Evening star., 1933-04-12
OTTO PRAEGER RETURNS TO u. S.
AFTER BEING ADVISER IN SIAM
Father of Airmail Service Spends Five
Years Building Posts and Telegraph
Department in Orient.

Possessing . sense Of humor, and say,
that the Queen Is q wonderful woman
Siam and Abyssinia were the last ALSO.
lutte monarchies. Members Of the Roya
Siamese family were educated mainly IL
England or the United States and
brought back with them many Western
ideas.
The King, says Mr.. Praeger, had beer
working on y constitution, but Other
students who had been educated abroad
had picked up radical tendencies and
decided that things were not progress
ing fast enough. 50 some Of them
especially one who had studied law ir
France and another who had received
. military education In Germany
headed the extreme party which brought
about the bloodless revolution. They
replaced the absolute monarchy with ar
absolute oligarchy consisting Of Is men
IL Of whom were radical followers ot
Moscow. Their radicalism extended tc
economic matters.
They wanted state trading, Soviet
operation and only one party, but the
King insisted on real party government,
and two Conservatives were put ir
charge. The King always had the
people with him and the majority oi
the army. Only one Bangkok regiment
and q battalion Of marines were dis.
affected. The revolutionary group never
had public standing, 30 now that the
King has regained his power he prob.
ably will keep it.
Intelligent Rulers.
"The truth is," says Mr.. Praeger
siam has been ruled by an intelligent
class. The princes were laborious and
educated workers. The country has q
splendid wireless and telegraph system
and the best railroad In Southeastern
Asia. Bangkok, the capital, Is well
paved, lighted and has hne water and
sanitary system. Bubonic plague and
cholera have been stamped out.
"The Siamese are not copyists, but
ordginators," continued Mr.. Praeger
"The English did things for the ma
tives In the Malay Peninsula. The
Dutch did things for them in Java and
the French in Indo- China, but the
Siamese do things for themselves. They
have to prove that they know their Jobs
I'VE put in an airline with . per.
sonnel 100 per cent Siamese," ASSERTED
Mr.. Praeger, land for almost two year.
1t has operated without forced land.
ing or . failure. One prince, brother oi
the King, took the inefficient and un.
profitable railway line, reorganixed II
and up to the depression made 1t pay
profit Of from 5000. 900 to 10000 .00t
ticals . year."
Vast Jungles.
Outside of the Siamese cities" Mr.
Praeger explains, "the whole country
is jungle. The railroad runs from the
Malay border to within some so miles
Of the China line and has an Eastern
branch toward Indo- China. The valleys
where the towns and villages lie are
separated by great strips Of jungle They
used to be separate kingdoms and are
now communities in themselves, each
valley being an independent economic
province. Roads run through these
valleys at right angles to the railroad
and connecting with 1t.
There are no roads parallel to the
railroad, and therefore there u no bus
competition. If one wishes to motor
through Siam, he can put his automo-
bile on train and take It OF at any
road intersection, but he has to come
back to the railroad before he car
motor through any other community
The main motor market over there Is
Tor trucks"
tCopyrisht. 1898. BY North American News
paper Alliance. Inc.)