Thanat Khoman

Thanat Khoman (ca.1975)

Thanat Khoman (also Thanad; Thai ถนัด คอ มัน ต ร์ ; * May 9, 1914 as Thanatkit Khoman in Bangkok ; † March 3, 2016 in Bangkok) was a Thai diplomat and politician. He was Foreign Minister from 1959 to 1971 , Chairman of the Democratic Party from 1979 to 1982 and Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand from 1980 to 1982.

life and career

Origin and education

Thanat comes from a Thai-Chinese family. His father Phraya Phiphaksa Satayathipatai (Po Khoman) was one of the first Western-style lawyers in Thailand (which was then still called Siam) and a judge at the country's Supreme Court. Thanat attended the prestigious Assumption School in Bangkok before continuing his education in France, where he attended a Lycée in Bordeaux . He won a scholarship from the Thai Foreign Ministry, with which he continued to study in France, first law at the Universities of Bordeaux and Paris, then at the Institut des Hautes Études Internationales (IHEI) and Sciences Po . Finally, he received his doctorate in law in 1940 at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). His dissertation dealt with the development of the feeling of solidarity in the international community .

Diplomatic career

Committed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finance his studies, he then entered the diplomatic service of Thailand. Initially he was stationed as the second embassy secretary in Tokyo during the Second World War from 1941 to 1943 . During this time, the Japanese-Thai Agreement was concluded, which granted Japan extensive stationing and marching rights in Thailand, which served as the starting point for attacks on the British colonies of Burma and Malaya . Shortly thereafter, Thailand entered the war on the side of the Axis powers. Thanat, however, did not agree with this factual occupation and joined the Seri Thai movement , which, with the support of the British SOE and the American OSS, resisted the Japanese presence. In this context he was a member of a secret delegation to Kandy on Ceylon in February 1945 , where the headquarters of the Allied South-East Asia Command was located.

After World War II he held various diplomatic posts, including Thai chargé d' affaires in Washington, DC and Delhi . In 1950 he was elected chairman of the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE), based in New York. From 1952 to 1957 he served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Thailand at United Nations Headquarters . During the Cold War era , Thanat was a staunch anti-communist . In 1957 he was promoted to ambassador to the United States .

Political activity

Thanat in conversation with US President John F. Kennedy in the White House, 1961

On February 10, 1959, Thanat was appointed Foreign Minister of Thailand in the government of Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat . This period was marked by extremely repressive measures by the military government, who viewed democracy and free speech as dangerous and inconsistent with the attitudes of the Thai people. Among other things, Thanat said:

“The fundamental cause of our political instability in the past lies in the sudden transplantation of foreign institutions onto our soil without careful preparation and especially without adequate consideration of the circumstances prevailing in our homeland, the nature and peculiarities of our nation - in a word our folk spirit - with the result that their work was haphazard and always chaotic. If we look at our history, we can see very well that this country functions and thrives better under one authority - not a tyrannical authority, but a unifying authority around which all constituents of the nation can gather. "

- Thanat Khoman , “Thailand's New Era”, speech to the American Association of Thailand , March 9, 1959

Thanat and Queen Sirikit at IAEA Headquarters (1964)

In March 1962 he signed a joint communiqué with his American counterpart Dean Rusk , which promised Thailand support and defense against all communist aggression. Although it was only an informal protocol, it was celebrated in Thailand as a bilateral alliance between the two states and referred to as the "Thanat-Rusk Agreement".

His main contribution was to promote regional reconciliation and cooperation. Thanat played a key role in mediating between Indonesia and Malaysia in the mid- 1960s . He was seen as a representative of a so-called "golf diplomacy", that is, he invited representatives of different countries to play golf in order to bring them together on this occasion. The choice of Bangkok as the founding site of ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) in August 1967 was an expression of respect for its active role in the formation of this institution. On November 17, 1971, he had to resign after a coup, probably also because he intended to bring Thailand closer to the People's Republic of China .

Several years after his resignation as foreign minister, Thanat entered party politics and became chairman of the Democratic Party in 1979 (until 1982). From 1980 to 1982 he was also Deputy Prime Minister in the government of Prem Tinsulanonda . In 1982 he retired from political life.

Thanat died at the age of 101.

literature

Gundula Brunner: The Foreign Policy of Thailand, 1959–1971. With a political biography of the Thai Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman. Ars Una, Neuried 1996.
Michael Leifer: Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia . London: Routledge 1996. ISBN 0-415-13821-3 . Article: "Thanat Khoman".

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b ^c Richard C. Paddock: Thanat Khoman, Thai Statesman and Co-Founder of Asian Alliance, Dies at 101. In: The New York Times (Online), March 7, 2016. In the printed edition on March 8, 2016 , P. B15.
^ Marjorie Dent Candee (Ed.): Current Biography Yearbook. HW Wilson, New York 1958, p. 21, entry Thanat Khoman .
^ Thai Foreign Minister to Lecture at Gaston. In: The Hoya , October 24, 1968, p. 3.
↑ Thanatkit Komantra: Le développement du sentiment de solidarité dans la société des états. Rousseau, Paris 1940. Zugl. Dissertation, University of Paris, 1940.
^ ^A ^b Judith A. Stowe: Siam Becomes Thailand. A story of intrigue. C. Hurst & Co., London 1991, p. 377.
^ E. Bruce Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 2004, p. 291.
↑ Quoted from Bangkok Post , March 10, 1959. In the original: The fundamental cause of our political instability in the past lies in the sudden transplantation of alien institutions onto our soil without careful preparation and, more particularly, without proper regard to the circumstances that prevail in our homeland, the nature and characteristics of our own people - in a word the genius of our race - with the result that their functioning has been haphazard and ever chaotic. If we look at our national history, we can see very well that this country works better and prospers under an authority - not a tyrannical authority, but a unifying authority around which all elements of the nation can rally.
↑ Louis J. Smith, David H. Herschler: Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969–1972. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume I, US Department of State, Office of the Historian, Washington DC 2003, pp. 181-182.
↑ Arne Kislenko: The Vietnam War, Thailand, and the United States. In: Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century. Praeger, Westport (CT) 2003, pp. 217–245, at p. 224.

personal data
SURNAME	Thanat Khoman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	ถนัด คอ มัน ต ร์ (Thai)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Thai politician and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH	May 9, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bangkok , Thailand
DATE OF DEATH	March 3, 2016
Place of death	Bangkok , Thailand

[NYT_Obit-1] A ^b ^c Richard C. Paddock: Thanat Khoman, Thai Statesman and Co-Founder of Asian Alliance, Dies at 101. In: The New York Times (Online), March 7, 2016. In the printed edition on March 8, 2016 , P. B15.

[2] Marjorie Dent Candee (Ed.): Current Biography Yearbook. HW Wilson, New York 1958, p. 21, entry Thanat Khoman .

[3] Thai Foreign Minister to Lecture at Gaston. In: The Hoya , October 24, 1968, p. 3.

[4] Thanatkit Komantra: Le développement du sentiment de solidarité dans la société des états. Rousseau, Paris 1940. Zugl. Dissertation, University of Paris, 1940.

[Stowe_377-5] A ^b Judith A. Stowe: Siam Becomes Thailand. A story of intrigue. C. Hurst & Co., London 1991, p. 377.

[6] E. Bruce Reynolds: Thailand's Secret War. OSS, SOE and the Free Thai Underground During World War II. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge / New York 2004, p. 291.

[7] Quoted from Bangkok Post , March 10, 1959. In the original: The fundamental cause of our political instability in the past lies in the sudden transplantation of alien institutions onto our soil without careful preparation and, more particularly, without proper regard to the circumstances that prevail in our homeland, the nature and characteristics of our own people - in a word the genius of our race - with the result that their functioning has been haphazard and ever chaotic. If we look at our national history, we can see very well that this country works better and prospers under an authority - not a tyrannical authority, but a unifying authority around which all elements of the nation can rally.

[8] Louis J. Smith, David H. Herschler: Foundations of Foreign Policy, 1969–1972. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, Volume I, US Department of State, Office of the Historian, Washington DC 2003, pp. 181-182.

[9] Arne Kislenko: The Vietnam War, Thailand, and the United States. In: Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century. Praeger, Westport (CT) 2003, pp. 217–245, at p. 224.