LIFE IN THAILAND

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 60, Issue 4233, 19 January 1940, Page 3

LIFE IN THAILAND

THE .CHANGE FROM OLD “ SIAM.” DAW OF A NEW. ERA.

Ambrose Pratt.)

(By

The kingdom of Thailand (once known to outsiders as Siam) is more worthy the attentive consideration of democratic statesmen than any other country in the world. Why ? It is . because Thailand presents the astonishing spectacle of a very ancient autocracy suddenly and bloodlessly transformed (less than eight years ago) into a limited constitutional monarchy, now patiently, consciously, and determinedly transmuting itself into a model democracy governed by elected parliaments presided over by hereditary kings. The autocratic order was brought to an end in 1932 because (to quote the present Premier) “ we Thails had become poor to the last limit by becoming gradually poorer each year for many decades until we could not stand it any longer, and so we helped each other to change the regime.” Down through the ages the Thais have been equally famous for their independent spirit, their hatred of brutality, and for their exquisitely courteous manners. They ran true to form in accomplishing their evolution. They carried out the coup d’etat without the loss of a single life, and the new order was so promptly and graciously accepted by the then reigning monarch, Prajhadipok, that most foreigners believed he had inspired or

connived at the reform. Prajhadipok consequently insisted on abdicating in favour of his nephew, the present boy king, Ananda Mahajol, but, although the nation lamented his decision, they bowed to his wishes, and permitted him to retire to England—that great asylum of dethroned and exiled kings. TRIAL AND ERROR. For a few years there was much trouble in the realm, due, predomin antly, to the fact that the young men who made the revolution were too modest and self-effacing to assume immediate control of public affaris. and entrusted the highest offices of State to senior coadjutors, who, unfortunately, were not as well tutored in the arts of government. These elders proceeded with admirable energy to institute the economic, political, and social changes which the nation desired, but their zeal sometimes outlan their discretion, and engendered antagonisms /that led to rebellious partisan outbursts, and on more than one occasion brought the country to the verge of disastrous civil war. The mutinous minorities were at last forcibly suppressed, and all danger of further insurgence averted by the unhurried but inevitable rise to supreme authority of the most powerful mind in Thailand, His Excellency Major-General Luang Pibul Songgram. * .f.Afe At the time of the coup d’etat Luang Pibul was an unobtrusive soldier, who had not long returned to Thailand after completing his civil and military education in France. As well as a soldier, however, he was an earnest student of history and economics and an organiser of monumental ability. Those to whom the task of maintaining order had been assigned were quick to discover his talents, and when the last attempt at counter revolution was disposed of they were not ungenerous in acknowledging his authorship of the brilliant organisation and fine military strategy which saved Thailand from a deluge of blood, and also, in all probability, from years of armed strife. From that moment Luang Pibul’s climb to political supremacy was assured. He was called upon to fill successively all the more important offices of State, and his administration of each so completely satisfied his Cabinet colleagues and the National Assembly that when ill-health enforced the retirement of his predecessor, Phya Bahol Balabayuha Sena, from the leadership of the nation, Luang Pibul was unanimously elected to that office. A POPULAR LEADER. -It is the opinion of his contemporaries that Laung Pibul will retain his exalted position as long as his life lasts or his health permits him to continue serving the State, for he presides over an intensely grateful and appreciative race upon whom he »jha? conferred what they regard as the highest good— 'a just, strong, and stable government, which equally knows how to rule and to rule kindly. He is loved by his colleagues, and by the common people he is literally adored. His popularity is not difficult to comprehend, and he is not difficult to comprehend, and is by no means undeserved. By birth a commoner, by education an aristocrat, he is conversant with the sentiments and problems of all classes. He has tasted the bitterness of poverty and savoured the sweets of wealth. He is a passionate democrat and a fervent, almost a fanatical, patriot; but his dearest ambition is to redeem the 10,000,000 peasants of Thailand from the conditions bordering on penury that have so long bedet them and to make them (to

quote his own words) “as happily prosperous as the people of Australia.” The focal aim of his policy, which he announces on every appropriate occasion, is to raise the social, industrial, and economic status of the people of Thailand to a level comparable with any other country in the world.

He is moving toward the attainment of his goal by a series of legislative enactments' which have, so far, commanded the approval of the people’s party in the National Assembly and have been hardly less warmly endorsed by the parliamentary representatives of the rich. The regenerative instrumentality to which Luang Pibul chiefly pins his faith is education. He has already made primary education compulsory, free, and universal throughout Thailand, and although school accommodation is still scanty some 2,000,000 children daily receive much the same instruction as is dispensed in the State schools of New Zealand and Australia.

Several great secondary and technical schools have been established during the last two years, and many more are building. The University of Bangkok is now turning out one hundred medical graduates and some three hundred lawyers, engineers, chemists, and other specialists every year. Added to this Luang Pibul has founded a political college in the capital and a special college in every province for the training of public administrators and civil servants, to which any boy and girl (adults also) many gain admitance by passing the requisite qualifying examination. BUILDING A NEW NATION. In order to diversify the employments of the people, manufacturing industries are being encouraged into existence by State subsidy and protective tariffs, and many important secondary enterprises (notably papermaking, sugar manufacture, brewing, and the chemical industries) are effectively catering for public needs. Vast irrigation works, some complete, some in progress, are beginning to safeguard the paddy farmers from droughts and irregular rains. More than 3,000,000 acres of rice land are already fully served. The bigger cities and towns arc being (some already have been) provided with a water supply, electric light, trams, the telephone and radio, and with modern sanitary services. The larger cities are equipped with modern public hospitals, and the smaller towns have clinics. Agricultural research stations are dotted over the coun-try-side, and a nation-wide campaign is being waged against cholera, bubonic, malaria, and other diseases. In addition, the mighty jungle that still covers more than half the country is being opened up for settlement, and an ambitious programme of road-making has been successfully inaugurated. Nine years ago I visited a mine in Central Thailand. I had to ride on an elephant for thirty miles along a very narrow and dangerous track, and then be poled in a sampan through leagues of dark swamps. Last August I travelled to the same place by motor car along a road as good as any in Australia or New Zealand. I noted cognate progress in the Thailand cities, especially in Bangkok, which in so short a time has acquired the most cherished appurtenances and comforts of Occidental civilisation without losing one atom of its stately and splendid beauty or its incomparable Oriental charm. Most of these works have been financed from revenue. The nationa] debt amounts to no more than 15s perhead of the population, which now comprises 14,976,000 souls. Taxation is necessarily high, but is not excessive, and is levied in accord with the principles of social equity. The rich are taxed to ease the burdens of the poor but the rich do not complain, because the whole of the revenue is expended on improving the national estate. RACE OF PHILOSOPHERS. Paradoxically, the strongest obstacle in the path of the Government’s noble purposes is the traditional outlook of that largest section of- the people whose welfare it most anxiously seeks to -promote. The Thais are devout Buddhists almost to a man, and every Thai spends portion of his life in some lovely monastery, of which there are 18,000 'in the State—<379 in Bangkok alone. Steeped for more than one thousand years in the unself-seeking spiritual philosophy of the Lord Gautama, the Thais as a race are profoundly indifferent to the things on which most Westerners set their hearts. They ask no more of life than its necessaries, plus ample leisure for recreation and the cultivation of their mental and moral aptitudes. Their country is'so fertile that it yields them their desire (except in seasons of drought) for very little exertion. They regard with the delight of children the wonderful benefits which Huang Pibul and his colleagues are showering on them. They applaud the policy of their rulers whole-heartedly. But they remain for the most part reluctant to engage individually in the the task of self-enrichment. This life, they hold, is merely the preparation for another life. Why, then, should they give to it an- importance it does not merit by sweating brain

and body to gain illusory, ephemereal and therefore contemptible advantages ? Luang Pibul understands and deeply sympathises with their attitude, but, warned by the fate of China and the peaceful small States of Europe, he is determined to wean them from it and educate them into the co-op-eration needed to produce wealth sufficient to render Thailand impregnably secure from invasion. He is a wise and patient man, and he rests his hopes on the coming generation. Meanwhile he labours tirelessly to build up a strong and peaceful State that will eventually combine and harmonise all the best featui;es of East and West. SUCH COURTESY! May I conclude this article with a personal experience that will enable my fellow Australians to realise just why I love Thailand and its people ? First let me explain that the Thais practise a form of national salute that is exclusively peculiar to themselves and full of grace. Whenever acquaintances meet or part they press the palms of their opened hands together before their breasts, and bow their heads over their extended fingertips—a gesture suggestive of homage or of prayer. While bciny driven one day in his private car by a young Thai gentleman along one of the busiest and narrowest streets of Bangkok (where the utmost vigilance is always needed to avoid an accident) my friend suddenly relinquished the steering wheel to press both hands together and salute an old lady in another car.

Only a wild cluteh at the wheel averted a collision. Very startled and: perhaps a little angry, I cried out: “ Confound you, Sieu ! We might all have been killed ! ” His answer, given with smilingly reproachful dignity, will always sound in my ears. “ Better that, sir,” he said, “ than allow an elderly lady to suppose I Was wanting in respect to her I ”