MR Kukrit administration praised | Bangkok Post: news

Independence on foreign and security policies during the short-lived Kukrit Pramoj administration created a significant juncture in modern Thai history by weakening the dominance of the military and the United States, experts said at a seminar on Monday on "MR Kukrit Pramoj and International Relations".

MR Kukrit Pramoj (File Photo)

Former prime minister MR Kukrit and his foreign minister Chatchai Choonhavan had laid a strong basis for Thailand's independence on security and foreign affairs at a significant moment in modern Thai history, said Anand Panyarachun, a two-time former interim prime minister in the early 1990s.

MR Kukrit's administration was the first civiian government to gain the upper hand over the military in steering foreign and international security affairs, Mr Anand said.

"MR Kukrit's policy announcement in March 1975 had set several benchmarks for Thailand to protect the national interest with independence in foreign and security affairs," said Mr Anand, who was the ambassador to Washington DC when the late premier called him back home in protest at the US use of Thai territory to attack Cambodia in the so-called Mayaguez incident (May 1975).

MR Kukrit's government had sent strong signals to both friends and foes how Thailand then would proceed with its own pace of diplomacy and security, Mr Anand said.

The Oxford-educated MR Kukrit told the parliament of his government's emphasis on good neighbourliness despite differences in political ideologies, the plan for US troop withdrawal within one year and the plan to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing and recognise the Chinese nation state, Mr Anand said of the key achievements of the Kukrit administration which governed from March 14, 1975 to Jan 12, 1976.

His speech to the parliament in which he said his government would have no objection if colleagues proposed the abolition of the Anti-Communist Act or was willing to do so if other MPs required it of the government was a significant political move in light of the changing face of international politics too, Mr Anand said.

Without the Kukrit-Chatchai move over China, Thailand would not have a good relationship with that country now, he added.

"Before Gen Chatchai, Mr Thanad Khoman could not do much except for damage control in foreign affairs because Mr Thanad was a minister under military rule, but the Kukrit-Chatchai policy continued into the next government of Seni Pramoj and his foreign minister Pichai Rattakul," Mr Anand said.

MR Kukrit's incomparable qualifications of thorough thinking, in-depth knowledge, farsightedness and a variety of experiences, together with his foreign minister Chatchai's intuition and shrewdness, allowed the coalition government to set the record straight concerning the military's overly long decision making without informing or consulting any elected bodies.

"Nobody knew about the secret deals made between the US military, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Thai army. The Thai army had long been enjoying a vested interest in the US's involvement in the Indochina War," said Mr Anand.

He cited two issues: the Udon Thani-based Ramasoon radio station which tapped all signals not only from its neighbours but also intelligence within Thailand and the Ammunition in Thailand (AIT) agreements.