Home » Thailand » History » Return Of Phibun
Print
DESTINATION THAILAND COUNTRY HISTORY
THAILAND GUIDE | THAILAND TRAVEL TIPS | THAILAND FACTS | THAILAND TOURS  
 
QUICK GUIDANCE,...
To help you learn more about Thailand, we provide the comprehensive and educational history resource from the early establishment to the recent development of Thailand. We continue making research and gathering the information to make for a hub of Thailand history guide. You will get all and more by clicking the sections below.
THAILAND HISTORY
• Early History • Phibun Regime
• Mon and Khmer • Thailand In World War Ii
• Tai People • Pridi And Civilian Regime
• Sukhothai Period • Return Of Phibun
• Aytthaya Era • Coup D'etat In 1947
• Thai Kingship • Coup D ' Etat In 1951
• Ayutthaya Final Phase • Sarit And Thanom
• Bangkok Period • Sarit's Return
• Chakkri Dynasty • Politics 1963 - 1971
• Mongkut Policy • Coup D' Etat In 1971
• Chulalongkern Reforms • End Of Thanom Regime
• Crisis of 1893 • Military Rule Period
• Constitutional Era • Prem In Power
• Coup D'etat In 1932 • Coup D' Etat In 2006
Return Of Phibun , Thailand History Travel Information Thailand Guided Tours
Return of Phibun
 
THE RETURN OF PHIBUN AND THE MILITARY
As a result of Pridi's fall from grace and the manner in which the civilian government that succeeded him handled the investigation of the king's death, Phibun's military faction regained some of the stature that it had lost through its wartime association with the Japanese. Reviving the nationalistic theme of its years in power, Phibun's group played on intense public resentment of the war reparations Thailand had to pay and the economic dislocation the payments were believed to have caused. Army officers also blamed the civilian government for a humiliation the military suffered in 1946 when their units, facing expatriated Chinese Guomindang (Kuomintang--KMT) forces in the north, were ordered to disband in the field and were left without supplies or transport. They also criticized the civilian government's conciliatory policy toward minorities--Chinese, Muslims, and hill tribes.
Phibun had been arrested as a war criminal in 1945 but was released by the courts soon afterward. Always an efficient leader and known as a staunch anticommunist, Phibun had retained his constituency of supporters in the officer corps. Even the civilian elite, dismayed at the economic disorder and frightened at the rise of communist insurgencies in neighboring countries, regarded him as an attractive candidate for office. Some observers contended that his rehabilitation had been due to United States influence.