GRAFT CHARGES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 108, 20 February 1950, Page 6

GRAFT CHARGES

COUP D’ETAT PARTY CRITICISED * (From Jim Taylor, N.Z.P.A.-Reuter Correspondent.) BANGKOK. Siam’s most colourful pamphleteering general, the army’s deputy-Commander-in-Chief, Kach Songkram, has turned his wrath upon his colleagues in the country’s governing group, the “Coup d’Etat Party.” *ln his latest pamphlet, LieutenantGeneral Kach (pronounced Kark) has charged fellow members of the 25man party with graft, selfishness and lack of patriotic feeling. The general wrote that the highminded motives which prompted his junta to force an .elected Siamese Government from power ?n late 1947 had been forgotten since by several leading sponsors of the coup d’etat. They had not lived up to the “platform” which he and other leaders of the coup had announced after their seizure of power. The promises to the public to reduce the cost of living and eliminate corruption in Government departments had not been honoured by all coup d’etat party members, thc> pamphlet added. Although the pamphlet mentioned alleged misappropriation of “million'®” by some of the 25 original coup sponsors, it has caused no more serious reaction than an apparent flutter ©£ resentment among some of the general's colleagues and a baseless one-day Siamese press rumour that the Premier and chairman of the Coup d’Etat Party, Marshal Luang Pibul Songkram, had resigned both offices. *• Apart from these superficial results, the: Kach allegations seemed to fall into the general category of personal incidents which repeatedly centre arc-und the Siamese politico-military junta. The public remained as undisturbed by the latest apparent clash of personal opinion in the top drawer of national politics as it has done in face of one post-war. coup d’etat and two subsequent attempted countercoups.

Existence Denied Until publication of General Kach’s pamphlet there was nothing more substantial to support rumour that the small group of de facto rulers of Siam had disagreed among themselves. Premier Pilbul, when challenged in Parliament to explain the continued existence of the plot group, denied its existence as anything more potent than a sort of veteran’s; friendly society. “The Coup Party does not interfere in governmental matters any more,” said the Premier. “We all risked our lives together in «* common cause (the coup of, November, 1947) and it is natural that we Keep close bonds of personal friendship." The three most active members of the group are in key positions in the armed services. They are LieutenantGeneral Phin Chunawan, Army Com-mander-in-Chief; Lieutenant-General Kach Songkram, Army Deputy Com-mander-in-Chief ;• and former Army Colonel Phao Sriyanond, who has become a Major-General and DeputyChief of the expanding Ponce Force. General Phao ha® militarised Slam’s Police Force with moderp armoured cars and armed speed launches. As a diversion, General Kach recently wrote a spirited essay on spitting in public. He referred to the “vulgar growling rumble that one hears in the throats of certain uncultured aliens.” For all the seriousness; of the charges against fellow coup sponsois in his latest pamphlet, General Kach has obtained at least a measure of official forgiveness since its publication. The Siamese. Cabinet has decided unanimously that special dispensation be given the 56-year-old officer to retain deputy command or the army for another year.

PAMPHLET WARFARE IN SIAM