A Private History

On Pridi Banomyong's birth centenary, his widow Poonsuk looks back on a life whose trajectory coincided with key historical events during one of the most significant periods in the Kingdom's past, writes Subhatra Bhumiprabhas.

It was while studying law in Paris in the 1920s that Pridi Banomyong joined the revolutionary group which went on to topple Siam's absolute monarchy in 1932.

It was also in Paris that he died in 1983 -- 17 years ago this month -- after speending more than 34 years in exile. His passing was mourned by many but totally ignored by the Royal Thai government.

School history books have long glossed over the immense contribution Pridi made to Thailand. It is indeed sadly ironic that while this multi-talented visionary received much recognition abroad over the years, he was vilified, or at best dismissed, by many of his compatriots. Only last year Unesco announced its intention to be officially associated with the celebrations for the centenary of the birth of Pridi whom it described as "one of the founding fathers of [Thailand's] constitutional monarchy."

The centenary falls on Thursday. And, for the first time ever, the government is co-sponsoring events in Pridi's honour; an indication that officialdom considers that the time has come to rehabilitate the memory of this great man and, perhaps, set the record straight on a very divisive period in our modern history.

While the focus of these celebrations will be on Pridi's legacy to the nation, they will also bring back into the public eye a very brave, determined and loyal woman. Now 88, Thanpuying Poonsuk Banomyong, Pridi's widow, closest friend and life-long companion, recalled key events in her life with Pridi in an interview she gave last year to The Nation. The historical background to her reminiscences is given in the related article on this page.

Early years (1928-32)

"I was almost 17 when I got married in 1928. At that time Nai Pridi [hereafter the honorific nai will be omitted] worked as an assistant secretary at the Juridical Department. He used to hand over to me his entire salary. He owned a publishing company then, another source of income for him. He transferred Bt15,000 to the account at Siam Kammachon Bank that my father opened for me when I got married. We had our first child [a daughter named Lalita] when I was 18."

Eve of a long separation (Nov 8, 1947)

"I didn't feel well that night. We didn't have dinner together. Pridi had dinner with Luang Adul [Decharat, Army commander-in-chief] and Luang Thamrong [Nawasawat, prime minister from Aug 1946 to Nov 8 1947] at Sala Tha Nam [a riverside pavilion] at the Tha Chang residence. I was sleeping in my room when a flashing light woke me up. So I got up and went into the middle room to see if my husband was there. Normally he used this room for listening to the radio and reading newspapers. It was nearly midnight. I didn't see him there and was told that he had gone out. But I didn't pay any more attention [to his absence] and returned to my room.

"Sometime before dawn, bullets were fired into the house. 'Don't shoot,' I shouted out. 'Don't shoot; there are only women and children here." I went to the room where my children were sleeping and told them to get up. Shortly afterwards a group of military men barged in and told me that they'd come because they wanted to change the government. 'Why have you come to my home?' I asked them. 'Why don't you go to the Parliament [building]?'

"Around 4 am Luang Adul arrived and told me that he'd ordered all the intruders to leave my house. In the morning, a lot of visitors turned up. One of them was a journalist. Although he'd done something bad to us before [written negative reports about Pridi in the press], that morning he warned me that those intruders wanted to harm the Senior Statesman [Pridi; the title was bestowed on him by King Ananda Mahidol]. Later on the military came to my house again. This time they were led by Captain Somboon Choonhavan [later General Chatichai Choonhavan; prime minister from 1988 to 1991]. They searched my house but left empty-handed."

Life at Sattahip (1947)

"I found out later that Pridi had gone into hiding at [the naval base of] Sattahip before departing the country. After he had gone abroad, those people in power felt frustrated at their failure to find him, so they turned on his family. My children and I had had to seek refuge too. We were helped by Khun Taharn Khamhirun who was a commandant in the Royal Thai Marine Corps at the time. We stayed in his house for two months. He showed great boon khun [gratitude] to us and took good care of us during the time we were living there."

Arrest (1952)

"Khun Sakchai Bamroongpong [now a well-known author who writes under the pen-name 'Senee Saowapong'] had invited me to attend his wedding on November 16 and act as his thaokae [respected elder who accompanies the groom to the home of the bride's parents to ask, on his behalf, for her hand in marriage]. But at dawn on November 13, the police came to my parents' house [on Sathorn Road where she and her children had been living since their return from Sattahip] and arrested my son Pal. I decided not to cancel the [wedding] appointment. Three days later, during the ceremony at the bride's home, the police came to arrest Khun Chaleaw [Chaleaw Pratoomros, the bride's father; he was later convicted of complicity in the death of King Ananda and executed in 1955].

"The police then turned to me and asked Chaokhun [title of the justice minister who was also a guest at the wedding] who I was. After they were told that I was Pridi's wife, they said that I was also on their list of people to be arrested. Chaokhun asked to see their warrant but they said it was with a friend. I was told that the police had also gone to search my house at Sathorn without a warrant. So I made a phone call to Khun Chalopchalai [Plangkul; her husband was a senior member of Seri Thai] and asked her to go there and check out the situation. She was a good friend of our family. Then I got into the police car. They agreed to pick up my two youngest daughters from Saint Joseph's School before taking us all to the Special Branch Bureau [in Pathumwan] for interrogation. My daughters stayed there with me for two nights. Later I sent them to stay at the school.

"I was accused of 'offences against the internal and external security of the Kingdom', the same charges which had been made against my son [Pal]. I was detained in the same room as Khun Nimnual Chonlaphum, wife of Khun Thongplew who was a member of the Peace Committee [set up to negotiate with the Allies after the Japanese surrender] and another woman, a reporter whose name I can't remember."

Tomorrow, in the second and final part of this memoir, Thanpuying Poonsuk recalls the ordeal of her detention, trial and eventual exile.

The Nation

LAST MODIFIED: Sunday, 06-Feb-00 14:47:29