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by
Stanley R. Radar
A
Time of
Transitión in ThailaQd
BANGKOK: 'For sorne
six
monlhs
oow Thai Prime Minister Kulcrit Pramoj
has managed by a rare skill for com·
promise and'bis
own
populariry to keep
a sbaky coalition government together
as Thailnnd struggles to keep áemocraey
alive aOer
40
yeafl of militaty dictator–
ship.
Some two years ago. lhe Thai people,
led by youog university studeoiS, over·
threw thc militaty dictatorship of Prime
Minister Kittikacborn. For lhe next
18
monlhs lhe cououy
was
govemed by an
interim cabinet and lhe ldng's personal
appointee, Píime Minister Sanya, a non–
political figure and former rector of the
university.
In Januaty
1975,
aner lhe adoption of
a
oew constitution, lhe
ñrst
ele<:lions
were finally held.
lt
was Prime Minister
Kukrit's brother wbo emerged
as
thc
first coalition choice for prime minister,
but unfonunately be was able to bold
tb; coalition governmcnt togelher for
only
a
few days. At that point Kukrit
him.self came to the rore dcspite his
party's baving only
18
seaiS out of
269.
With
a
coalition govemment of
140
seaiS and wilh
22
panies actually repre–
sentcd in lhe parliament,. one can see
just how fragile tbis first dem'll<::atie
lñai govemment
r~y
is.
Si.nce the end of military rule, bow–
ever, much has oocurred in Soulheast
Asia to make an already unstable area
even more unstable. The worldwide
eco–
nomic reccs:sion, lhe collapse of lhe
Soulh Vietnamese govemment, the
lim·
ited U.S. military presenoe in the
arca,
and threaiS from communist neigbbors,
as weU as lhe continued conllict among
lhe various splintered political groups.
bave greatly mcreased lhe task tbat lhe
new prime minister a.nd his fragi le gov–
ernment faces. Just last month, for ex–
ample. tbe prime minister's personal
restdenoe was ransacked by a mob of
policemen.
'THE
KINGDOM
OFGOD--
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I1I.IITober
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P·HS
·----------------------------------~
WEEK ENI?ING OCTOBER 18, 197S.
The prime m•ntster received Mr.
Armstrong and myself, as weU as Mr.
Michael Ravid, lhe former Israeü Con·
sul General
\0
Los'
Angeles. This was
our first meeting wilh lhe new prime
minister, althougb we had had severa!
meetin~
with bis two predecessors,
prime ministers Kíttikachorn apd
Sanya.
'
For more tban five years we-have
been carrying on
an
educational etron
in Thailand, in cooperation with the
king, to educate lhe hill·tribe people.
Mobile schools bave been established,
and Ambassador CbUege students, grad·
uates and professors bave served on
a
volunteer basis.
In
the future these
projeciS, as weU as otbers, will be carried
on by lhe Ambassador
lnt~rnational
Cultural Foundation, which reoeived lhe
blessing of lhe prime minister and bis
pledge to cooperate with it.
Pril¡le Minister Kukrit was very much
of lhe opinion lhat
a
strong cultural pro–
gram
between
his
Thai poople and tlie
people of lhe neigbboring communist
states would be perhaps tbe most effeo–
tive way to establish relations which
would ullimately Jead to normal rela–
tions.bips between lhe two countrics and
their people.
ln
tbis regard lhe prime
minister was very much impressed by
the AICF conoen series and lhe AICF's
ambitious plans for the future, which
will
include a worldwide elfon to use
mu.si<; and culture to bring about worl<!>
peace and promote better understanding
betwcen peoplcs cvcrywhere.
The prime minister. an Oxford
graduate.
is
clcarly both a schobr snd
an inteUectual, as weU as a writer and
a
long- time parliamentarian. He has also
beeri editor and pubüsher of one of the
Jeading newspapers
in
Thailand.
A
prac–
ticing Buddhist, be belicves very firmly
thatlhe primary duty or the governmenl
is
to preserve peace ralher than
10
react
to violence wilh more violence and re–
pression of lhe civil übetties so long de–
nied the Thai people. The prime
minister has caUed for forgivcness and
charity, oool-headedness, patience, and
tolerance. He is ve.ry optimi'stic that de–
mocraey will be able
Id
survive in Thai-.
land.
The Prime Minister also strcssed that
much must be ·done within the country
lo close the gap between the ricb and the
poor. For more Iban
40
years he stressed
that lhe militaty govemment, despite iiS
effons
10
industrialiu the nation, had
neglected the agricultura! arcas, wberc
more than 80% of the Thai people Uve.
Alrcady plans are being made to in–
crease the budget for lhe new year by
~
and
10
channel much of lhe budget
into welfare and housing in evecy
dis·
trict of the couñtry. Vast cba.nges· have
been made in lhe taxMion system, and
jusi recently lhe king donated anolher
25,000
acres of bis own personalland for
lhe poor.
Just before our meeting began with
tbe prime minister, one of bis close.st
advisors stated lhat o'ur presence in
Thailand al tbis moment was very pro–
pitious. He said that it is time for lhe
true friends of the Thai pcople to sbow
lheir friendship by
investin~
in bis coun·
try. Now is lhe time, he saJd,
10
give us
economic aid WJtboutlhe
strin~
ofmili–
tary
bases.
Althou~
there is always a chance
lhat lhe military would seek to regain
contro~
lhere
is
leas danger of lhis, it
would appear, sinoe U.S. military pres–
eooe has been
so
vastly dirninisbed in
the entire Southeast Asian arca. During
the military regime the govemment
was
actuaUy supponed and propped up by
tbe United Statcs,
particular~
because
of the U.S. needs lo use That bases for
waging lhe war in Vietnam. Now that
lhe war has ended and lhe U.S. no
longer l)as lhe same need for the mili·
tary bases, it
is
clear tbat tbe mitítaty
dO<$
not have lhe continued support of
lhe U.S. government, and it never reaUy
had the support of the Thai poople.
And yet, it is very obvious lhal lhe
entire situation in Thailand continues to
be fraugbJ with danger from OUISide
as
· well as from within. Thc menace ofcom–
munism continucs. and lhcre is evcry
reason
10
beüeve that much of lhe politi–
cal activity, panicularly among the stu·
dents, is now being fomented by
communisiS.
Lel us hope lhal democraey
wiU
sur–
vive in Tbailand. Let
'!S
bope lhat lhe
clamors from some people for a retum
to
a
military dictatorship
10
get
thin~
accomplisJ¡ed will faU 6n deaf ears. Let
us hope lhat Tbailand does not become
anolher India, wbere Mrs. Gandhi has
se~d
dictatorial powen because of
what she considered to be
a
plot by her
political opposition to turn her out of
office and lo preven! her from carrying
on her manifest destiny. Any time de–
mocney fails any plaoe in lhe world, it
diminishes us here in lhc U.S.
o
PRIME MINISTER
.Kukrn Pramoj examines the
concert
/Jrochure of the
A.I.C.F.,
as
Messrs. Herbert Armstrong (len) and Stanley Rader (right) look on.
13