Word: sarit
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Thailand's grief over Sarit's death was in stark contrast to the ghoulish glee it provoked in neighboring Cambodia.Neutralist Prince Norodom Sihanouk long hated Sarit, whom he labeled a Western toady, two years ago broke off diplomatic relations with Thailand in a flurry of epithets. On receiving news of the death, special concerts were scheduled to celebrate the occasion. Prince Sihanouk allowed civil servants to report for work two hours later for a fortnight so that they could "dance and amuse themselves...
...official proclamation, a government broadcast said that "thanks to divine protection, all Cambodia's enemies suffer complete destruction. Ngo Dinh Diem and Ngo Dinh Nhu were killed by bullets. Their friend Sarit, who mistreated Cambodia incessantly, met with sudden death. Moreover, the great boss of these aggressors met the same fate." When the U.S. officially protested these words, Cambodia denied any derogatory intentions toward President Kennedy, but it huffily recalled its ambassador from Washington...
...visit to Thailand two years ago, Lyndon Johnson said that the time had come for Southeast Asia to "separate the men from the boys" in its battle against Communist aggression. In every sense of the word, Thailand's Premier Sarit Thanarat was a man. A bluff, hard-wenching, hard-drinking soldier, Sarit was also a masterly pro-Western politician who stabilized Thailand's chaotic government and sagging economy, rooted out official corruption and cracked down hard on Communist infiltration. In the "domino" view of Southeast Asia, according to which the collapse of one country could knock over...
Trick Achieved. Though Marshal Sarit ruled Thailand as an absolute dictutor, he had a strong sense of responsibility toward country and people. "Anybody can stage a revolution," he said after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1957. "The trick, once the revolution has been staged, is winning public approval." On doctor's orders, he went on the wagon, began housecleaning Thailand from top to bottom. He banned opium smoking, and when a rash of fires broke out in Bangkok's business district one winter, he ordered four Chinese merchants shot-a brutal but effective reminder that...
...Sarit slashed the price of rice, transportation and school fees, allocated as much money for education as for defense. He encouraged foreign investment and industrial expansion, had more than $500 million in foreign exchange reserves socked away, spurred a healthy 6% annual rise in the G.N.P. When Communist guerrillas stepped up their campaign of subversion in the scrubby, impoverished northeast provinces, Sarit set in motion a crash $300 million program of medical, economic and educational development that undercut the Red threat. Though his rule was absolute, he always knelt before Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, encouraged Thais to accept...