Panomiong, Come

Early Years and Education

Born in a family of immigrants from China . At that time, surnames had not yet been entered in Siam, later his parents took the surname Panomiong, since their ancestors had long lived in the vicinity of the temple with that name.

At the age of 17, he began to study at the Law School of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand, at the age of 19 he was certified as a lawyer. Soon, thanks to the patronage of his distant relative, who held a high post in the Ministry of Justice, he became a clerk in the Department of Corrections.

In the early 1920s he lived in France , where, thanks to a scholarship from the Ministry of Justice, he received a law degree from the University of Can Normandy and the Sorbonne , as well as the political and economic studies at the Paris Institute for Political Studies . His worldview was influenced by the ideas of European liberalism and partly by socialism. In 1925, he was elected president of the Siamese student organization in France. Together with five other students and young military personnel (including Plek Pibunsongkram ) in February 1927, he became one of the founders of the Siam People's Party (Khan Ratsadon), which sought to put an end to the absolute monarchy and advocated the transition to a constitutional monarchy.

Career Start and Revolution

Upon returning to Siam in 1927, he taught at the Bangkok Law School, worked in the Ministry of Justice . He quickly promoted, at the age of 29 he was awarded the title Luong and the honorable name Praditmanutham ( Thai. ประดิษฐ์ มนู ธรรม ). Beginning in 1930, he began publishing a collection of Thai laws as a guide for lawyers, since often very old legal norms were difficult to find. The resulting income allowed him to create his own small printing company. In his lectures on administrative law, he also dealt with the principles of constitutionalism, political economy and public finance, becoming the first in Siam to teach the principles of modern governance. In doing so, he contributed to the growing awareness of part of the bourgeoisie of political rights and participation.

In 1932, the party participated in the Siamese revolution , the absolute monarchy was overthrown. He was appointed a member of the cabinet of the Public Committee and the Minister of Finance, and he authored a bill on socio-economic reforms known as the Yellow Brochure, which provided for the nationalization of all agricultural land, as well as the industrialization of land and state ownership of the means of production. Nationalization of enterprises should not be carried out through expropriation, but in exchange for government securities. All Siamese were to become state employees, the maintenance of which became an expenditure obligation of the government, they offered social payments for illness and pensions, and expanded the possibilities for political participation. In 1933, the Thai parliament rejected the bill, and the king called it communist. On April 1, 1933, a state of emergency was declared in the country and the “Law against Communist Activities” was issued, although at that time there was practically none in Siam. These measures were directed against the reform plan proposed by the politician. In the same year, Panomiong was expelled from the country under the pretext of a study tour to Europe with a state salary of £ 1000 per year.

Government Work

At the end of September 1933, after a military coup, which led to the removal from office of Prime Minister Manophakon Nithithada , he returned to his homeland. In February 1934, a special committee was convened to investigate his alleged communist activities, which unanimously acquitted him.

He was one of the founders of Tammasat University in Bangkok in 1934, as well as its first rector (until 1949 ). It was the second university in the country and the first, founded by civilian institutions, and not the king.

From 1934 to 1935 he served as Minister of the Interior .

From 1936 to 1938 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs ^[1] . At this post, concluded in 1937 friendship treaties between Siam and 13 other countries, including the United States, Britain, Japan, Italy, France and Germany, achieving extraterritoriality for Siam . In negotiations with Japan, he rejected her special rights and insisted on the strict neutrality of Siam. In subsequent years, he was awarded the highest foreign honors, including fascist Germany, in April 1938 he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle .

From 1938 to 1942 - Minister of Finance of Siam. From an ally of Pibunsongkram, he turned into a critic and rival to an increasingly authoritarian prime minister. In particular, Pride and his followers criticized modernization and militarization. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister appreciated him as a capable minister and retained him in the government. The relationship between them can be described as "friendly hatred." Over time, more and more became a “lone voice” against the wave of nationalism spread by Pibunsongkram and his entourage. Come resigned in December 1941 in protest against the government’s alliance with Japan, caused by the threat of this country's invasion.

World War II and the Post-War Period

He became one of the three members of the Regency Council under the minor King Rama VIII . In January 1942, he refused to support Thailand’s declaration of war with Great Britain and the United States. This circumstance also allowed Thailand to claim that he never declared a de facto war. After the abolition of feudal titles and ranks in 1942, he regained his civil name.

As a socialist, he was a supporter of anti-Japanese politics. During the Second World War, he headed the national liberation movement "Seri Thai" (" Free Thailand "). In 1944 he remained the only regent of the kingdom. His office, with the tacit consent of the new Prime Minister Kuang Apywong, was the headquarters of the resistance movement in Thailand.

Immediately after the announcement of the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, Pridy broke off the Pibunsongkram government treaties with Japan and declared the declaration of war in Great Britain and the USA invalid. Upon the return of King Ananda to Thailand in December 1945, he lost the title of regent and received the honorary title of “experienced statesman” (รัฐบุรุษ อาวุโส), created personally for him. He acted as an adviser to the first post-war governments.

At the end of the Second World War, Panomiong supporters won the parliamentary elections ; from March 24 to August 23, 1946 he served as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Thailand. The government was based on the participation of representatives of “Free Thailand” left-wing political convictions, immigrants from the northeastern region from the Free Thai Party and the liberal wing of the former “Constitutional Front” of the People’s Party of Thailand, as well as non-partisan deputies. During his reign on May 9, 1946, a new constitution was adopted, one of the most liberal and democratic in Thai history.

After the sudden and suspicious death of the young king Ananda, he was reassigned by his successor Phumipon Adulyadej to the post of head of government. During this time, his political opponents, especially from royalist circles, deliberately spread rumors that Pride was somehow involved in the death of the young king. They accused him of republican ambitions. Following the results of the by-elections in August 1946, the number of his supporters in parliament fell. On August 21, he announced his resignation, citing fatigue as an official reason. Damrong Navasavat , who continued his previous political course, was his successor , but cabinet support was extremely unstable. From November 1946 to February 1947, he and his wife toured North America and Europe. In December 1946, the US government awarded the Liberty Medal for its merits in the fight against Japan. Upon returning to Bangkok, an enthusiastic crowd met politics.

In September 1947, together with the Vietnamese politician Chan Wang Zyau, he founded the South East League in Bangkok, a coalition of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist organizations from Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Malaya, Indonesia and Thailand. They fought against the Japanese occupation during World War II and now their efforts should have been directed against the ongoing or restored rule of the European colonial powers. As a result, his political opponents and the Thai military accused the politician of being a communist who wanted to turn Thailand into the basis of the pro-Soviet Union of Southeast Asian Nations.

Exile and Emigration

After the military coup of 1947 and the return to power, Pibunsongram, with the help of British and American naval attaches, was forced to leave the country on Shell's oil tanker. He was in exile in Singapore , where he was greeted by the Plenipotentiary Representative of Great Britain in Southeast Asia and where he received political asylum. On November 27, he turned to his followers in Thailand, urging them not to offer violent resistance to the new rulers. In June 1948, the new Thai government issued an arrest warrant for alleged involvement in the assassination of King Ananda.

He secretly returned in 1949 to take part in the coup against the Pibunsongram regime, but after the failure of the uprising he finally left his native country. Until 1970, he lived in China , and then - in France . During the mass arrests of members of the Peace Fighters Movement, as well as actual and alleged Communists in Thailand at the end of 1952, his remaining wife, Poonsuk, and his eldest son, Pal , were arrested. Poonsuk was released after 84 days of detention and immediately left for France with two daughters, and later she came to Come to China. In 1955, the family moved from Beijing to Guangzhou . Pal was detained until 1957 .

In 1957, Pibunsongram sent an envoy to him to inform him of the new circumstances of the death of King Ananda and to offer a fair trial. Come was ready to return to Thailand, but in October 1958 he learned about the seizure of power by Field Marshal Sarit Tanarat and was forced to stay in the PRC.

From 1970 until his death, he lived in France, where he published memoirs ("My eventful life and 21 years in exile in the People's Republic of China"). In it, he derived the formula of his political career: “When I had power, I did not have experience, and when I was more experienced, I did not have power.”

He died in Paris from an acute myocardial infarction .

With the outbreak of World War II, he wrote the historical novel Phrachao Chang Phueak (King of the White Elephant) about the fictional Siamese king Chakra, whose figure was copied from King Chakkrahat, who ruled in the 16th century. He idealized him as a popular, dedicated, and peace-loving leader. Based on the description of one of the many wars of the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya with neighboring Burma, he came up with a reading that the Thais should learn from the mistakes of their ancestors. In 1940, he also released a book in English, in which he wanted to emphasize Thailand's peace intentions towards the international community.

On October 30, 1999, UNESCO included the name Pridi Panomionga in the calendar of anniversaries of prominent personalities and the calendar of historical events.

King of Thailand

• 1933 year   - Medal for the protection of the constitution.
• 1937 year   - Knight of the Great Ribbon of the Order of the Crown of Thailand .
• 1938 year   - medal from Rama VIII .
• 1939 year   - Dushdi is small (military).
• 1941 year   - Order of the White Elephant .
• 1945 year   - Large cross insignia.
• 1945 year   “The Order of Nine Gems.”

Foreign

•   - Order of the Rising Sun 1 degree.  
•   - Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor .  
•   - Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold I  
•   - Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus .  
•   - Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Michael and George .  
• Medal of freedom with a golden palm tree.  
• Order of Vasa .  
• Commander of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Eagle .  

• Come Panomiong - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978. Edition)
• Come Panomiong on the UNESCO website
• Modern Kingdom of Thailand
• A Brief History of Thailand: Sukhothai and World War II