Silent Coup (Thailand) - Prelude To The Coup

Prelude To The Coup

Having defeated the navy in the Manhattan Rebellion, the army-led Coup Group turned its attentions toward the remaining civilians in government. Although the military was in control of the army, politicians and legislators continued to annoy the generals. Throughout 1950 and the following year, the civilians and military men bickered over spoils and offices, and, despite its monopoly on the use of force, the Coup Group lost some political battles. In January 1951 the civilian parties forced the prime minister, Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, to replace two military ministers with civilian politicians. Similarly the Senate remained a royalist stronghold. In one October session senators sharply attacked the government for its violent suppression of the Manhattan Rebellion. In November the upper house blocked a bill to increase the military voice in elections.

The Coup Group quickly decided that rewriting or amending the constitution was the only way to get rid of these irritants. Because the 1949 constitution drafted by the palace-backed Democrats barred active government officials - including military and police officers - from the cabinet, the Coup Group found it entirely objectionable.

In August and October 1951 the powerful police chief, Phao Sriyanond, travelled to Switzerland to persuade the young King Bhumibol to accept a constitution more amenable to the military. On the first trip, the king apparently failed to object to the proposal, but Phao returned to Thailand empty-handed. In November the Coup Group decided to proceed without the king's approval.

By then the generals' only obstacle was Phibun. Because his strength lay in the multiplicity of political groups and his ability to play one off the other, the field marshal resisted all efforts by the Coup Group to remove civilians from their remaining positions in the administration.