Chatichai Choonhavan

Chatichai Choonhavan (1976)

Chatichai Choonhavan ( Thai : ชาติ ชาย ชุ ณ หะ วัณ , RTGS : Chatchai Chunhawan, pronunciation: [ʨʰâːtʨʰaj ʨʰunhàwan] ; *  April 5, 1920 or 1922 in Bangkok ; †  May 6, 1998 in London ) was a Thai army officer, diplomat and politician . He was chairman of the Chart Thai Party from 1986 to 1991 and Prime Minister of Thailand from August 1988 until the military coup in February 1991 .

family

Chatichai was born to Field Marshal Phin Choonhavan and Khunying Wibhulak Choonhavan. His year of birth is given in some sources as 1920, in others as 1922. From 1948 to 1954, the father was in command of the Thai army and was also strongly represented in the country's economic life. Chatichai had four sisters. The eldest was married to General Phao Siyanon , who was one of the three most powerful men in the country in the 1950s. Another sister was married to Chatichai's political companion Pramarn Adireksarn . Chatichai himself married Boonruen Sopoj, who was a close confidante of Princess Mother Srinagarindra , the mother of King Bhumibol Adulyadej .

Chatichai and Boonruen had a son and a daughter. Her son is the political scientist, social activist and former Senator Kraisak Choonhavan .

Education, military and diplomatic career

Chatichai received his education first at the Debsirin School , then at the Royal Chulachomklao Military Academy . In 1940 he served in the Thai army as a platoon leader and in the royal bodyguard cavalry battalion I. He later became a troop leader and was at the headquarters of the 1st cavalry battalion. During the Second World War , Chatichai served in the Phayap army commanded by his father and took part in the conquest of Burma . After the end of the war, Chatichai continued his training at the cavalry school of the Thai Army (in Thailand the armored force is traditionally called "cavalry") and at the US Army Armor School in Fort Knox , Kentucky . In 1949 he was appointed military attaché in Washington .

In 1951, the military, led by Chatichai's father and brother-in-law Phao, effectively took over political power in the country. They also used their power to expand their influence on the country's economy. During the Korean War , Chatichai was the commander of the 1st Cavalry Battalion and chief and later the commander in chief of the tank school. In 1956 he was major general. In 1957, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat launched a coup . He ousted Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram and Chatichai's brother-in-law Phao Siyanon and filled all important positions in the military and politics with his own confidants. The Choonhavan clan (or, according to the family's place of residence, Soi Rajakru clan ) were accused of embezzling millions of dollars and putting them into accounts in Switzerland. Chatichai's military career was over.

Instead, he was transferred to the diplomatic service and the relatively insignificant ambassadorial post in Argentina . He was then successively ambassador of Thailand to Austria , Switzerland , Turkey , Yugoslavia , the Vatican and the UN . In 1972 he returned to Bangkok to work as Director of the Political Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs .

Political career

Chatichai in 1974

During the government of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn , Chatichai was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in 1972. In this position he played a role during the hostage-taking in the Israeli embassy by a command of the Palestinian terrorist organization Black September in December 1972. Together with Agriculture Minister Dawee Chullasapya he led the negotiations and finally flew himself in exchange for the release of the Israeli diplomats. as a guarantee for her safe passage with the terrorists to Cairo .

He remained deputy foreign minister in the interim government of Sanya Dharmasakti even after the popular democratic uprising in 1973 . In December 1973, a year and a half before Thailand officially entered into diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, Chatichai and Dawee, who was now defense minister, were the first Thai government officials to visit Beijing. There they negotiated a contract for the delivery of 50,000 tons of diesel oil "at a preferential price" and promised to ease the barriers to trade.

In 1974 he founded the conservative and aggressively anti-communist Chart Thai party with his brothers-in-law Pramarn Adireksarn and Siri Siriyothin , who were also major general- generals who had retired from active military service . This took part in the first democratic election in 1975 and became the third strongest force. Chatichai was as a deputy for the province of Nakhon Ratchasima to the House of Representatives elected. The Chart Thai party joined a coalition government under Kukrit Pramoj , in which Chatichai served as foreign minister. After the early elections in 1976, in which the Chart Thai party was able to significantly expand its seat share, he was Minister of Industry in Seni Pramoj's government . 1980 to 1983 he was again Minister of Industry, this time under Prem Tinsulanonda . After three years in the opposition, his party returned to the government in 1986 and Chatichai became deputy prime minister.

Term of office as Prime Minister

Chatichai (right) with US President George Bush (1990)

On August 4, 1988, Chatichai was named prime minister after winning the election as chairman of the Chart Thai party . This made him the first elected head of government after 12 years of military rule and “semi-democracy”.

After the end of the last clashes in Southeast Asia that followed the Vietnam War , Chatichai pursued a policy of rapprochement and economic opening. His motto was to transform Indochina "from a battlefield into a marketplace". He took a more conciliatory stance towards the communist-ruled Vietnam and the pro-Vietnamese government of Cambodia , whose opponent was Thailand during the Cold War . He also supported Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia in his efforts to stabilize the situation in the country.

Many infrastructure projects in Thailand were initiated under Chatichai for the first time: the improvement of telecommunications (the three million telephone project), the upgrading of the coastal towns in the south of the country, the elevated roads to improve traffic flows in the Bangkok metropolitan area and the mass transport company Mass Rapid Transit Authority . The Thai economy saw growth rates of up to 13% during Chatichai's reign.

Corruption was also widespread during Chatichai's tenure. The parties and politicians involved in the government fought openly over the distribution of state funds. The Thai press spoke of the "buffet cabinet". Chatichai's trademark became the standard “No problem” response whenever he was confronted by the press with difficulties or allegations of corruption against members of his government. In the twisted version of "no plomplam", this phrase was spread by a folk song by the singer Aed Carabao , which addresses the negative aspects of industrialization, and was incorporated into Thai colloquial language. Chatichai was heavily criticized for trying to downplay the damage caused by cyclone "Gay" in November 1989, which killed over 360 people.

The originally right-wing Chart Thai party had meanwhile de-ideologized itself and represented the interests of the up-and-coming class of business people from the province. She pursued a policy that simplified their business and involved them in lucrative government contracts. She also advocated strengthening parliament, in which provincial politicians were strongly represented, vis-à-vis the unelected decision-makers in administration and the military, who had always had the last word under Chatichai's predecessor, Prem Tinsulanonda. She also stressed the province's economic development, at the expense of Bangkok's major corporations and spending on the military. With this policy Chatichai challenged the country's conservative elite.

Disempowerment and return

In February 1991, the commander in chief of the armed forces Sunthorn Kongsompong and the generals of the 5th grading class of the military academy Suchinda Kraprayoon , Issarapong Noonpakdi and Kaset Rojanarin carried out a coup . They accused the government of massive corruption, abuse of office for its own benefit and several cabinet members, including Chatichai, of "unusual wealth". But they also represented the interests of the old elites from civil servants, the military and Bangkok business circles, whose influence Chatichai had tried to reduce with his politics. They described the form of government under Chatichai as "parliamentary dictatorship" and claimed a decline in customs and morals. Chatichai first went into exile in Great Britain .

After his return he worked in politics again, founded the Chart Pattana Party in the summer of 1992 and was re-elected to the House of Representatives for his constituency in Nakhon Ratchasima Province .

Chatichai Choonhavan died of liver cancer on May 6, 1998 at the age of 78 in a hospital in London .

Private life

Chatichai was known for its love of cigars, fine wines and Harley-Davidson brand motorcycles . He played the violin, played several sports well into old age, attended parties and discos. This earned him the reputation of a "playboy".

literature

• Choonhavan Chatichai , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 31/1998 from July 20, 1998, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of the article freely available)

Web links

• History of Thai Prime Ministers

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Short biography ( memento of the original from May 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the Thai government 
2. ↑ Gerald W. Fry, Gayla S. Nieminen, Harold E. Smith: Historical Dictionary of Thailand. 3. Edition. Scarecrow Press, Lanham MD / Plymouth 2013, p. 96;
   Chris Baker , Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-76768-2 , p. 295;
   Donald F. Cooper: Thailand. Dictatorship Or Democracy? Minerva Press, Montreux WA 1995, ISBN 1-85863-416-4 , p. 326.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Seth Mydans: Chatichai Choonhavan, 76, Ex-Prime Minister of Thailand. In: The New York Times. May 7, 1998.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Judy Stowe: Obituary Chatichai Choonhavan. In: The Independent. May 7, 1998.
5. ^ ^{A b} Michael Leifer: Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia. 2nd Edition. Routledge, London / New York 1996, p. 85. Keyword “General Chatichai Choonhavan”.
6. ↑ Munzinger Internationales Biographisches Archiv No. 31/1998 of July 20, 1998 ;
   Brockhaus encyclopedia. Yearbook 1998. FA Brockhaus, Leipzig / Mannheim 1998, p. 364;
   Encyclopedia of World Biography. Volume 3. 2nd Edition, Gale Research, Detroit 1998, p. 479;
   Kham Vorapheth: L'ASEAN de A à Z. Histoire, Géopolitique, Concepts, Personnages. L'Harmattan, Paris 2011, p. 89;
   John Hutchinson: Encyclopedia of modern political biography. Boulder CO 1999, p. 92.
7. ^ Gene T. Hsiao: The Foreign Trade of China. Policy, Law, and Practice. University of California Press, Berkeley / Los Angeles 1977, p. 34.
8. ^ Kim Woodard: The International Energy Relations of China. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1980, p. 226.
9. ↑ Gabriele Venzky: From the battlefield to the marketplace. In: The time. No. 17/1990, April 20, 1990, p. 36.
10. ^ Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chris Baker : Power in transition. Thailand in the 1990s. In: Political Change in Thailand. Democracy and Participation. Routledge, London / New York 1997, p. 31.
11. ^ Southeast Asian Affairs 1991. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1991, p. 304.
12. ↑ Pasuk, Baker: Power in transition. 1997, pp. 31-32.
13. ↑ Kevin Hewison: Introduction. Power, oppositions and democratization. In: Political Change in Thailand. 1997, p. 1.
14. ↑ Pasuk, Baker: Power in transition. 1997, p. 28.
15. ↑ Chai-Anan Samudavanija: Old soldiers never die, they are just bypassed. The military, bureaucracy and globalization. In: Political Change in Thailand. 1997, p. 52.
16. ↑ Michael K. Connors: When the dogs howl. Thailand and the politics of democratization. In: At the Edge of International Relations. Postcolonialism, Gender and Dependency. Continuum, 1997, p. 133.
17. ^ John Girling: Corruption, Capitalism and Democracy. Routledge, 1997, p. 65.
18. ^ David Murray: The coup d'etat in Thailand, February 23, 1991. Just another coup? Indian Ocean Center for Peace Studies, Perth 1991, p. 38.
19. ↑ That's a bit better. In: The Economist. August 13, 1988.

Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.