Former prime minister Thanin Kraivixien, an ex-law professor and Supreme Court judge, is best known for leading a much-criticised rightist regime during one of Thailand’s most turbulent eras in the 1970s.
Described by admirers as highly honest and intelligent, Thanin was also known as a staunch royalist who was strongly opposed to communism.
His government ordered books on Marxism to be banned and burned, while also severing official ties with communist countries.
Communist regimes had swept to power in neighbouring countries to the east, sparking fears that Thailand would be the next domino to fall.
Thanin, who died on February 23 at the age of 97, was appointed Thailand’s 14th prime minister in October 1976 by a junta that had ousted the elected Democrat-led government of MR Seni Pramoj.
The coup-makers seized power citing escalating political violence, which culminated in a massacre of students at Thammasat University by right-wing mobs, reportedly backed by security forces. The official death toll was 46, but many say the figure was far higher.
An unlikely choice
Thanin was appointed as prime minister just two days after the October 6 Thammasat massacre and coup. He was considered an unlikely choice due to his lack of political experience or ties with the military faction, led by Admiral Sangad Chaloryu, that staged the coup.
Former Thai ambassador to the US Prof Bunchana Atthakor recalled a 1977 conversation with Sangad in which the coup-maker explained why he had appointed Thanin.
According to Bunchana’s memoir, Sangad said he requested an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) at his Chiang Mai palace in February 1976 to present his plan to stage a coup. His aim was to prevent Thailand from falling to communism like its neighbours Laos and Cambodia.
The King reportedly voiced neither support nor opposition for Sangad’s coup plot. He also declined to pick any of the 15 prominent civilians that Sangad listed as candidates for prime minister if the power seizure succeeded.
However, as Sangad’s two-hour royal audience drew to a close, the King told him to seek legal advice from a Supreme Court judge named Thanin Kraivixien, according to the memoir.
‘The clam government’
Once installed as prime minister, Thanin reportedly rejected the junta’s candidates for Cabinet and insisted on selecting his ministers himself.
As a result, only three generals were included in his 18-member Cabinet, with coup leader Sangad serving as defence minister, an Army general as deputy defence minister and another as deputy prime minister.
Thanin’s Cabinet also featured the first two female ministers in Thailand’s history: Khunying Lursakdi Sampatisiri as transport minister and Prof Wimolsiri Chamnarnvej as minister of state universities.
The prime minister famously compared his civilian-dominated government to a clam that needed a protective military shell – giving rise to its nickname, “the clam government”.
After assuming office, Thanin announced a 12-year roadmap to restore democracy through “political education”. In the meantime, his government cracked down on the communist threat with numerous hardline measures.
‘Authoritarian and repressive’
PM Thanin was described as “authoritarian and repressive” by American historian David Wyatt.
“Ironically, it turned out that this man, a civilian and a lawyer, was more authoritarian and repressive than any of his military predecessors. Rigid censorship was imposed, labour unions silenced, the ranks of bureaucrats and teachers purged of dissidents and required to undergo anti-communist indoctrination,” Wyatt wrote in his 1982 book “Thailand: A Short History”.
For many observers, Thanin’s anti-communist crusade backfired by strengthening support for the jungle-based Communist Party of Thailand and its guerrillas.
With the clash of ideologies threatening violent division in Thai society, Thanin was ousted in a military coup in late October of 1977, just over a year after assuming office. He was replaced by General Kriangsak Chamanan, a coup leader who had secured Sangad’s backing.
Two months after his ouster, Thanin was appointed to the Privy Council by King Bhumibol – a position he held until December 2016.
He served briefly as acting president of the Privy Council after King Bhumibol's death in October 2016, replacing General Prem Tinsulanonda, who assumed the role of regent.
A judge by profession
Thanin was born in Bangkok on April 5, 1927, to a father who was a Chinese-born pawnshop owner.
He earned a law degree from Thammasat University in 1948 and furthered his legal studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 1953, he was admitted to London’s Gray's Inn association for barristers and judges.
Thanin began his law career as an assistant judge in 1956. He went on to become chief judge at Chiang Mai Provincial Court before being appointed a Supreme Court justice. He also lectured in law at Thammasat and Chulalongkorn universities.
Thanin married Danish national Karen Andersen, whom he met while studying in London. They had five children. Khunying Karen passed away in 1995 at the age of 65.
