October 14, 1973

[lomatopo]

I was a little familiar with the various coups and student uprisings, and resulting bloodshed, but just realized today is the anniversary of what must have been a truly frightening day.

Found on the web…

As the crowds were breaking up the next day, the historic October 14th, many students found themselves unable to leave because the police had attempted to control the flow of the crowd by blocking the southern route to Rajavithi Road. Cornered and overwhelmed by the hostile crowd, the police soon responded with violence by lauching barrages of teargas and gunfire. Within minutes, a full scale riot had erupted.

The military was called in, and Bangkok witnessed the horrifying spectacle of tanks rolling down Rajdamnoen Avenue and helicopters firing down at Thammasat University. A number of students commandeered buses and fire engines in an attempt to halt the progress of the tanks by ramming into them, with disastrous results.

With chaos reigning on the streets, King Bhumibol, ignoring the safety concerns of his immediate security staff, ordered the gates of Chitralada Palace opened to the students who were being gunned down by the army.

Despite orders from Thanom that the military action be intensified, army commander Kris Sivara had the army withdrawn from the streets.

Then, for the first time in modern history, Thailand's constitutional monarch openly involved himself in the transition of politcal power. He condemned the government's inability to handle the demonstrations and ordered Thanom, Praphas, and Narong to leave the country.

At 06:10PM, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn resigned from his post as Prime Minister.

An hour later, the King appeared on national television, broadcasting the following speech:

"Today is a day of great sorrow that will be. . . recorded with the utmost grief in the history of our Thai nation. For the past six or seven days, there have been various demands and negotiations that have culminated in an agreement between the students and the government. But then bottle bombs were thrown and tear-gas was fired, causing some clashes in which many people were injured. Violence then escalated all over the city until it became a riot that has not ended until now, with over a hundred of our Thai compatriots having lost their lives.

I beseech all sides and all people to eliminate the causes of violence by decidedly suspending any action leading in that direction, in order that our country can return to a state of normalcy as soon as possible.

Furthermore, in order to remedy the present disaster, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn resigned from the post of prime minister earlier tonight. I have consequently appointed Nai Sanya Dharmasakti as prime minister. . . ."''

The junta had fallen, at the cost of 1,577 lives.

[Thomas_Merton]

It is not without good reason His Majesty the King is so revered by His people.

[GuestHouse]

It is not without good reason the Roman Senate forbade their generals from entering the city with their armies and demanded that before a general entered the city he must first renounce his command.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

It is not without good reason His Majesty the King is so revered by His people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I second that Thomas.

[thaibebop]

Long Live The King!

[boppia]

This story is far from resolved. There are many families out there who have relatives who have dissappeared during this time. The event you mention is just one event. Many of those who participated dissappeared or took of to the countryside to hide out of fear. Many are believed to have been killed while in the forests of Thailand. There seem to be many missing bodies. The military and paramilitary groups of that time haven't come out with information on this. I'd bet a lot of the people who killed on that day are now in government or running the military.

I'm no expert but in my time in Thailand I have met plenty of people who have lost friends and family from this. People can't openly talk about this. Information is lacking. 'Punishment' is not sending someone out of the country it's putting them in jail or worse. There are many people who need to take responsiblity for what happened back then. The reality is that the solution to this problem has been to let time pass and those connected to the events both good and bad die without justice or punishment.

When Thailand truly has free speech, justice will come.

You can find info about these events at Thammasat. I think there are some organizations devoted to remembering what happened.

[ProfessorFart]

Unless you know people who were there you will not get a real picture of what went on.

Boppia is shooting into a fishbowl a little with his post but is close....

Thin ice..........

[cdnvic]

I've found one of the only accurate ways to look into historical events is reading firsthand stories of those who lived through them. Does anyone know of any such books on this subject, or others relationg to Thai history in the past 40yrs?

cv

[Khutan]

cdnvic;

There is a member of Thaivisa who wrote a first hand account of this day about 6 - 12 months ago. As I remember it was a very interesting account. I would start there - I wish I could remember the members name.

[Fast Eddie]

Thin ice or not, i also would be interested in being pointed in the right direction to find out more complete information about this, just out of personal interest. If anyone could point the way....?

[Pakboong]

I arrived in Thailand for the second time a couple of weeks after this uprising. The prevailing view for the root cause had to do with the American Government building roads, military bases, deep water ports, etc. from which the War in Viet Nam was staged. Thai laborers and other otherwise unskilled workers were paid many times what they would make if the Americans weren't building actively. Their children became the first crop of educated poor. The result was pretty much predictable.

[Tarragona]

Thin ice or not, i also would be interested in being pointed in the right direction to find out more complete information about this, just out of personal interest. If anyone could point the way....?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.14tula.com/

http://www.2519me.com/

http://www.thaioctober.com/

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/14october/14oct.html

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/6october/6oct.html

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/17may/may.html

I have a couple of books that are firsthand accounts of life in the jungles after the writers fled Bangkok but they're not with me here, so I'll post details on another occasion.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Tarragona

[Boon Mee]

I arrived in Thailand for the second time a couple of weeks after this uprising. The prevailing view for the root cause had to do with the American Government building roads, military bases, deep water ports, etc. from which the War in Viet Nam was staged.  Thai laborers and other otherwise unskilled workers were paid many times what they would make if the Americans weren't building actively. Their children became the first crop of educated poor. The result was pretty much predictable.

And if the Americans had not built the superhighways to Udorn, Udon, down to Pattaya etc? If the deepwater port at Sattahip was not constructed to later provide for the Oil infrastructure at Rayong? The Air Force base at U-Tapau?

The laborers educated 'poor' offspring are certainly better off today than if they were still grinding out a life in the village...

[ProfessorFart]

''Thin ice or not, i also would be interested in being pointed in the right direction to find out more complete information about this, just out of personal interest. If anyone could point the way....? Reading wise, start with the basics. ''

David Wyatt has a decent account of events in Thailand a short history.

There is also an excellent account by Rachel Harrison in her intro to 'A Drop of Glass' by Sidaoruang (DK books)

Sidaoruang married Student Leader Suchart Sawatsi and was very active in the events of '73/76. Many of her stories particularly 'Our friends still have not returned from the city' are related to these events.

The film 14 Toolaa also called 'The Moonhunters' also has a decent account of events.

[Fast Eddie]

Cheers Tarragona and Prof Fart