Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1951-07-08

doned il he kicked himself in the
seat of his striped pants. In a
long and breath-taking career as
Ia political strongman. he had sell
dom been caught so far off base.
His present spot. for all his unruf-
fled exterior, was unpleasant.
It was a thing he might have
foreseen. Pibul had not made a
habit of attending naval functions.
Ever since 1882, when he had
taken hand in overthrowing
Thailand's absolute King and set
ting up the present constitutional
monarchy, the navy had been none
too friendly to him. The leaders
of that revolt had been, like him.
army men. The navy was con-
Iservative by nature, against the
idea of pushing the King around.
Pibul may have wondered
whether the finger of his old
enemy Pridi wasn't in the pie
somewhere. In the regime that
emerged under the constitution.
Pridi lined himself up with the
opposition, on the side Of the
disgruntled admirals. AS the re-
gime became more and more
dictatorial, Pridi stood more and
more for the liberal element in
the country. Pibul came into real
power shortly before the japanese
moved into Thailand. AS long
as they stayed, he played ball
with more than adequate en-
thusiasm Pridi was in the I'M
derground-one of the most
valuable men the Allies had in
that part of the world.
Pridi Pretty Bod
When the Japs moved out in
1945, Pridi took over as Premier
He made a terrible mess of things.
Without control of Thailand's
SO, 000-man army. there was little
he could do to establish himself
Even the navy was lukewarm to
him, and his administration was
hopelessly corrupt. The follow
ing year, with the help of 1t. Gen.
Luang Kach pronounced Cock
Pibul pulled off another successful
coup d'etat, kicked out Pridi and
moved back into the Premier's
residence.
Since that time. in the hell
for-leather atmosphere of Thai
politics. Pibul has weathered one
unsuccessful coup Tin 1949), liqui-
dated a good deal of his oppose
ton and built up powerful
police force to keep tabs, he hoped,
on the army and navy-and any
other dissenters who might stir
up trouble. Early in 1850 the
finger fell on Gen. zach. Charged
with various corrupt practices, in
GLIDING embezzlement, he was
packed aboard plane bound for
Hong Kong, hidden farewell and
urged not to return.
Recently. it began to look as
if Pibul was firmly settled in the
drivers seat. He still trusted no
body completely. but it was
generally admitted that the army
was loyal to him. His police force
had grown into a potent fighting
outfit in its own right, complete
with guns and tanks. Even a
good part of the navy 40 ad-
mirals-10 ships seemed ready to
forget its old rancors and swing
into line. There were still a few
die-hards. among them a can
ltankerous old marine admiral
named Taharn. but they were
thought to be in the minority. =.
1t also looked as though Pibu
might be getting mellower as hi
grew older. His treatment Of
Kach was taken as an example
A couple of months ago, Pibul re.
Tented enough to allow his home
sick former colleague to come
back and face trial. It was con.
ifidently expected that after briei
period of formal penance, Kacl
would settle down as a model anc
happy citizen again. Pridi, wa.
another matter. No one knew just
where he was these days: there
were rumors that he had linet
himself up with the Communists
! Against this background. il
might not have been hard fol
Piikll to figure out the meaning Of