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Thailand Thai Politics and Foreign Policy, 1963-71
In December 1963 Sarit died in office. His deputy, Thanom,
peacefully succeeded to the prime ministership and pursued
without major modifications the foreign and domestic policies of
his predecessor. Retaining the cabinet that he inherited from
Sarit, Thanom focused his efforts on seeking to maintain
political stability; promoting economic development, especially
in security-sensitive areas; raising the standard of living; and
safeguarding the country from the communist threat at home and
abroad.
A notable departure from Sarit's policies, however, was the
Thanom government's decision to shorten the timetable for the
country's transition from the military-dominated leadership
structure to a popularly elected government. The prime minister
urged the Constituent Assembly, appointed in 1959, to finish
drafting a constitution as soon as practicable. The new
leadership also relaxed stringent official controls on the press,
an attempt that the authorities said was aimed at creating a new,
relatively liberalized, political climate.
Although the leaders agreed on the desirability of
establishing what they described as a more democratic political
system in tune with the country's heritage, there were
indications that they disagreed on the pace of the projected
change. Some leading officials thought that an early resumption
of political activities would broaden the base of politics and
strengthen popular identification with the government, the
monarchy, and Buddhism. Others argued that the restoration of
party politics at a time when the country was confronted with
serious internal problems was likely to aid the communists in
their efforts to infiltrate civic, labor, student, and political
organizations.
The constitution was finally proclaimed in June 1968, but
martial law, which had been imposed in 1958, remained in effect.
Party politics were legalized and resumed shortly after mid-1968,
and general elections for the new National Assembly were held in
February 1969. Thanom's United Thai People's Party returned 75
members to the 219-seat lower house, giving them the largest
representation of the 13 parties, while the second-running
Democrat Party won 57 seats.
Thailand's annual economic growth rate in the 1960s and early
1970s averaged a booming 8 percent, much of it attributable to
United States military expenditures there during the years of its
involvement in Vietnam. An increased flow of foreign exchange
resulted from United States and multilateral aid loans as well as
from foreign investment, which came primarily from Japan, the
United States, and Taiwan.
Foreign policy concerns focused on neighboring Laos, where it
was believed a Pathet Lao victory would destabilize the North and
Northeast and open Thailand to a direct attack by communist
forces. Thailand allied itself closely with the United States
position in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), permitting
bases in Thailand to be used for raids on both the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and Cambodia. Although more
than 45,000 United States troops and 500 combat aircraft were
stationed in the country by 1968, their mission was not
officially acknowledged for fear of possible communist
retaliation against Thailand. Sarit also committed a division of
Thai army troops to the war in South Vietnam.
President Lyndon B. Johnson's March 1968 announcement that
the United States would halt bombing in North Vietnam and seek a
negotiated settlement came as a blow to the Thai government,
which had not been consulted on the change in policy. Although
the defense of Thailand clearly remained essential to the
security of Southeast Asia in United States strategic thinking,
no provision was made for Laos, whose security the Thai saw as
essential to their own defense.
While remaining loyal to its commitments, Thailand thereafter
determined to restore flexibility to its foreign policy by moving
away from one-sided dependence on the United States. The
military, however, was anxious to continue Thailand's active
involvement in South Vietnam and in Laos, where several thousand
Thai "volunteers" were engaged against the Pathet Lao. Thanom
urged United States backing for the Lon Nol regime in Cambodia in
1970 and proposed a formal alliance linking Thailand with Laos,
Cambodia, and South Vietnam that would give the conflict in
Southeast Asia the appearance of a war being fought by Asian
anticommunists for Asian security. The plan failed to get United
States support.
Communist activities in Laos and Malaya had already begun to
affect the domestic situation in the South and the Northeast in
the 1950s, and by the 1960s they presented a problem of
increasing magnitude. Communist guerrillas, mostly ethnic
Chinese, operated in jungle areas north of the Thai-Malayan
border, where they had taken refuge from Commonwealth of Nations
security forces during the 1948-60 Emergency in Malaya. A more
serious threat in that same region were the Muslim insurgents of
the Pattani National Liberation Front, a Thai separatist group
composed of ethnic Malays. Meanwhile, in the northern provinces
dissident Meo tribesmen reportedly had begun receiving training
and arms from the Pathet Lao by 1950. In the Northeast,
underground leftist parties took advantage of grievances over
relatively poor economic and social conditions to rally
opposition to the government. Faced with the problems in the
South, North, and Northeast, the Bangkok government frequently
identified regional unrest and protest against ethnic and
economic policies with the genuine communist-based insurgencies
that overlapped and often benefited from it. Opposition groups
and critics of the regime in Bangkok were also generally labeled
as communists.
Data as of September 1987
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