Word: thanom
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...long after Correspondent Louis Kraar opened our new bureau in Bangkok last fall, he intensified the preparations for a cover story on the King and Queen.* Among the sources he wanted to reach were, of course, top government officials, including Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn (whose garden ultimately was the scene of one interview). More complicated was getting an interview with King Bhumibol, who rarely holds conferences with foreign newsmen and even more rarely gives permission for direct quotation. That interview required not only the King's consent but also formal approval by the Thai Cabinet...
Packing a Lunch. Under Sarit's successor, Premier Thanom Kittikachorn, Bhumibol is more than ever the throne behind the power. He and Sirikit, working as a ceremonial team with all the pageantry that Thais love, take every opportunity to identify themselves with Thailand and its progress. Whether it be the dedication of a new dam or highway, the ancient ceremony of the first spring plowing, or the certification of a newly found royal white elephant (an auspicious omen in Thai mythology), Bhumibol uses each event to emphasize the rich heritage and unity of his nation. (One discontinued tradition: feeding...
...Thanom Kittikachorn, 54, who was Sarit's deputy and took over after him in 1963 as Premier. Field Marshal Thanom has continued Sarit's basic policies of national development, anti-Communism and friendship with the free world. But his personal style is a bit different: a quiet homebody with no taste for nightclubs, he resigned from all his private businesses when word of Sarit's indiscretions leaked out. His greatest problem, he says, is "how to safeguard and ensure the security of Thailand" against Red insurgency...
...army, Deputy Premier, Interior Minister and most visibly active and outspoken man in government. Given to bow ties and dark glasses, Praphas bridles when his extensive business dealings are mentioned. Since he controls both army and police forces, gossips whisper that Praphas (pronounced Pra-pat) could conceivably oust Thanom. But that would likely produce an ugly family quarrel: Praphas' daughter is married to Thanom's son, and in fact the parents are close friends...
...terrorist activities became so great in December that the army was called into the Northeast for the first time. A battalion of 1,500 Royal Thai soldiers, made mobile by helicopters, now sweeps the foothills in search of guerrillas. "We have to meet force with force," says Prime Minister Thanom Kittikachorn. Bangkok has also countered the Communist drive with an impressive program of aid and roadbuilding (TIME, Dec. 24), points out that Thailand has some things going for it that Viet Nam did not have...