phraya Songsuradej and Luang Phibunsongkhram,and 65 civilians, succeeded in toppling the absolute monarchy that had ruled Bangkok for the previous 150 years.

It was one of the least violent coups in the history of the world. There was no bloodshed, and nobody died.

The People?s Party immediately announced their plan to improve the quality of life for Thais. They wanted to maintain Thailand?s independence, to watch over Thais so they were happy and safe, to assure employment, to assure equal rights and treatment and to guarantee freedom and education.

The first National Assembly included some princes from the old regime. On the People?s Committee, which handled the administration of the government, was Phraya Manopakornnitithada (Lon Hutasing), a respected judge from the Court of Appeals.

As a minister responsible for economic and finance and general affairs, Pridi drafted the country?s first constitution, giving women the right to vote and to work in any job, including MP. He abolished taxes that were unfair to the poor.

To ensure that the principles announced by the People?s Party would implemented, Pridi drafted a new economic plan for the nation. At first his idea was encouraged by the leaders, including prime minister Phraya Mano. WhenPridi had finished his draft, however, Phraya Mano disapproved of the outcome.

Phraya Mano saw in it the influence of communist ideology. He disagreed with Pridi?s concept of letting the state manage enterprises as a form of cooperative. He also disagreed with Pridi?s vision of the social welfare state.which Pridi felt should grant people jobs and the right to have the four basic requisites for comfort until they die.

In the draft, Pridi laid down foundations for social security, social welfare and a national bank.

On April 1, 1933, however, Phraya Mano declared an abrupt end to Pridi?s National Assembly and set up a new government.

Pridi was pressured to go into exile in France. According to the nowdefunct newspaper Si Krung, thousands of people went to bid a tearful farewell to Pridi at the BI Port in Charoenkrung district.

A few days after Pridi left Thailand, 3,000 copies of a book that contained King Rama VII?s critique of Pridi was handed out by Pridi?s enemies.

The book branded Pridi a communist. The conflicts between the conservatives and the progressives continued. On June 19, 1933 Phraya Phahon and Luang Phibun staged a coup.

Phraya Mano was sent into exile in Penang and lived there until he died. Pridi came back to Thailand and was found not guilty of all accusations. He was appointed minister of the interior.

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