Homage to Kukrit

The late statesman Mom Rajawongse Kukrit Pramoj was knowledgeable and influential in so many diverse fields – prime minister, champion of democracy, writer, musician – that a recent symposium marking the centenary of his birth this Friday was hard-pressed to cover all the ground.
 The Culture Ministry and Kukrit Institute, with help from The Nation and other newspapers and the Thai Journalists Association, examined “The Siam Sage Named Kukrit” through the fond memories of friends and acquaintances, 16 years after his death.

THE JOURNALIST

Ussiri Thammachote, a SEA Write Award winner and National Artist in literature, pointed out that, among MR Kukrit’s many activities, the one that occupied him until the last day of his life was journalism.
“Kukrit started his journalism career when he was 39,” Ussiri said at the forum. “Toward the end of his life, when he could no longer use his hands properly, he used his mouth, speaking into a tape recorder, dictating stories in detail, including where the spaces go and the paragraphs end.
“When he could no longer use his eyes properly, he used his ears, listening to the news – both domestic and international – as source material for his writing.”
Kukrit established Siam Rath more than 60 years ago, aiming to educate and inform Bangkok citizens about politics and thus foster democracy under the constitutional monarchy.
“The front page of the first issue on June 25, 1950, declared that the newspaper would benefit no particular person or party, but only the country,” Ussiri recalled. “I think he always lived up to that. He likened the monarchy to a glass chandelier – anyone trying to damage it would inevitably get hurt.”
Broadcasting veteran Somkiat Onwimol, a former senator, considered himself a “student” of Kukrit’s radio shows while in secondary school in Suphan Buri. “I listened to his programmes on a transistor radio,” he said. “I would say his shows changed not only my life but those of many rural people.
“I also read his books, like ‘Tok Kamen’ [‘Debate about Cambodia’] and ‘Chak Yipoon’ [‘From Japan’], which I won in contests, answering questions via the post.
“I was always most impressed by his use of simple language in his literary works. The books are all easy to read and yet offer profound knowledge. It’s no wonder they’ve been reprinted so many times. Of all the Thai novels that have been reprinted, I collected only his.”
Invited to pinpoint something in particular he enjoyed about Kukrit’s books, Somkiat cited a passage in “Chak Yipoon”. Kukrit wrote that Thailand should emulate the Japanese practice of including dharma lessons in school curricula.
“Why not teach our children to recite the Thai alphabet by giving each character a new meaning, such as kor kerd [birth] for ‘g’, khor khai [sickness] for ‘kh’ and tor took [misery] for ‘t’ – as in the stages of life?”
Instead, Somkiat pointed out, as Kukrit did, schools use gor gai [chicken], khor khai [egg], cliches like paa [aunt] and pu [grandpa] or terms such as e ju [an eel trap]. “Today,” he pointed out, “we don’t even know what an e ju looks like!”
Somkiat said Kukrit publicly condemned him for trying to use a hidden camera to film the great man in hospital for a television biography. “It forced me to resign from Channel 7 and taught me a big lesson about human rights.
“But when I apologised to him later, both at the hospital and at his home, he forgave me.”
Steven Van Beek, an American documentary filmmaker and author of “Kukrit Pramoj: His Wit and Wisdom”, interviewed the statesman for seven hours in 1981 at his celebrated home on Soi Suan Plu.
“The interview was about more than his biography – it became Thai culture and history,” Van Beek recalled. “He was always a fascinating man, perhaps the most interesting in the last 100 years. He didn’t hesitate to criticise what he thought was wrong.
“I asked him, at the age of 71, if he had to live his life over again, what would he wish to do. And the master’s answer was, ‘A life without the Thai press, the life of an ordinary man living in peace. I would try to know more about myself. I would devote more time to myself. Fame, fortune and all these things are missing the target.’”
“One of the things that struck me most,” Van Beek said, “was that he saw the privileged as having a responsibility to society.”

THE POLITICIAN

Anand Panyarachun, who subsequently also became premier, was ambassador to the US when he got to know then-Prime Minister Kukrit in his essence. Kukrit recalled Anand from Washington because of the so-called “Mayaguez incident” of 1975.
“The Khmer Rouge seized the Mayaguez, an American container ship en route to Sattahip, Thailand, in recognised international sea lanes, but Cambodia claimed them as its territorial waters,” Anand said at the symposium.
“Kukrit’s order to bring me home – with no specific time given for my return to Washington – was a signal to the US that Thailand was not happy with the US’ action [a deadly rescue mission].
“During that time, the then-foreign minister Chatchai Choonhavan [also to serve later as premier] asked me to join the Kukrit’s government in reviving diplomatic relations with China.”
Anand noted that Kukrit’s Oxford education in philosophy, politics and economics gave him well-rounded insight that convinced him that Thailand must have no permanent enemies. He also won assurance that the US military would withdraw from Thailand within a year of hostilities ending in Southeast Asia.
“This was a signal to the US that our relations must be based on peace and mutual benefit rather than military interests,” Anand said. “It showed that Thailand would stand on her own feet and would be friends to all countries, regardless of their ruling system. Now, 36 years later, these policies have proved to be of great benefit to Thailand.”
Paul F Wedel, executive director of the Kenan Institute Asia and a journalist long based in Thailand, added that Kukrit’s foreign policy revolutionised Thailand’s overseas image, with lasting benefit indeed.
“Reviving relations with China and dissolving the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation changed Thailand’s image in international politics,” he said.
And yet Kukrit’s popularity at home wavered severely, Wedel noted. “I was in Thailand and witnessed protests against his policies by students and the far right wing. I was amazed at how he managed to form a coalition government when his Social Action Party had only 18 seats!”
     BIRTHDAY PLANS
- The Kukrit Institute on Bangkok’s Soi Ngam Duplee serves as a learning centre, with a library and exhibitions. Young people are trained there every weekend in cultural performances, such as khon and classical music.
- On Friday, which would have been Kukrit’s 101st birthday, the institute is hosting a festival of folk music and theatre.
- Call (02) 286 5385-6 Tuesday to Saturday for tickets or visit www.Kukrit-Pramoj.org.