Pridi Phanomyong Pridi Phanomyong, monument at Thammasat University, Bangkok. (more) Pridi Phanomyong Thai political leader Ask the Chatbot a Question More Actions Print Cite verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pridi-Phanomyong Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

　　External Websites The New York Times - Pridi Phanomyong Dies at 82; Led 'Free Thai' Forces in War Ask the Chatbot a Question Also known as: Luang Pradist Manudharm, Pridi Banomyong Written by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask the Chatbot Quick Facts Also called: Pridi Banomyong, or Luang Pradist Manudharm (Show more) Born: May 11, 1900, Ayutthaya, Siam [now Thailand] (Show more) Died: May 2, 1983, Paris, France (aged 82) (Show more) Title / Office: prime minister (1946-1946), Thailand (Show more) Role In: Promoters Revolution (Show more) See all related content Pridi Phanomyong (born May 11, 1900, Ayutthaya, Siam [now Thailand]—died May 2, 1983, Paris, France) was a Thai political leader who was one of the instigators of the June 1932 constitutional revolution and was made prime minister in 1946.

　　After studies at the Royal Law School, Pridi won a government scholarship to study law in France; he earned a doctorate in law from Paris in 1927. While in Paris he was strongly influenced by French socialism, and, with other students, including Luang Phibunsongkhram, he began plotting the overthrow of the Thai absolute monarchy. On return to Thailand the conspirators intensified their efforts, and on June 24, 1932, they carried out a bloodless coup d’état that forced King Prajadhipok to accept a constitution. As the leading ideologue of the ruling People’s Party, Pridi helped write the constitution of December 1932, and in 1933 he announced a draft economic policy that envisioned state ownership of all industrial and commercial enterprises. The uproar over this plan forced Pridi into temporary exile abroad. On his return he served as minister of the interior and minister of foreign affairs and founded the University of Moral and Political Science (now Thammasat University). He served as minister of finance (1938–41) under Phibunsongkhram but resigned in protest against pro-Japanese policies and was appointed regent for the boy king Ananda Mahidol, then at school in Switzerland. As regent, Pridi directed the anti-Japanese underground Free Thai Movement in the later years of the war and engineered the downfall of Phibunsongkhram’s government in 1944. Over the next two years, Pridi was the real power behind successive civilian governments as Thailand, successfully avoiding treatment as an ally of Japan, regained international respectability.

　　In March 1946 Pridi himself became prime minister, the first to have been popularly elected. Public support for his government was shattered, however, after King Ananda was found dead of gun wounds on June 9, 1946. Pridi was unjustly held responsible, in part because of his earlier radicalism and reputed republican sympathies, and in August he was forced to resign. When the army staged a coup d’état in November 1947, Pridi fled the country; by 1951, after coup attempts on his behalf had failed, he took up residence in China. In 1970 Pridi left China for France, continuing to voice his criticism of the Thai military regimes.

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