(Pridi Panomyong)
Interviewed by Gareth Jones on May 6th 1935
Gareth
had a long talk with the Luang Pradit who had been the chief
revolutionary, but who was now in the Government on the causes of the
revolution. He was a youngster and muddled in his ideas and he was
terrified of “hurting the King’s feelings” as he said.
It’s the funniest revolution Gareth had ever heard. He described
him as a very young man, with black hair, going brushlike upwards, a
round face like the moon and looked very boyish.
“There
was a coup d'etat on 24th June 1932, but before this there was an
absolute monarchy. The absolute monarchy had lead to favouritism
and to abuse. It was considered that that an absolute
monarchy was doing nothing for the development of the country at a time
of economic depression. A little before the coup it was felt that
the intellectual class were demanding reforms.
“The
expectations of the absolute monarchy were very high. The
advantages were if they had a good King as Chulalongkorn, then things
went well, but the previous king was weak and relied on his valet and
father-in-law.
“The
state must help private enterprise, but we do not want to go further
than co-operatives. I have made a progression of co-operatives and
they accused me of being a Communist.
“After
the coup d'etat on June 24th, 1932, the King signed a provisional
constitution and in December 1932, he gave a definite constitution, and
in March 1933, I presented to the council of state my economic plan.
The partisans of the king with the Council of State profited by this
occasion and accused me of being a Communist. I was the Minister
with Portfolio. The King signed a decree dissolving the National
Assembly and suspended the Constitution. The latter told the
sortie that it was the King and Council of State, chosen by the old
officials that governed the country, a step towards an anarchist regime
of absolute power. I was exiled to Europe.
“A
few months later on the 24th of June 1933, my friends made another coup
d'etat reopening the National Assembly and applied the conditions and
the King consented to them. The new government recalled me from
Europe, but in October of the same year, there was a counter-revolution
led by Prince Bovaradet, cousin of the King and his former tutor.
Before fighting the counter-revolution movement, we asked the King to
return to the capital. The King refused. (A few months
before the King went to the seaside at Hualin) and he escaped by a small
boat to the South of Siam and it was said he was going to Singapore.
The father-in-law took part in the counter-revolution.
“After
suppressing the revolt we sent delegate to ask the King to return to the
capital. At first he refused, but on the insistence of the
delegate he returned for a few days for the ceremonial celebration of
the constitution. A few days later he went to Europe on the
pretext of having his eyes seen to. He abdicated and Council of
Regency was set up with Prince Ananta Mahidon being proclaimed King.
People remain faithful to the monarchy, but only to the constitutional
monarchy. Please do be careful. I do not want to hurt the King,”
said Luang Pradit.
Liberty of the Press.
“We’ve
established a censorship. If a paper publishes false news or any
article susceptible of troubling, then we can apply censor. They
must send articles to be censored for a period of time, say the week,
the month. We cannot accord full liberty, because of the level of
culture of the people.
|