Adun Adundetcharat

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Adun Adundetcharat ( Thai อดุล อดุล เดช จรัส , also written Adul Aduldejcharas ; * June 28, 1894 in Bang Rak (now in Bangkok ) as Bat Phuengphrakhun ; † December 17, 1969 in Bangkok) was a Thai army and police officer and politician . He was National Director of the Thai Police from 1936 to 1945. 1943–44 and 1945–46 he was Deputy Prime Minister, from 1946 to 1947 Commander in Chief of the Thai Army. From 1949 to 1951 he belonged to the Privy Council of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on.

Life

Bat Phuengphrakhun was the son of a servant of Field Marshal Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath in the Paruskavan Palace. He attended the Assumption School in Bangkok and completed an officer training at the Chulachomklao Military Academy , where he was a classmate of the later Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram . In 1916 he was appointed lieutenant in the Thai Army. As a first lieutenant he was given the feudal honorary title and name Luang Adundetcharat - as is customary in absolutist Siam - which he then used instead of his real name. He was last commander of an artillery battalion in 1932 before he switched to the police force.

Adun belonged to the Khana Ratsadon ("People's Party"), which in 1932 undertook a coup that transformed Siam from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. In 1933 he became the deputy director of the Thai police. From August 1, 1935 to June 3, 1937 he was Minister without Portfolio in the third cabinet of Prime Minister Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena . As the successor to Colonel Phraya Anusonthurakarn, he became director of the Thai police in 1936 and held this position for nine years until he was replaced by General Phra Ramintra in 1945. In the fifth cabinet of Phraya Phahon he held the post of Deputy Minister of the Interior from December 21, 1937 to December 16, 1938.

After his long-time friend and colleague Plaek Phibunsongkhram was elected Prime Minister, he was Deputy Minister of the Interior in his first cabinet from December 21, 1938 to August 4, 1939. In October 1940 Adun was promoted to major general in the police. He also headed the Thai secret police (santiban) , which was supposed to expose conspiracies against the government, but also shadowed and pressured politicians to get them to cooperate with the Phibun regime. The British ambassador to Thailand at the time, Sir Josiah Crosby, compared Adun's methods with those of the German Gestapo . Unlike Phibunsongkhram, however, Adun advocated the preservation of certain monarchical elements.

With the abolition of feudal titles and ranks in 1942, he gave up his Luang title. However, he did not return to his maiden name, but made his previous honorary name Adundetcharat his family name and its abbreviation Adun his first name. In the second cabinet of Phibunsongkhram he acted again from March 10, 1942 to September 14, 1943 as Deputy Minister of the Interior and then from September 14, 1943 to August 2, 1944 for the first time as Deputy Prime Minister.

He was also involved in the Seri Thai movement , which resisted the de facto Japanese occupation of Thailand in World War II. As the head of the secret service, Adun worked with the Allies. For example , instead of handing them over to the Japanese , he personally detained American agents of the OSS , thereby protecting them. Despite their domestic political differences, he led the Seri-Thai network together with the regent Pridi Phanomyong . The OSS ran Adun under the code name "Betty". Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram, who externally cooperated with the Japanese, knew about Adun's cooperation with the Allies and let it go.

After the end of the war, Adun Adundetcharat acted in the cabinet of Prime Minister Seni Pramoj from September 19, 1945 to January 31, 1946 again as Deputy Prime Minister and at the same time held the office of Minister for Public Health. He then acted as the successor to General Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena from June 26, 1946 until his replacement by Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram on November 8, 1947 as commander of the Thai army. In addition, he was on June 18, 1949 by King Bhumibol Adulyadej to a member of the Privy Council , which he belonged to November 29, 1951.

For his services he received the special level of the White Elephant Order and the Order of the Crown of Thailand , the Dushdi Mala Medal, the Victory Medal and the Rama VIII Medal. He died at the age of 75 in Ramathibodi Hospital in Bangkok .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Craig J. Reynolds: Power, Protection and Magic in Thailand. The Cosmos of a Southern Policeman. ANU Press, Acton (ACT) 2009, p. 46.
  2. ^ A b c E. Bruce Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-83601-8 , p. 213.
  3. ^ Cabinet Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena III
  4. ^ Cabinet Phraya Phahon Phonphayuhasena V
  5. ^ Cabinet Plaek Phibunsongkhram I
  6. ^ Sulak Sivaraksa : Conflict, Culture, Change. Engaged Buddhism in a Globalizing World. Wisdom Publications, Boston 2005, p. 94.
  7. ^ Cabinet Plaek Phibunsongkhram II
  8. ^ Volker Grabowsky : Brief history of Thailand. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60129-3 , p. 164.
  9. ^ E. Bruce Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-521-83601-8 , p. 253.
  10. ^ John B. Haseman: The Thai Resistance Movement During World War II. Silkworm Books, 2002, p. 54.
  11. ↑ Seni Pramoj's cabinet
Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.
personal data
SURNAME Adun Adundetcharat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Luang Adundetcharat (alternative name); Adul Aduldejcharas (alternative name); อดุล อดุล เดช จรัส (Thai); Bat Phuengphrakhun (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Thai politician and general
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Bang rak
DATE OF DEATH 17th December 1969
Place of death Bangkok