37 Facts About Phibun

Phibun became the third Prime Minister of Thailand in 1938 as Commander of the Royal Siamese Army, established a de facto military dictatorship inspired by the Italian fascist Benito Mussolini, promoted Thai nationalism and sinophobia, and allied Thailand with Imperial Japan in World War II.

Phibun launched a modernization campaign known as the Thai Cultural Revolution that included a series of cultural mandates, changing the country's name from "Siam" to "Thailand", and promoting the common Thai language.

Phibun was ousted as prime minister by the National Assembly in 1944 and replaced by members of the Free Thai Movement, until returning to power in the Siamese coup d'etat of 1947, led by the Coup Group.

Phibun aligned Thailand with anti-communism in the Cold War, entered the Korean War under the United Nations Command, and abandoned fascism for a facade of democracy.

Phibun attempted to transform Thailand into an electoral democracy from the mid-1950s but was overthrown in 1957 and entered exile in Japan, where he died in 1964.

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Phibun is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Thailand to date, at fifteen years and one month.

Phibun graduated in 1914 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the artillery.

In 1932, Phibun was one of the leaders of the Royal Siamese Army branch of the Khana Ratsadon, a political organization that staged a coup d'etat which overthrew the absolute monarchy in Siam and replaced it with a constitutional monarchy.

On 16 December 1938, Phibun replaced Phraya Phahol as the Prime Minister of Thailand and as the Commander of the Royal Siamese Army.

Phibun became the de facto dictator of Thailand and established a military dictatorship, consolidating his position by rewarding several members of his own army clique with influential positions in his government.

Phibun seemed to be an admirer of the Italian fascism and sought to imitate the fascist Italian regime's cinema propaganda, valued as one of the most powerful propaganda instruments of Italian political power.

Phibun adopted the Italian-style fascist salute, modeled on the Roman salute, and he used it during speeches.

Phibun's quotes appeared in newspapers, were plastered on billboards, and were repeated over the radio.

Phibun's goal "Aimed to uplift the national spirit and moral code of the nation and instilling progressive tendencies and a newness into Thai life".

Phibun saw these policies as necessary, in the interest of progressivism, to change Thailand in the minds of foreigners from an undeveloped country into a civilized and modern one.

Phibun's administration encouraged economic nationalism and espoused staunchly anti-Teochew sentiment.

In 1941, in the midst of World War II, Phibun decreed 1 January as the official start of the new year instead of the traditional Songkran date on 13 April.

Phibun exploited the Fall of France in June 1940 and the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in September 1940 to advance Thai interests in French Indochina following a border dispute with France.

Phibun believed Thailand could recover territories ceded to France by King Rama V because the French would avoid armed confrontation or offer serious resistance.

Phibun's administration realised that Thailand would have to fend for itself if a Japanese invasion came, considering its deteriorating relationships with Western powers in the area.

Phibun purged all who opposed the Japanese alliance from his government.

Phibun's resignation was partly forced by two grandiose plans: one was to relocate the capital from Bangkok to a remote site in the jungle near Phetchabun in north central Thailand, and another was to build a "Buddhist city" in Saraburi.

At the war's end, Phibun was put on trial at Allied insistence on charges of having committed war crimes, mainly that of collaborating with the Axis powers.

In November 1947, Royal Thai Army units under the control of Phibun known as the Coup Group carried out the Siamese coup d'etat of 1947 which forced then-Prime Minister Thawan Thamrongnawasawat to resign.

On 8 April 1948, Phibun assumed the position of Prime Minister after the military forced Khuang out of office.

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Phibun was reportedly thrilled by the democracy and freedom of speech he had witnessed during a long trip abroad to the United States and Europe in 1955.

Phibun began to democratize Thailand by allowing the formation of new political parties, amnestied political opponents, and planned free elections.

Phibun founded and became chairman of his own new political party, the Seri Manangkhasila Party, which was dominated by the most influential in the military and the government.

Unlike his first premiership, Phibun faced noticeable opposition from people connected to the Free Thai Movement due to his alliance with the Japanese, including from within the military.

Additionally, Phibun was indebted to the powerful Coup Group that had returned him to power.

On 26 February 1949, the Palace Rebellion was another failed coup attempt against Phibun to restore Pridi Phanomyong by occupying the Grand Palace in Bangkok and declaring a new government led by Direk Jayanama, a close associate of Pridi.

On 29 June 1951, Phibun was attending a ceremony aboard the Manhattan, a US dredge boat, when he was taken hostage by a group of Royal Thai Navy officers, who then quickly confined him aboard the warship Sri Ayutthaya.

Phibun was able to escape and swim back to shore when the Sri Ayutthaya was bombed by the air force, and with their hostage gone, the navy were forced to lay down their arms.

On 16 September 1957, Phibun was eventually overthrown in a coup d'etat by members of the Royal Thai Army under the command of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, who had earlier sworn to be Phibun's most loyal subordinate.

Phibun was then forced into exile after the coup, first fleeing to Cambodia, but later settled in Japan after Sarit's new regime rejected his requests to allow him to return to Thailand.

In 1960, Phibun briefly travelled to India to be a monk in the Buddhist temple in Bodhgaya.

Phibun died on 11 June 1964 from heart failure while in exile in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.