The former Paris home of the statesman dubbed the father of Thai democracy, Pridi Banomyong, is in the headlines after being bought by Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit to “preserve the spirit of the 1932 Siamese Revolution”.
Thanathorn revealed last month that he and his wife purchased the property from its ageing Vietnamese owner, who had acquired it after former prime minister Pridi’s death over four decades ago.
On May 18, Thanathorn and other prominent Thai liberals convened at the Paris residence and announced the property will be restored over the next 12 months.
Attending the event were social critic Sulak Sivaraksa, historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, Progressive Movement key figures Piyabutr Saengkanokkul and Pannika Wanich, and political activist Jaran Ditapichai.
Also present were Pridi’s daughters, Suda and Dussadee, who had lived at the house with their parents until their father’s death on May 2, 1983.
Once the renovation is complete, the property will serve as a museum chronicling Pridi’s life and Thai democracy, as well as a hotel for history buffs and a venue for Thai students and expats in Europe to organize events, according to a Progressive Movement Facebook announcement.
“The Antony Home will be more than a house or tourist attraction. It is a living memory of the long and difficult journey of Thai democracy,” the post said.
The house is nicknamed after the Parisian suburb of Antony where it is located.
Its purchase comes after other tributes marking the birth of Thai democracy, including the Khana Ratsadon plaque honoring the bloodless 1932 revolution, have disappeared from Bangkok streets under periods of military rule.
Colorful political career
A co-leader of the June 1932 revolution that led to the abolition of absolute monarchy, Pridi studied law in France on a royal scholarship, receiving a master’s degree from the University of Caen and a doctorate from the University of Paris in 1927.
During his studies, he is thought to have been drawn to French socialism.
It was in Paris that Pridi and fellow students began plotting political change in Thailand. After returning to Thailand, he worked as a lawyer, judge, and professor.
Pridi founded Thammasat University in 1934 and became regent for the young king Ananda Mahidol in 1941.
As regent during World War II, he directed the anti-Japanese underground Free Thai Movement and engineered the downfall in 1944 of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s government, which had allied with Japan.
Pridi became Thailand’s seventh prime minister at the age of 45 but served for only five months from March to August 1946.
Public support for his government collapsed after King Ananda was found dead of a gunshot wound in June 1946. Pridi was held responsible and forced to resign.
He fled the country after a military coup in November 1947. An attempted countercoup on Pridi’s behalf in February 1949 failed, forcing him to seek refuge in China.
13 years at Paris house
In 1970, Pridi began a self-imposed exile in Paris that would last almost 13 years, before his death at the age of 82.
He lived with his wife, Thanpuying Poonsuk, and their children in the two-story Spanish-style house built on a 500-square-meter plot.
Pridi hosted his political allies and admirers from Thailand at the house, as well as occasional gatherings of Thai students in Europe.
Among regular visitors was Puey Ungphakorn, former Bank of Thailand governor and ex-rector of Thammasat University, who often stayed the night, according to Pridi’s daughter Dussadee.
His wife Poonsuk originally bought the house from a French couple.
Dussadee dismissed allegations that the house was purchased with ill-gotten state funds, saying her mother used the money that came from selling off all her family land in Thailand.
Following Pridi’s death, Poonsuk sold the house to a Vietnamese woman on the understanding that Thais would be given priority if she decided to sell the property.
Poonsuk and her children eventually moved back to Thailand.
‘Thai govt should have bought it’
Piyabutr said recently that he and a group of Thai students in France managed to locate the house in 2016.
They met with the Vietnamese owner, who led them on a tour of the house but declined to sell despite requests from her own family. The refusal was driven by her love for the house, according to Piyabutr.
But in 2022 he learned that the owner, who was by this time growing elderly, had changed her mind. T
hanathorn and his wife then traveled to Paris and purchased the house for 1.6 million euros (63.7 million baht), after several rounds of negotiation, Piyabutr said.
Before the purchase was officially completed, the owner died and the house was passed on to her brother. Thanathorn’s wife travelled to Paris in February this year to finalize the contract.
Thanathorn recently admitted that he did not think he would end up buying the house himself.
However, with no other Thai buyers coming forward and the owner’s health deteriorating, he decided to step in to secure the house as a property of national importance.
“In fact, the Thai government should have bought it,” he said, citing the property’s historical significance for Thailand.
Thanathorn said that if Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration wished to purchase the house as a national asset, he would be happy to sell up at the price he paid for it.
By Thai PBS World’s Political Desk
