Chamlong Srimuang

Chamlong Srimuang

Chamlong Srimuang ( Thai : จำลอง ศรี เมือง , RTGS : Chamlong Simueang, pronunciation: [t͡ɕamlɔːŋ sǐːmɯaŋ] ; * July 5, 1935 in Thonburi ) is a Thai former military and politician. After retiring from the army, he was governor of Bangkok from 1985 to 1992. He founded and led the Palang Dharma Party . In 1992 he was a leader of the popular uprising against military rule. Since 2006 he has been one of the leaders of the " yellow shirts "

Chmalong Srimuang was awarded the UN Global 500 Award in 1988 . In 1992 he received the Ramon Magsaysay Prize in the Government Service category .

Training and military service

Chamlong is the son of a fish trader who immigrated from Shantou (China). The father died when Chamlong was one year old. He grew up with his mother, who was also of Chinese descent but was born and assimilated in Thailand. Chamlong received his training at the Royal Chulachomklao Military Academy , which he graduated in 1960. He then began his career as a platoon leader in the telecommunications force . In 1964 he married Sirilak Kheolaor, a pharmacy student. Thanks to a Thai-American agreement, he was able to continue his education in the USA . In 1965 he returned and was immediately used as an intelligence officer in the Lao Civil War. After training in counterinsurgency at the Thai General Staff School , he served in the Vietnam War . In 1972 he received a scholarship for a master's degree in public administration at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California.

After his return he and his classmates from the military academy formed the Thai "Young Turks" , a group of politically interested soldiers who advocated renewal and against corruption, but also tried several times to overthrow the government. In 1980, the Young Turks shared responsibility for replacing General Kriangsak Chomanan with General Prem Tinsulanonda as Prime Minister. Chamlong served as General Secretary of the Cabinet at Prem, but resigned after his colleagues' failed attempt to overthrow in April 1981. Since 1979 Chamlong has belonged to the Buddhist sect Santi Asoke , which preaches personal renunciation. Chamlong claims to have been celibate, vegetarian and not having any worldly possessions ever since .

Governor and leader of the democracy movement

In 1985, shortly after his promotion to major general , he resigned from the military and in November ran as an independent candidate for the post of governor of Bangkok . He was elected and founded the Palang Dharma (Party of Moral Force) party in 1988 , which was affiliated with the Santi Asoke sect, and campaigned against corruption and for “clean politics”. Phalang Dharma had limited success in the July 1988 national elections. In 1990, Chamlong won again the governor of Bangkok. After the military coup by the National Peace Keeping Council, he resigned in January 1992 to run for the national parliamentary elections in March.

General Suchinda Kraprayoon , a member of the coup group, won the election and Chamlong opened the middle-class street protests of the Alliance for Democracy against the military-backed government. 200,000 people took part in the demonstration on May 17, 1992; 50 died in bloody clashes between security forces and protesters ( Black May ). Prime Minister Suchinda had to resign seven days later. In September 1992, Chamlong's party won 47 seats in the general election and joined the ruling coalition. However, Chamlong did not take office and formally resigned from the presidency of the Palang Dharma Party, but remained its de facto leader. In October 1994 he joined Chuan Leekpai's cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister . In July 1995, Thaksin Shinawatra took over the party leadership of Palang Dharma, which was seen as a sign of the tensions between the religious and the business-oriented wing of the party.

"Yellow Shirts" leader

Since 2006 he has been one of the leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD, "Yellow Shirts"), a civil movement against the then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra . In 2006 the PAD demanded the disempowerment of Thaksin, who they accused of abusing power for their own benefit and undermining democracy. The majority of the “yellow shirts” welcomed the military coup that overthrew Thaksin in 2006 . After the return to democracy, they demonstrated in 2008 against the elected Thaksin-affiliated government of Samak Sundaravej , occupied the government building and the airport in Bangkok until the Constitutional Court removed Samak from office.

Web links

• Biography in the list of winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (Engl.)

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