Thailand: A New Leader

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The death of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, announced on December 9, 1963, was unquestionably the most significant political event of the year in Thailand. Since he had been in fragile health for many years his death was not a surprise. Nevertheless, as the keystone of the revolutionary regime that has ruled the country since 1958, the effect of his passing from the scene will inevitably have consequences of importance. however difficult they may be to foresee. The Field Marshal was the leader of the coup d'etat which in 1957 ousted the regime headed by Field Marshal Phibunsongkhram. Sarit has been the central figure in Thailand's politics since then. In October 1958, he became the official head of the government under the dictatorship of the Revolutionary Council, and in February 1959, he took the office of Prime Minister under the authority of the provisional constitution promulgated by decree in January of that year. In his regime that office has been refashioned into a position of chief executive with elaborate administrative centralization within the Office of the Prime Minister. In addition, Field Marshal Sarit at the time of his death held the following major offices: Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, Minister of National Development, Chairman of the National Economic Development Council, Head of the Revolutionary Council, and Director General of the Police Department. The Field Marshal was succeeded as Prime Minister and Supreme Commander by General Thanom Kittikachorn, senior Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. General Thanom was Prime Minister for a period of about nine months in 1958 after the overthrow of the Phibunsongkhram regime and before the dictatorship of the Revolutionary Council. His government was not successful in rallying a melange of forces at work at that time. General Thanom has said on many occasions that he is not a politician and wants no political job. Thus speculation turns to the various military men among his immediate subordinates who may seek with or without success to gain the position of Prime Minister. There are several possible candidates for this role but the imponderables are such as to make prediction a fraud. In fact picking names and adding up combinations is one of Bangkok's favored parlor games. General Thanom announced, upon his assuming the office of Prime Minister, that his government would follow the policies of Field Marshal Sarit's government in both domestic and foreign affairs. Domestically these policies were to press forward with economic development plans