Wichit Wichitwathakan

Wichit Wichitwathakan

Wichit Wichitwathakan ( Thai : วิจิตร วิจิตร วาท การ , pronunciation: [wíʔt͡ɕìt wíʔt͡ɕìtwaːtʰáʔkaːn] ; * August 11, 1898 as Kimliang Watthanaparuda ; † 1962 ) was a Thai diplomat, politician and writer. He wrote non-fiction books on history and cultural development as well as nationalist drama. Wichit was a thought leader in Thai nationalism and the modernization of the country. He was also the chief ideologist and propagandist of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram , who ruled authoritarian from 1938 to 1944. Wichit, who was a supporter of Italian fascism , developed the ultra-nationalist ideology of the Phibun regime.

Life

Kimliang was born in Uthai Thani , the son of an orcharder and retailer . According to a cousin, he was partly of Chinese descent . However, he was raised as Thai and his Chinese origins did not shape him. Later, as a representative of excessive Thai nationalism and anti-Chinese racism, he denied his Chinese roots. He claimed his maiden name was derived from a local custom among ethnic Thai families of giving their children Chinese names. He received only a rudimentary education at the local temple school. In 1910 he went to Bangkok to continue his studies at the monk school of Wat Mahathat . In 1916 he achieved the best performance in the country in the 5th level Pali exam. He taught himself English and French, even though temple students were prohibited from learning modern foreign languages. After his novice ordination, he taught at the temple school for two years.

He left the temple in 1918 and entered the field service . At first he was a poorly paid office worker in the State Department. At the same time, however, he studied law and after two years he passed an exam that allowed him access to the higher service. From 1921 to 1927 Kimliang was a member of the Siamese legation, first in Paris and then in London. He also studied law and political science in France while working, but was transferred to England before graduating. In France he became friends with the two future prime ministers Plaek Phibunsongkhram (then still Khittasangkha ) and Pridi Phanomyong . He married his French teacher, Lucienne Laffitte, with whom he had two children. The couple divorced in 1933 and Laffitte returned to Europe with the children.

Kimliang was given the feudal honorary title Luang Wichitwathakan , which he then used instead of his birth name and by which he became known. He joined the " People's Party " (khana ratsadon) founded by Pridi, Phibun and others , which in 1932 overthrew the absolute monarchy . From 1934 to 1942 he was the general director of the Office for Fine Arts . In addition, Wichit taught history and law at the two leading universities in Thailand, Chulalongkorn and Thammasat Universities .

With the abolition of the feudal title in 1942, he took on the real name of Wichit. From June 1942 to October 1943 he was Foreign Minister in Phibun's government. In this function, Adolf Hitler , leader of the National Socialist German Reich, awarded him the Grand Cross of the German Eagle Order . He was then the Thai ambassador to Japan, his country's most important ally, until 1945.

After the end of the Second World War, like Phibun and other members of the government, he was arrested and charged as a war criminal, but acquitted after a few months. In 1947 he joined the Thammathipat party , which advocated the return of Phibun to power. When he became head of government again after a military coup , he initially did not consider Wichit with a government post , as he sought the support of the Americans and still viewed these Wichit as "villains" due to his role in times of war. From 1951 to 1952 he was Minister of Economics and Finance. Between 1952 and 1958 Wichit was again active in the foreign service, as ambassador to India, Austria, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.

From 1958 until his death in 1962 he was an advisor to Prime Minister Sarit Thanarat . For Sarit he planned his authoritarian "revolution" (pattiwat) and worked out an economic development plan. He chaired various committees of the " Revolutionary Council " and wrote Sarit's speeches. Even after he was hospitalized for heart problems to which he eventually succumbed, he continued to work for Sarit. Wichit is considered the head behind Sarit's paternalistic leadership style and his ideology, which is oriented towards development (kan phatthana) , order and decency (khwam riaproi) .

Work and ideology

Wichit was an admirer of the leader of the Italian fascists, Benito Mussolini . As Phibun's chief ideologist, Wichit used the emerging radio, the distribution of photographs and slogans to mobilize the masses. He was the main brain behind demands to "liberate" the territories that were lost to Great Britain and France from colonial rule. The dispersed "Thai family of peoples" should be united because of their cultural similarities and "racial" kinship. The British ambassador to Bangkok at the time, Sir Josiah Crosby, described him as “pocket Dr. Goebbels ” (translates as“ Dr. Goebbels in pocket size ”).

Wichit was a prolific playwright. He mainly wrote nationalist dramas with which he wanted to bring basic knowledge about Thai history to the people. In Lueat Suphan ("Das Blut Suphanburis", 1936) he paid tribute to the self-sacrifice and heroism of the common people. The main heroine is a young woman who brings her compatriots to the ultimately successful defense against a Burmese invasion. In other pieces, too, Wichit shaped the image of the Burmese as archenemies of the Thais. Wichit partially changed historical facts in order to convey his nationalistic view of history. Queen Chiraprapha of Lan Na (now Chiang Mai ), who is the historical model for his Maha Thewi ("The Great Queen", 1938), actually fought against Burma as well as Ayutthaya and for the independence of her own city-state. At Wichit, on the other hand, she helps unite the great Siamese Empire. In Nanchao (1939), on the other hand, the Chinese are the opponents who attacked the historic kingdom of Nanzhao , which is inhabited by Thais near Wichit. This piece is to be seen against the background of the anti-Chinese policies that the Thai government, of which Wichit was a member, was operating at the time of its creation. In Chaoying Saenwi ("The Princess of Hsenwi", 1938) he emphasized the historical solidarity of Thai and Shan , who are ethnologically related.

In Anuphap Phokhun Ramkhamhaeng ("The Power of King Ramkhamhaeng", 1954) he portrayed King Ramkhamhaeng of the Sukhothai period as a fatherly ruler and as the ideal image of a Thai ruler who cares for his people with compassion and with determination his country to size and size Prosperity leads. In general he exaggerated the Sukhothai era (13th to 14th centuries) as the heyday of civilization, culture, creativity and free trade, to which modern Thailand should orient itself again. He explained this with the typical Thai freedom that is said to have prevailed at this time. Later, under Indian and Cambodian influence, this gave way to despotism and slavery and the Thai culture was alienated. The Ayutthaya period was largely a lost time. However, he exempted the kings Naresuan and Narai from this judgment and heroized them as strong warrior kings, for example in Phra Naresuan Prakat Itsaraphap ("King Naresuan declares independence", 1934).

In his works he combined nationalism with combative feminism . In his dramas, as in Lueat Suphan, heroines appeared several times who took up arms in wars of liberation and fought together with their men. In his novel Huang Rak Haew Luk ("Sea of ​​Love, Abyss of Death") from 1949, simple women from the lower class are the focus. Wichit created a completely new, modern, combative image of the Thai woman. In the posthumously published novel Sang Chiwit (“Building a Life”) Wichit reported on the struggle of a peasant girl against social injustice and thus addressed exploitation and the gap between town and country.

In addition, he moderated radio programs and wrote about history, religion, culture and personal development. Wichit's work Prawattisat sakhon ("Universal History") from 1929 was the first non-fiction bestseller in Thailand. He has published a total of 49 books on history, important people and personal development, 24 plays, 24 volumes of his lecture notes as a university teacher, 84 novels and short stories.

Works (selection)

Dramas

• Luk Ratthathammanun ("Children of the Constitution"), 1934
• Phra Naresuan Prakat Itsaraphap ("King Naresuan declares independence"), 1934
• Lueat Suphan ("The Blood of Suphanburis"), 1936
• Prachao Krungthon ("The King of Thonburi"), 1937
• Chaoying Saenwi ("The Princess of Hsenwi"), 1938
• Maha Thewi ("The Great Queen"), 1938
• Nanchao , 1939
• Anuphap Phokhun Ramkhamhaeng ("The Power of King Ramkhamhaeng"), 1954

Novels

• Huang Rak Haew Luk ("Sea of ​​Love, Abyss of Death"), 1949
• Sang Chiwit ("Building a Life"), 1971 (posthumous)

Non-fiction

• Prawattisat sakhon ("Universal History"), 12 volumes, 1929–31
• Mahaburut ("Big Men"), 1952

literature

• Scot Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai Identity. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1993. (English)
• Thak Chaloemtiarana: Move Over, Madonna. Luang Wichit Wathakan's Huang Rak Haew Luk. In: Southeast Asia Over Three Generations. Essays Presented to Benedict R. O'G. Anderson. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, 2003. (English)
• Pisanu Sunthraraks: Luang Wichit Watakan. Hegemony and Literature. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1986. (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, pp. 40, 57
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Thak Chaloemtiarana: Move Over, Madonna. 2003, p. 146.
3. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, p. 42.
4. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, p. 43
5. ^ Daniel Woolf: A Global History of History. Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 427
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Chris Baker , Pasuk Phongpaichit: A history of Thailand , 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 302
7. ↑ Thamsook Numnonda: Thailand and the Japanese Presence 1941-1945 , Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1977, p 35
8. ^ Paul Bruppacher: Adolf Hitler and the history of the NSDAP. A chronicle. Part 2, 1938-1945. 2nd edition, 2013, p. 429.
9. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, p. 183.
10. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2007, ISBN 978-0-8772-7742-2 , p. 45.
11. ^ Daniel Fineman: A Special Relationship. The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 1997, ISBN 0-8248-1818-0 , pp. 59-60.
12. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, p. 1
13. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2007, pp. 116-119.
14. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, pp. 3-4.
15. ↑ ^{a b} Martina Peitz: Tiger Leaping of the Elephant: Rent-seeking, Nation Building and catch-up development in Thailand , LIT Verlag, Zurich 2008, pp. 189f.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Baker, Basuk: A History of Thailand. 2009, p. 127.
17. ↑ Sunait Chutintaranond, Than Tun: On Both Sides of the Tenasserim Range: History of Siamese Burmese Relations. Institute of Asian Studies, 1995, p. 19.
18. ^ Sunait Chutintaranond: The Image of the Burmese Enemy in Thai Perceptions and Historical Writings. (PDF; 418 kB) In: Journal of the Siam Society. Volume 80, No. 1, 1992, p. 98.
19. ↑ Barmé: Luang Wichit Wathakan and the Creation of a Thai identity. 1993, p. 155.
20. ↑ Patit Paban Mishra: The History of Thailand. Greenwood, 2010, p. 111.
21. ↑ Volker Grabowsky : Kleine Geschichte Thailands , CH Beck, Munich 2010, p. 158
22. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Thailand. The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2007, p. 16.
23. ^ Barmé: Creation of a Thai Identity. 1993, pp. 161-162.
24. ↑ Thongchai Winichakul: Siam Mapped. A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation. University of Hawaii Press, 1994, p. 157.
25. ↑ Thak Chaloemtiarana: Move Over, Madonna. 2003, p. 145.
26. ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand , 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 113

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