Sarit Thanarat

Sarit Thanarat (born June 16, 1908, Bangkok—died Dec. 8, 1963, Bangkok) was a field marshal and premier in a military government of Thailand from 1958 to 1963.

Sarit studied at the Chula Chom Klao military academy in Bangkok, graduating in 1929 and subsequently serving as an army officer. He supported the military dictator Phibunsongkhram in his coup d’etat in 1947 and served until 1957 in that regime as minister of defense and commander of the army. In 1957, with some popular support, he removed Phibun, allowing the establishment of a civilian “caretaker” government. In October 1958, however, he seized power in another coup d’etat and proclaimed an “interim constitution,” naming himself premier.

Sarit’s first task was to uproot the corruption that had flourished during the former regime, particularly in the national police force. He launched campaigns against organized crime, made the smoking of opium illegal, and attempted to halt opium smuggling. He mounted the Thai government’s first successful programs of rural economic development, particularly in the impoverished provinces of northeast Thailand; and he undertook a major expansion and improvement of the national education system.

Sarit’s regime was highly authoritarian. Political parties were banned, opposition newspapers were made to cease publication, and constitutional rights were suspended in order that dissenters could be jailed without trial on charges of subversion. In foreign policy he was pro-American and anti-Communist, keeping Thailand in the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and relying increasingly on U.S. military aid to stem the threat of Communist insurgency within Thailand. When Sarit died he was succeeded as premier by Gen. Thanom Kittikachorn.