Justice and equality are ingredients of a sustainable democracy, says Phuangkaew Sartprung, 74. Phuangkaew simply echoed what her father had adhered to throughout his life.
On June 24, 1932, Phuangkaew's father Phraya Phahol Phonphayuhasena (Phot Phaholyothin), leader of Khanarassadorn (People's Party) and the second prime minister of Thailand, staged a revolution that transformed Siam from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy.
On this morning 84 years ago, Phraya Phahol was the one who read out Khanarassadorn's historic declaration at the Royal Plaza amid the gathering of civilians and soldiers proclaiming the need for Siam to progress and for the country to be ruled by law.
Over the decades as the dust settled, Phraya Phahol had receded into memory. Compared to other Khanarassadorn contemporaries such as Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram or Pridi Banomyong, Phraya Phahol rarely suffered negative comments, controversies or emerged into the ongoing debate about our democracy despite his prominent role.
His life -- he died in 1947, at the age of 60 -- was less tumultuous than his revolutionary colleagues, most of whom lived longer and continued to be embroiled in decades of political tussles among each other and with the old royalist forces. Some of them found themselves in more coups and counter-coups, controversial economic plans, growing militarism, accusations of communism and forced exiles.
Phuangkaew Sartprung.
But without a man of courage like Phraya Phahol, the Siam Revolution of June 24, 1932, might not be achieved. Being in the thick of the power bargain and conflict resolutions had also made his life a difficult and eventful one, as well.
His unpretentious style and sense of responsibility earned him a loving title "Chetthaburut" (brotherly gentleman) after his death. For his family the character that impressed upon them was simplicity: despite his "phraya" title, his children had to help out with household chores, mow the lawn and take a public bus to school.
"We didn't have a luxurious life. We were just commoners. But my mother reminded us that we were children of a Phraya, who brought about changes to society," said Phuangkaew, one of the four surviving children of the Khanarassadorn leader.
Phraya Phahol passed away on Feb 14, 1947, 15 years after the revolution. Phuangkaew was then four years old and her younger brother, the seventh and last child, was just two.
The family didn't have enough money to arrange a royal-sponsored cremation, she recalled, and the government of Rear Admiral Thawan Thamrongnawasawat took over as host.
"I don't have lots of memories about him -- just childish happy moments like when he bought all the children, including those of his brothers, ice cream during our stay at Parusakavan Palace," said Phuangkaew, who married a commoner and has three children.
But she loves collecting information and snippets about her father, thanks to Phraya Phahol's aides and family's friends like Luang Phaet Dulayaphisit, who retold sweet and bitter incidents to the young Phuangkaew.
"They said my father was a modest, humble and unambitious man. He didn't try to grab and amass treasures for himself and his relatives. Before he got married, his pleasure was perhaps a safari trip to Kanchanaburi and elsewhere," Phuangkaew said.
Phraya Phahol Phonphayuhasena.
Phraya Phahol was the only child of his mother, a daughter of an ethnic Mon soldier, who became the fifth (of 10) wives of Gim Phaholyothin, a brave soldier who led troops to stop Chinese Hor revolts three times during the reign of King Rama V.
Born in 1887, Phot Phaholyothin, later Phraya Phahol, went to study at cadet school in Germany and Denmark when he was a teenager. Back in Siam, he met his first wife -- the elder sister of Phuangkaew's mother -- in Kanchanaburi.
Phuangkaew's aunt didn't have a child. She divorced Phraya Phahol in order to get her younger sister to marry him instead. The two had seven children, of which two sons and two daughters are still alive.
At 45, Phraya Phahol was the oldest and one of the four senior military members of the Khanarassadorn when they decided to carry out the revolution. At the historic moment, Phraya Phahol stepped out before a gathering of young soldiers in front of Anandasamakom Throne Hall to read the six-point declaration that would end Siam's absolute monarchy.
The penalty for overthrowing the monarchy was the death sentence not only for the perpetrators, but for three generations above and three generations below them.
"If I failed and got executed, do tell others that I stage the regime change not to lay siege to the throne or abolish the monarchy but to establish the administrative system in which a council of commoners could give voices," read a message Phraya Phahol left to his wife Thanphuying Bunlong, before he went out at dawn on June 24. But it was a combination of historical momentum and luck that the 115 civilians, bureaucrats and military officers of Khanarassadorn succeeded in their act. The vicious cycle of coups during the post-revolution years was a shame of Khanarassadorn but should not mar the merits of these forefathers, Phuangkaew said. What her father and other Khanarassadorn leaders meant to bring about was equality and freedom, as well as safety, economy, education changes on par with members of the royalty.
"Mother was worried but she was siding with father, saying that throughout his life he may be seen as less cunning or naive, but he was the one trying to connect and compromise the differing factions within the revolution," said Phuangkaew.
The family was moving from one house to another during those tense and tumultuous years when the old and new forces engaged in overt and covert politicking.
Phuangkaew moved with her family from Ban Bang Sue where Phraya Phahol stayed as a colonel; to Parusakavan Palace that served as Khanarassadorn headquarters; to a lodging at the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, Samut Sakhon, where his youngest child was born; then Ban Amphawa until his death.
Phraya Phahol took over the premiership in 1933, a year after the first prime minister Phrayamanopakorn Nitithada, and he stayed for six months. Even during earliest weeks he wanted to leave office, but King Prachadhipok didn't endorse his resignation.
Phraya Phahol got the overlapping position as commander-in-chief two months after the revolution until January 1938, passing on the army helm to Plaek Pibulsonggram.
In those dizzying years when power realignment was a normal practice, Phraya Phahol retook the premiership again from Dec 16, 1933, until Sept 22, 1934. He would leave the post and return again for a third, fourth and the fifth term from Dec 1937 to Sept 1938.
He was army chief again between Aug 25, 1944, to March 29, 1946.
After those difficult years, he retired from public service, though still served as an army inspector-general during World War II. His sickness became more severe after the end of the war, and he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 1947.
Despite the conflicts among the members of Khanarassadorn, the descendants of the families remember the friendliness and helpfulness that they would readily give another. Phuangkaew remembered how Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram was usually nice to her family; how Luang Adul Aduldechjaras, another prominent character of the revolution, was very protective; how Phraya Songsuradet (later split from Khanarassadorn) and Phraya Srisithhisongkram visited her family.
"We made merit together, giving each other fruits and other gifts. Politics is politics, we don't mix and mess it up in our lives," she said. Politically speaking her father was a key ally of Pridi Banomyong, the Khanarassadorn civilian leader who was unfortunately forced to live and die in exile 33 years ago. But it is well-known that Pridi had many enemies, outside as well as inside the revolution.
Over eight decades after the revolution, Phuangkaew has witnessed another form of conflict playing out in the country. She has always quietly advocated democratic movements in the past decades. Her eldest brother Lt Col Putthinat Phaholyothin may be more outspoken against the coup, but Phuangkaew is no less sharp and critical against the elitist movements.
"What we can bring to our coffin is nothing. Why do we have to linger on and holding on to the power that should be shared and decided by the majority?" said Phuangkaew.
