Phao Siyanon

Phao Siyanon ( Thai : เผ่า ศรี ยา นนท์ , pronunciation: [pʰàw sǐːjaːnon] ; born March 1, 1910 in Phitsanulok , Thailand; † November 21, 1960 in Geneva ) was a Thai army and police officer and politician. From 1951 to 1957 he was Director General of the Thai Police.

life and career

Phao was born in Phitsanulok and was the son of an army officer. He was the son-in-law of Field Marshal Phin Choonhavan and, during World War II, his deputy as commander of the army in Shan State . After the war he changed to the police leadership. In 1947 he took part in the putsch led by Phin . In 1951 he became director general of the Thai police. He then ruled the country with Prime Minister Phibunsongkhram and the commander in chief of the army Sarit Thanarat in a kind of triumvirate . Phao worked closely with the US secret service CIA , which supported him in setting up the border police as an anti-communist special unit. At the same time, it enabled the drug-on-arms deal between the CIA and the Kuomintang operating in the Burmese Shan state under the leadership of General Li Mi, which fought against the communist government of the People's Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War. He also controlled the opium trade in Thailand. He increased the strength of the police to 43,000 men by 1954, became head of the National Intelligence Agency and founded the secret society of the "Diamond Ring Knights", which he used to kill political opponents. After his domestic rival Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat staged a coup in 1957, Phao fled to Switzerland.

Remarks

1. ↑ The first name is also transcribed as Pao , the family name as Sriyanond , Sriyanon , Sriyanont or Siyanond .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chris Baker , Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-76768-2 , pp. 298f.
2. ↑ Phao Sriyanond. In Encyclopædia Britannica. (Online), 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
3. ^ Richard M. Gibson: The Secret Army. Chiang Kai-shek and the Drug Warlords of the Golden Triangle. John Wiley & Sons (Asia), Singapore 2011
4. ↑ Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy: opium. Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Harvard University Press, 2010, p. 69.
5. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2007, ISBN 978-0-87727-742-2 , p. 59.
6. ^ Volker Grabowsky : Brief history of Thailand. CH Beck, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60129-3 , p. 169.

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