Bangkok ‘All Quiet’ After Abortive Attempted Coup

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22883, 1 March 1949, Page 5

Bangkok ‘All Quiet’ After Abortive Attempted Coup

<lO a.m.) BANGKOK, Feb. 28. A Government communique today claimed the situation in Bangkok has "speedily been restored to < normal" after the week-end clash between army and navy groups. However, troops have been ordered to stand by for action in case of emergency.

Bangkok has remained peaceful in the last 24 hours though two minor gun battles are reported. The participants in these incidents have not been identified. Police and military patrols have sealed off important Government offices and strategic zones. An unconfirmed report says that four civilians died and several were wound- ' ed in the week-end shooting affray. The coup ended in an apparent victory for the Premier, Marshal Pilbul Songkram about noon on Sunday. Marshal Pilbul and the commanders of , the opposing marine detachments agreed to a truce. An official communique announced that the Government forces crushed resistance and arrested 43 rebels. No official casualty figures have yet been released for the battle in which Siamese fought Siamese for the first time in 15 years. Bangkok is now practically normal, but strategic points are heavily guarded. Observers believe the coup was mainly organised by the Free Thai wartime underground, backed by some elements of the navy. The Free Thai leader, Mr. Pridi Panomyong, fled from Siam when Marshal Pilbul seized power in 1947. A Government communique announced that a conciliation commission had been set up with a view to removing the "misunderstanding’' which led to the 12-hour clash between the Siamese Army and Navy groups..