Chavalit Yongchaiyudh General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh ( Thai ชวลิต ยงใจยุทธ , born May 15 , 1932 in Nonthaburi ) is a Thai politician and retired general . He was Thailand ' s 22nd Prime Minister from 1996 to 1997 . Early political career . Chavalit Yongchaiyudh is of Sino - Thai and ethnic Lao descent . From 1986 to 1990 , he was Commander - in - Chief of the Royal Thai Army . He was one of the architects of the amnesty program that ended the insurgency of the Communist Party of Thailand . Under his leadership , the army started projects for rural development . These included the " Isan Khiew " programme in the underdeveloped North Eastern region and the " New Hope " programme in the conflict - ridden Southern provinces . For these projects he provided big businesses with lucrative contracts , including the leading agrobusiness corporation Charoen Pokphand ( CP ) . Chavalit began his political career in 1988 as Defence Minister , with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister , in the administration of Chatichai Choonhavan . He held that position until 1991 . In 1990 , he founded his own party , the New Aspiration Party . The party was backed by the CP group and its chairman Dhanin Chearavanont . He then served as Minister of Interior in the cabinet of Chuan Leekpai from 1992 to 1994 , and was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the government of Banharn Silpa - archa from 1995 to 1996 . Premiership . In late 1996 , following the Royal Decree of Parliament Closure a general election was held . On November 16 , 1996 , Chavalit ' s New Aspiration Party won the most seats . With the support of five coalition parties - Chart Pattana , Social Action , Thai Citizen , Seri Dhamma and Mass Citizen - Chavalit was appointed by royal decree as the 22nd Prime Minister on November 25 , 1996 . However , he encountered pressure from many political movements , who finally forced him to resign on November 6 , 1997 , in the midst to the Asian financial crisis . On 14 May and 15 May 1997 , the Thai baht , which was then pegged to the U . S . dollar , was hit by massive speculative attack s . Prime Minister Chavalit announced he would not devalue the baht , but eventually Chavalit ' s government could not help but had to devalue the currency ' s value in July 1997 . This sparked the Asian financial crisis , since the Thai government failed to defend the baht against the international speculators . Thailand ' s booming economy came to a halt amidst massive layoffs in finance , real estate , and construction that resulted in huge numbers of workers returning to their villages in the countryside and 600 , 000 foreign workers being sent back to their home countries . The baht devalued swiftly and lost more than half of its value . The Thai stock market dropped 75 % in 1997 . Due to the crisis , in November this year , the premier eventually stepped down . During the early 1990s , General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh controlled 126 military - run radio stations and two of the country ' s five television networks . Chavalit agreed to make military stations available for an anti - AIDS campaign . He also agreed to help Meechai Viravaidya spearhead a three - year blitz to halt the spread of the disease . Return . After holding the position of deputy prime minister in Somchai Wongsawat cabinet in 2008 , on October 7 , 2008 , Chavalit Yongchaiyudh resigned and admitted partial responsibility for violence due to police tear gas clearance of Parliament blockade , causing injuries to 116 protesters , 21 , seriously . His resignation letter stated : " Since this action did not achieve what I planned , I want to show my responsibility for this operation . " But after dispersal , 5 , 000 demonstrators returned and also blocked all 4 entries to the parliament building On October 2 , 2009 , Chavalit Yongchaiyudh joined the Pheu Thai Party , which comprises Thaksin Shinawatra ' s loyalists . He insists he will be a regular member until the party ' s executives consider a future role for him .