Ananda Mahidol
Encyclopedia
Ananda Mahidol was the eighth monarch of Thailand
under the House of Chakri. At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly, in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland
. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. Six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed. Medical examiners ruled it a murder and three servants were later executed. His killing has been the subject of much controversy.
—Ananthamahidon Phra Atthamaramathibodin), or Rama VIII.
, Germany. He was the first son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej
of Songkhla (son of King Chulalongkorn
) and Mom Sangwal (last title Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara Boromaratchachonnani) who were studying there at the time.
He followed his parents to Paris, Lausanne
, and then to Massachusetts
when, in 1927, another uncle, King Prajadhipok
issued a royal edict exalting him to the higher princely class of Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao. (This edict also benefited other "Mom Chao" who were the children of Chao Fa and their commoner wives, among them his elder sister Mom Chao Galyani Vadhana
and his younger brother who, upon his birth later in the year, was born Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao Bhumibol Adulyadej
).
The family returned to Thailand in 1928 after Prince Mahidol finished his medical studies at Harvard University
. Prince Mahidol died at age 37 in 1929, when Ananda Mahidol was just 4 years old. His widowed mother was thus left to raise her family alone.
A coup d'état in 1932
ended the absolute monarchy and raised the possibility that King Prajadhipok
might abdicate. Queen Savang Vadhana, his grandmother, was concerned about Prince Ananda Mahidol's safety, since he was one of the likely heirs to the throne. It was then suggested that the Mahidol family again move to Lausanne
. The official reason given was for the health and further education of the princes. They left Thailand in 1933 and Prince Ananda Mahidol spent most of his youth in Switzerland.
However, when King Prajadhipok's abdication appeared imminent, the Prince's mother was approached by a member of government, asking for her opinion about Ananda Mahidol becoming the next Thai monarch.
King Prajadhipok
(Rama
VII) abdicated in 1935 due to political quarrels with the new quasi-democratic government as well as health problems. The King decided to abstain from exercising his prerogative to name a successor to the throne. By that time, the crown had already passed from Prince Mahidol's line to that of his half-brothers when his eldest full brother, Crown Prince
Maha Vajirunhis
, died as a teenager during King Chulalongkorn
's reign. A half-brother, Prince Vajiravudh
(as the next eldest) replaced Prince Vajirunhis as the Crown Prince he eventually succeeded to the throne in 1910 as King Rama VI. In 1924 the King instituted the Palace Law of Succession
in order to govern subsequent successions. The law gave priority to the children of his mother Queen Regent Saovabha Bongsri over the children of King Chulalongkorn's two other royal wives. The law was enact on the death of King Vajiravudh in 1925 — the crown was passed to his youngest brother, Prince Prajadhipok
of Sukhothai.
Offering the throne to Prince Prajadhipok
was not without a debate. In doing so, another candidate was bypassed: Prince Chula Chakrabongse
, son of the late Field Marshal Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanat of Phitsanulok, who before his death had been the heir-apparent to King Vajiravhud. It was questioned whether the Succession Law enacted by King Vajiravhud actually barred Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanat (and for that matter, Prince Chula Chakrabongse) from succession on the ground that he married a foreigner (Russian). However, his marriage took place before this law was enacted and had been endorsed by King Chulalongkorn himself. There was no clear resolution, but in the end the many candidates were passed over and Prince Prajadhipok was enthroned.
When King Prajadhipok later abdicated, since he was the last remaining son of Queen Saovabha, the crown went back to the sons of the Queen whose rank was next to hers: Queen Savang Vadhana
, mother of the late Crown Prince Vajirunahis. Besides the late Crown Prince, she had two more sons who survived to adulthood: Prince Sommatiwongse Varodaya of Nakhon Si Thammarat, who had died without a son in 1899, and Prince Mahidol who, although deceased, had two living sons. It thus appeared that Prince Ananda Mahidol would be the first person in the royal line of succession.
Nevertheless, the same debate over the half-foreign Prince Chula Chakrabongse occurred again. It was argued that King Vajiravhud had virtually exempted the Prince's father from the ban in the Succession Law, and the crown might thus be passed to him.
However since the kingdom was now governed under a constitution, it was the Cabinet who would decide. Opinion was split on the right to succession of Prince Chula Chakrabongse. A key figure was Pridi Phanomyong
, who persuaded the Cabinet that the Law should be interpreted as excluding the Prince from succession, and that Prince Ananda Mahidol should be the next king. It also appeared more convenient for the government to have a monarch who was only 9 years old and was attending school in Lausanne
, Switzerland. On 2 March 1935 Prince Ananda Mahidol was elected by the National Assembly of Siam
and government to succeed his uncle, King Prajadhipok
as the Eight King of the Chakri Dynasty.
In 1938, at age 13, Ananda Mahidol visited the Kingdom of Siam for the first time as monarch. He was accompanied during his visit by his mother and his younger brother Bhumibol Adulyadej
. Field Marshal
Plaek Pibulsonggram
was the Prime Minister
at this time and during most of Ananda Mahidol's reign. Pibulsonggram was a military dictator and, in 1939, he arranged to change the name of the country from Siam to Thailand
. Late in 1940, Pibulsonggram involved Thailand in the indecisive "Franco–Thai War" against the Vichy forces in French Indochina
.
. Ananda Mahidol was away from the country and Pridi Phanomyong
served as regent in his absence. From 24 January 1942, occupied Thailand became a formal ally of the Empire of Japan
and a member of the Axis
. Under Plaek Pibulsonggram
, Thailand declared war on the Allied powers
. During the war, many members of the Thai Government, including the Ambassadorial staff in Japan acted as 'de-facto' spies on the side of the Allies, funneling secret information to the Office of Strategic Services
.
By 1944, it was becoming apparent that the Japanese were going to lose the war to the Allies. Bangkok suffered heavily from the Allied bombing raids
. This, plus economic hardship, made both the war and the regime of Plaek Pibulsonggram very unpopular. In July, Plaek Pibulsonggram was ousted by the Seri Thai
-infiltrated government. The National Assembly reconvened and appointed the liberal
lawyer Khuang Aphaiwong as Prime Minister. The Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945. The Allied military responsibility for Thailand fell to the British.
, which was calculated to defuse the post-war tensions that lingered between the ethnic Chinese and the Thais.
Foreign observers, however, believed that Ananda Mahidol did not really want to be King and felt his reign would not last long. Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma
, the British commander in South-East Asia, visited Bangkok in January 1946 and described the King as "a frightened, short-sighted boy, his sloping shoulders and thin chest behung with gorgeous diamond-studded decorations, altogether a pathetic and lonely figure." At a public function, Mountbatten wrote, "his nervousness increased to such an alarming extent, that I came very close to support him in case he passed out."
. His brother Bhumibol Adulyadej
succeeded him. Ananda Mahidol was never crowned as king, but his brother posthumously gave him the full royal title of the ninefold umbrella.
, pathologist to the British Home Office
and founding chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Guy's Hospital
in London, performed a forensic analysis of the King's death and recounted the following sequence of events on the morning of 9 June 1946:
Ananda was awakened by his mother at 6am.
At 7.30am, his page
But Pathamasarin came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the king's dressing room.
At 8.30, But saw the king standing in his dressing room. He brought the king his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the king had gone back to bed and refused the juice.
At 8.45am, the king's other page Chit Singhaseni appeared, saying that he had been called to measure the King's medals and decorations on behalf of a jeweller who was making a case for them.
At 9am, Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej
visited King Ananda. He said afterwards that he had found the king dozing in his bed.
At 9.20am, a single shot rang out from the king's bedroom. Chit ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the king's mother, crying "The King has shot himself!"
The king's mother followed Chit into the king's bedroom and found the king lying face up in bed, bloodied from a wound to the head.
Soon after the death, the Democrat Party
spread rumors that Pridi Banomyong was behind the death.
In October 1946, a Commission of Inquiry reported that the King's death could not have been accidental, but that neither suicide nor murder was satisfactorily proved.
In November 1947, Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram
staged a coup against the elected government of Pridi, appointed Democrat Party leader Khuang Aphaiwong as Prime Minister, and ordered a trial. King Ananda's secretary, Senator Chaleo Patoomros, and the pages, But and Chit, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder the King.
The trial began in August 1948. Prior to the trial, Pibulsonggram admitted to US Ambassador Edwin Stanton that he was doubtful that the trial would resolve the mystery of Ananda Mahidol's death. The prosecution's case was supported by 124 witnesses and such voluminous documentary evidence that the defense counsel asked for an adjournment to give them time to consider it. When this was refused the counsel resigned, and new counsel were found. Later, two of the defense counsel were arrested and charged with treason. Of the remaining two, one resigned, leaving only a single young lawyer for the defence, Fak Na Songkhla. Towards the end of the case, he was joined by Chaleo Patoomros's daughter, who had just graduated.
The trial ended in May 1951. The court ruled that King Ananda had been assassinated, but that Chaleo had not been proved guilty and that neither of the pages could have fired the fatal shot. However, they found Chit guilty of being a party to the crime. The charges against Chaleo and But were dismissed and they were released.
Chit appealed his conviction, and the prosecution appealed against the acquittal of Chaleo and But. After fifteen months of deliberation, the Appeal Court dismissed Chit's appeal, and undeterred by the legal doctrine of double jeopardy
also found But guilty.
Chit and But appealed to the Supreme Court, which deliberated for ten more months before finally upholding both convictions, and this time convicting Chaleo as well.
In February 1955, Chaleo Patoomros and both pages were executed by Pibulsonggram's government on charges of conspiracy to kill the King.
Charles Yost met with Foreign Minister Direk Jayanama
, who had just had an audience with the new King, Bhumibol Adulyadej. In his report to the US State Department, Yost noted
However, in an 1980 BBC
documentary, Bhumibol stated that the death was not an accident. He noted in English:
, a forensic pathologist who investigated the King's death found it highly unlikely that the death was due to suicide, noting that:
's The Revolutionary King, written with the co-operation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
. This account exculpates those executed and suggests that Ananda Mahidol was murdered by Tsuji Masanobu
. Masanobu was a former Japanese intelligence officer who had been active in Thailand during the war and, at the time of Ananda Mahidol's death, was hiding out in Thailand for fear of being prosecuted for his war crimes.
It is clear from Stevenson's account that Ananda Mahidol could not have killed himself, either by suicide (as is sometimes suggested) or by accident. He was found lying on his back in his bed, not wearing his glasses, without which he was almost blind. He had a small bullet wound in his forehead and a somewhat larger exit wound in the back of his head. His pistol, a Colt .45
given him by a former US Army officer, was not nearby. The M1911 Colt is not especially prone to accidental discharge; it will fire only if considerable pressure is applied to the safety plate at the back of the butt at the same time as the trigger is depressed. It is a heavy pistol and awkward to use by an untrained person. It would have been almost impossible for Ananda Mahidol, a frail 20-year-old, to lie on his back and shoot himself in the forehead with such a weapon. Had he done so, the impact, according to forensics experts, would have blown his skull apart, not caused the small wounds seen by many witnesses. Stevenson writes that no cartridge case was found, and subsequent inquiries ordered by King Bhumibol, but suppressed by later governments, found that the Colt had not been fired.
The book is banned in Thailand. However, a website by a Thai writer has provided a summary of Kruger's arguments, and it links to other material about the death. Kruger, who had unprecedented access to members of the inner circle of the Thai royal family (although these contacts had to remain unidentified), drew the conclusion that Ananda's death was most probably an 'accidental suicide'. Thus, said Kruger, it appears the sad, most likely accidental, death of the young king was exploited for the purposes of a political vendetta, and that three innocent victims were executed to maintain the façade.
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
under the House of Chakri. At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly, in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. Six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed. Medical examiners ruled it a murder and three servants were later executed. His killing has been the subject of much controversy.
Name
Ananda Mahidol is one word in Thai and is his given name. King Vajiravhud, his uncle, sent a telegram on 13 October 1925 giving him this name. It is pronounced "Ananta Mahidon" and means "the joy of Mahidol" (his father). When he held his birth rank of "mom chao" -- the lowest rank of Thai princes -— he used the surname of "Mahidol", his father's given name. His full name and title was thus, "Mom Chao Ananda Mahidol Mahidol" . His full royal name was, "Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramentharamaha Ananda Mahidol Phra Atthama Ramathibodindara" ; RTGS:Royal Thai General System of Transcription
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand...
—Ananthamahidon Phra Atthamaramathibodin), or Rama VIII.
Early life
Prince Ananda Mahidol Mahidol was born in HeidelbergHeidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Germany. He was the first son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej
Mahidol Adulyadej
Mahitaladhibes Adulyadejvikrom, the Prince Father , or officially styled Mahidol Adulyadej, Prince of Songkla was the father of King Ananda Mahidol and King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. He was also regarded as the father of modern medicine and public health of Thailand...
of Songkhla (son of King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
) and Mom Sangwal (last title Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara Boromaratchachonnani) who were studying there at the time.
He followed his parents to Paris, Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, and then to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
when, in 1927, another uncle, King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
issued a royal edict exalting him to the higher princely class of Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao. (This edict also benefited other "Mom Chao" who were the children of Chao Fa and their commoner wives, among them his elder sister Mom Chao Galyani Vadhana
Galyani Vadhana
Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, the Princess of Naradhiwas , was a princess of Thailand and the elder sister of King Ananda Mahidol and King Bhumibol Adulyadej...
and his younger brother who, upon his birth later in the year, was born Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
).
The family returned to Thailand in 1928 after Prince Mahidol finished his medical studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. Prince Mahidol died at age 37 in 1929, when Ananda Mahidol was just 4 years old. His widowed mother was thus left to raise her family alone.
A coup d'état in 1932
Siamese Revolution of 1932
The Siamese Revolution of 1932 or the Siamese Coup d'état of 1932 was a crucial turning point in Thai history in the 20th century...
ended the absolute monarchy and raised the possibility that King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
might abdicate. Queen Savang Vadhana, his grandmother, was concerned about Prince Ananda Mahidol's safety, since he was one of the likely heirs to the throne. It was then suggested that the Mahidol family again move to Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
. The official reason given was for the health and further education of the princes. They left Thailand in 1933 and Prince Ananda Mahidol spent most of his youth in Switzerland.
However, when King Prajadhipok's abdication appeared imminent, the Prince's mother was approached by a member of government, asking for her opinion about Ananda Mahidol becoming the next Thai monarch.
Circumstance of succession
- See also King Prajadhipok's circumstance of succession.
King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
(Rama
Rama (King of Thailand)
The kings in the current Chakri dynasty of Thailand are often referred to as Rama followed by Roman ordinal in English translation. The name Rama was adopted from the name of the Hindu god Rama, a reincarnation of Vishnu....
VII) abdicated in 1935 due to political quarrels with the new quasi-democratic government as well as health problems. The King decided to abstain from exercising his prerogative to name a successor to the throne. By that time, the crown had already passed from Prince Mahidol's line to that of his half-brothers when his eldest full brother, Crown Prince
Crown Prince of Thailand
The Crown Prince of Thailand was a title held by the heir apparent to the Thai throne. First created by King Chulalongkorn in 1886, for his son Prince Maha Vajirunhis, the king's eldest son by a royal wife Princess Consort Savang Vadhana. Prior to this the Siamese throne did not have a law or...
Maha Vajirunhis
Vajirunhis
Crown Prince Maha Vajirunhis was the first Crown Prince of the Chakri Dynasty. He was the first son of King Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhana....
, died as a teenager during King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
's reign. A half-brother, Prince Vajiravudh
Vajiravudh
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramentharamaha Vajiravudh Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Phra Bat Somdet Phra Ramathibodi Si Sintharamaha Vajiravudh Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VI was the sixth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1910 until his death...
(as the next eldest) replaced Prince Vajirunhis as the Crown Prince he eventually succeeded to the throne in 1910 as King Rama VI. In 1924 the King instituted the Palace Law of Succession
1924 Palace Law of Succession
The Palace Law on Succession, BE 2467 governs succession to the Throne of the Kingdom of Thailand, under the ruling House of Chakri. The law was established during the reign of King Vajiravudh to systematically resolve previous succession controversies...
in order to govern subsequent successions. The law gave priority to the children of his mother Queen Regent Saovabha Bongsri over the children of King Chulalongkorn's two other royal wives. The law was enact on the death of King Vajiravudh in 1925 — the crown was passed to his youngest brother, Prince Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
of Sukhothai.
Offering the throne to Prince Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
was not without a debate. In doing so, another candidate was bypassed: Prince Chula Chakrabongse
Chula Chakrabongse
His Royal Highness Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Siam , was a member of the Siamese Royal Family, and the House of Chakrabhongse...
, son of the late Field Marshal Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanat of Phitsanulok, who before his death had been the heir-apparent to King Vajiravhud. It was questioned whether the Succession Law enacted by King Vajiravhud actually barred Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanat (and for that matter, Prince Chula Chakrabongse) from succession on the ground that he married a foreigner (Russian). However, his marriage took place before this law was enacted and had been endorsed by King Chulalongkorn himself. There was no clear resolution, but in the end the many candidates were passed over and Prince Prajadhipok was enthroned.
When King Prajadhipok later abdicated, since he was the last remaining son of Queen Saovabha, the crown went back to the sons of the Queen whose rank was next to hers: Queen Savang Vadhana
Savang Vadhana
Queen Savang Vadhana of Siam was a consort of King Chulalongkorn or Rama V. Her full name and title was Queen Sri Savarindira - thus she was not the Rajini , but just was a highest consort...
, mother of the late Crown Prince Vajirunahis. Besides the late Crown Prince, she had two more sons who survived to adulthood: Prince Sommatiwongse Varodaya of Nakhon Si Thammarat, who had died without a son in 1899, and Prince Mahidol who, although deceased, had two living sons. It thus appeared that Prince Ananda Mahidol would be the first person in the royal line of succession.
Nevertheless, the same debate over the half-foreign Prince Chula Chakrabongse occurred again. It was argued that King Vajiravhud had virtually exempted the Prince's father from the ban in the Succession Law, and the crown might thus be passed to him.
However since the kingdom was now governed under a constitution, it was the Cabinet who would decide. Opinion was split on the right to succession of Prince Chula Chakrabongse. A key figure was Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Banomyong was a highly revered Thai politician. He was a former Prime Minister and Senior Statesman of Thailand, and was named one of the world's great personalities of the 20th century by UNESCO in 2000.-Family background:...
, who persuaded the Cabinet that the Law should be interpreted as excluding the Prince from succession, and that Prince Ananda Mahidol should be the next king. It also appeared more convenient for the government to have a monarch who was only 9 years old and was attending school in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland. On 2 March 1935 Prince Ananda Mahidol was elected by the National Assembly of Siam
National Assembly of Thailand
The National Assembly of Thailand or the Parliament of Thailand is the legislative branch of the government of Thailand. The National Assembly of Thailand is a bicameral body, consisting of two chambers: the upper house, , and the lower house,...
and government to succeed his uncle, King Prajadhipok
Prajadhipok
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Prajadhipok Phra Pok Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama VII was the seventh monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was the last absolute monarch and the first constitutional monarch of the country. His reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to huge political...
as the Eight King of the Chakri Dynasty.
Life as King
As the new King was still a child and was then studying in Switzerland, the parliament appointed Colonel Prince Anuwatjaturong, Lieutenant Commander Prince Artit Thip-apa, and Chao Phraya Yommaraj (Pun Sukhum) as his regents.In 1938, at age 13, Ananda Mahidol visited the Kingdom of Siam for the first time as monarch. He was accompanied during his visit by his mother and his younger brother Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
. Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...
was the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
at this time and during most of Ananda Mahidol's reign. Pibulsonggram was a military dictator and, in 1939, he arranged to change the name of the country from Siam to Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Late in 1940, Pibulsonggram involved Thailand in the indecisive "Franco–Thai War" against the Vichy forces in French Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
.
World War II
On 8 December 1941, in concert with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces invaded and occupied ThailandJapanese occupation of Thailand
Thailand was occupied by the Japanese during World War II from the 1941 invasion until Japan's defeat in 1945. At the start of the Pacific War, the Japanese Empire leaned on the Thais to allow passage of Japanese troops on their way to invade British-held Malay and Burma...
. Ananda Mahidol was away from the country and Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Phanomyong
Pridi Banomyong was a highly revered Thai politician. He was a former Prime Minister and Senior Statesman of Thailand, and was named one of the world's great personalities of the 20th century by UNESCO in 2000.-Family background:...
served as regent in his absence. From 24 January 1942, occupied Thailand became a formal ally of the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
and a member of the Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. Under Plaek Pibulsonggram
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...
, Thailand declared war on the Allied powers
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
. During the war, many members of the Thai Government, including the Ambassadorial staff in Japan acted as 'de-facto' spies on the side of the Allies, funneling secret information to the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
.
By 1944, it was becoming apparent that the Japanese were going to lose the war to the Allies. Bangkok suffered heavily from the Allied bombing raids
Bombing of Bangkok in World War II
The bombing of Bangkok, was operate by the Allied Air Forces during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Allied air raid on Bangkok in 1944,Intended to pressure the Thai government with air raid. And destroy the source of Japanese armaments. And its allies have tried to attack the community to...
. This, plus economic hardship, made both the war and the regime of Plaek Pibulsonggram very unpopular. In July, Plaek Pibulsonggram was ousted by the Seri Thai
Free Thai Movement
The Free Thai Movement was a Thai underground resistance movement against Imperial Japan during World War II. Seri Thai were an important source of military intelligence for the Allies in the region, and were notable for being the only World War II resistance movement to use fighter aircraft of its...
-infiltrated government. The National Assembly reconvened and appointed the liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
lawyer Khuang Aphaiwong as Prime Minister. The Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945. The Allied military responsibility for Thailand fell to the British.
Post war
Only after the end of World War II did Ananda Mahidol return to Thailand. He returned for a second visit in December 1945 with a degree in Law. Despite his youth and inexperience, he quickly won the hearts of the Thai people, who had continued to revere the monarchy through the upheavals of the 1930s and 1940s. He was a handsome young man and Thais were delighted to have their King amongst them once again. One of his well-remembered activities was a highly successful visit to Bangkok's ChinatownYaowarat Road
Bangkok's Chinatown is centered on Yaowarat Road in Samphanthawong district.The Chinatown is an old business center covering a large area around Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Road. There are many small streets and alleys full of shops and vendors selling all types of goods...
, which was calculated to defuse the post-war tensions that lingered between the ethnic Chinese and the Thais.
Foreign observers, however, believed that Ananda Mahidol did not really want to be King and felt his reign would not last long. Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma
Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
, the British commander in South-East Asia, visited Bangkok in January 1946 and described the King as "a frightened, short-sighted boy, his sloping shoulders and thin chest behung with gorgeous diamond-studded decorations, altogether a pathetic and lonely figure." At a public function, Mountbatten wrote, "his nervousness increased to such an alarming extent, that I came very close to support him in case he passed out."
Death
On 9 June 1946, the King was found shot dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall, (a modern residential palace located within the Grand Palace), only four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in Law at the University of LausanneUniversity of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of theology, before being made a university in 1890. Today about 12,000 students and 2200 researchers study and work at the university...
. His brother Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
succeeded him. Ananda Mahidol was never crowned as king, but his brother posthumously gave him the full royal title of the ninefold umbrella.
Events of 9 June 1946
Keith SimpsonKeith Simpson (professor)
Cedric Keith Simpson, CBE, FRCP was an eminent English pathologist. He was Professor of Forensic Medicine in the University of London at Guy's Hospital, and Lecturer in Forensic Medicine at the University of Oxford.-Career:...
, pathologist to the British Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
and founding chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is a large NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in south east London, England. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. It is a large teaching hospital and is home to the King's College London School of Medicine...
in London, performed a forensic analysis of the King's death and recounted the following sequence of events on the morning of 9 June 1946:
Ananda was awakened by his mother at 6am.
At 7.30am, his page
Page (servant)
A page or page boy is a traditionally young male servant, a messenger at the service of a nobleman or royal.-The medieval page:In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire...
But Pathamasarin came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the king's dressing room.
At 8.30, But saw the king standing in his dressing room. He brought the king his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the king had gone back to bed and refused the juice.
At 8.45am, the king's other page Chit Singhaseni appeared, saying that he had been called to measure the King's medals and decorations on behalf of a jeweller who was making a case for them.
At 9am, Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
visited King Ananda. He said afterwards that he had found the king dozing in his bed.
At 9.20am, a single shot rang out from the king's bedroom. Chit ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the king's mother, crying "The King has shot himself!"
The king's mother followed Chit into the king's bedroom and found the king lying face up in bed, bloodied from a wound to the head.
Aftermath
An initial radio announcement on 9 June surmised that the King was accidentally killed while toying with his pistol.Soon after the death, the Democrat Party
Democrat Party (Thailand)
The Democrat Party is Thailand's oldest political party and was the main coalition government party of the 23rd House of Representatives of Thailand. The Democrat Party's current leader is Abhisit Vejjajiva, incumbent opposition leader and former Prime Minister. The party upholds a conservative...
spread rumors that Pridi Banomyong was behind the death.
In October 1946, a Commission of Inquiry reported that the King's death could not have been accidental, but that neither suicide nor murder was satisfactorily proved.
In November 1947, Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...
staged a coup against the elected government of Pridi, appointed Democrat Party leader Khuang Aphaiwong as Prime Minister, and ordered a trial. King Ananda's secretary, Senator Chaleo Patoomros, and the pages, But and Chit, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder the King.
The trial began in August 1948. Prior to the trial, Pibulsonggram admitted to US Ambassador Edwin Stanton that he was doubtful that the trial would resolve the mystery of Ananda Mahidol's death. The prosecution's case was supported by 124 witnesses and such voluminous documentary evidence that the defense counsel asked for an adjournment to give them time to consider it. When this was refused the counsel resigned, and new counsel were found. Later, two of the defense counsel were arrested and charged with treason. Of the remaining two, one resigned, leaving only a single young lawyer for the defence, Fak Na Songkhla. Towards the end of the case, he was joined by Chaleo Patoomros's daughter, who had just graduated.
The trial ended in May 1951. The court ruled that King Ananda had been assassinated, but that Chaleo had not been proved guilty and that neither of the pages could have fired the fatal shot. However, they found Chit guilty of being a party to the crime. The charges against Chaleo and But were dismissed and they were released.
Chit appealed his conviction, and the prosecution appealed against the acquittal of Chaleo and But. After fifteen months of deliberation, the Appeal Court dismissed Chit's appeal, and undeterred by the legal doctrine of double jeopardy
Double jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
also found But guilty.
Chit and But appealed to the Supreme Court, which deliberated for ten more months before finally upholding both convictions, and this time convicting Chaleo as well.
In February 1955, Chaleo Patoomros and both pages were executed by Pibulsonggram's government on charges of conspiracy to kill the King.
Alternative explanations of the death
The King's death is still seen as a mystery. The subject is never openly discussed in Thailand, though numerous books have been written about it in Thai. With the exception of Bhumibol Adulyadej, all the principals (known to be) related to the death are now deceased.Bhumibol Adulyadej
On 15 June 1946, American Chargé d'affairesChargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
Charles Yost met with Foreign Minister Direk Jayanama
Direk Jayanama
Direk Jayanama was the founding member of the Thai Revolution that had instilled Democracy for all Thais, together with Field Marshal P Pibulsonggram and Pridi Panomyong....
, who had just had an audience with the new King, Bhumibol Adulyadej. In his report to the US State Department, Yost noted
King Phumiphol... informed the Foreign Minister that he considered [the widely circulated] rumors [on the late King's death] absurd, that he knew his brother well and that he was certain that his death had been accidental... What the King said to Direk does not necessarily represent what he really believes, it is nevertheless interesting that he made so categorical a statement to the Foreign Minister.
However, in an 1980 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary, Bhumibol stated that the death was not an accident. He noted in English:
The investigation provided the fact that he died with a bullet wound in his forehead. It was proved that it was not an accident and not a suicide. One doesn’t know. . . . But what happened is very mysterious, because immediately much of the evidence was just shifted. And because it was political, so everyone was political, even the police were political, [it was] not very clear.
I only know [that] when I arrived he was dead. Many people wanted to advance not theories but facts to clear up the affair. They were suppressed. And they were suppressed by influential people in this country and in international politics.
Seni Pramoj and the Democrat Party
Seni Pramoj and the Democrat Party spread rumors that Pridi was behind the death. Yost noted in a US State Department communication:
"...Within forty-eight hours after the death of the late King, two relatives of Seni Pramoj, first his nephew and later his wife, came to the Legation and stated categorically their conviction that the King had been assassinated at the instigation of the Prime Minister (Pridi Phanomyong). It was of course clear that they had been sent by Seni. I felt it necessary to state to both of them in the strongest terms, in order to make it perfectly clear that this Legation could not be drawn into Siamese political intrigues, that I did not believe these stories and that I considered the circulation at this time of fantastic rumors un-supported by a shred of evidence to be wholly in-excusable. The British Minister informed me this morning that he had also been approached by several members of the Opposition to whom he had stated that he accepted the official account of the King's death and that he would not be drawn into any further discussion of the matter.
Pridi Phanomyong
On 14 June 1946, Yost met with Pridi Phanomyong and made the following report to the US State Department:
"[Pridi spoke] very frankly about the whole situation and ascribed the King's death to an accident, but it was obvious that the possibility of suicide was at the back of his mind. [Pridi] was violently angry at the accusations of foul play leveled against himself and most bitter in the manner in which he alleged (without doubt justly) that the Royal Family and the Opposition, particularly Seni Pramoj and Phra Sudhiat, had prejudiced the King and especially the Princess Mother against him."
Plaek Pibulsonggram
After overthrowing Pridi Banomyong in a coup, Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram told US Ambassador Edwin Stanton that he "personally doubted whether Nai Pridi was directly involved for two reasons: firstly, ... Pridi is a very clever politician and secondly, ... he has a 'kind heart'." Pibul concluded to the Ambassador that "he did not think [Pridi] would cause anybody to be murdered. Pibul's wife, present in the meeting, seconded her husband's observations. However, Pibul noted that it was possible that Pridi had covered up or destroyed some of the evidence to protect the successor, Bhumibol Adulyadej.Keith Simpson
Dr. Keith SimpsonKeith Simpson
Keith Robert Simpson is a British politician and military historian. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament for Broadland since the 2010 general election, having previously served as the MP for Mid Norfolk from 1997 to 2010...
, a forensic pathologist who investigated the King's death found it highly unlikely that the death was due to suicide, noting that:
- The pistol was found by the King's left hand, but he was right-handed.
- The direction of bullet fired was not inward towards the centre of the head.
- The wound, over the left eye, was not in one of the elective sites, nor a "contact" discharge.
- The King was killed while lying flat on his back. Simpson noted that in twenty years' experience he never known of any suicide shooting himself while lying flat on his back.
William Stevenson
An account of the death is given in William StevensonWilliam Stevenson (Canadian writer)
William Stevenson is a British-born Canadian author and journalist.His 1976 book A Man Called Intrepid was about William Stephenson and was a best-seller...
's The Revolutionary King, written with the co-operation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
. This account exculpates those executed and suggests that Ananda Mahidol was murdered by Tsuji Masanobu
Tsuji Masanobu
was a tactician of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second World War and later a politician. While he was never indicted for war crimes after World War II, subsequent investigations have revealed that he was involved in war crimes throughout the Pacific war including the massacre of Chinese...
. Masanobu was a former Japanese intelligence officer who had been active in Thailand during the war and, at the time of Ananda Mahidol's death, was hiding out in Thailand for fear of being prosecuted for his war crimes.
It is clear from Stevenson's account that Ananda Mahidol could not have killed himself, either by suicide (as is sometimes suggested) or by accident. He was found lying on his back in his bed, not wearing his glasses, without which he was almost blind. He had a small bullet wound in his forehead and a somewhat larger exit wound in the back of his head. His pistol, a Colt .45
M1911
The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. John M. Browning designed the firearm which was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985. The M1911 is still carried by some U.S....
given him by a former US Army officer, was not nearby. The M1911 Colt is not especially prone to accidental discharge; it will fire only if considerable pressure is applied to the safety plate at the back of the butt at the same time as the trigger is depressed. It is a heavy pistol and awkward to use by an untrained person. It would have been almost impossible for Ananda Mahidol, a frail 20-year-old, to lie on his back and shoot himself in the forehead with such a weapon. Had he done so, the impact, according to forensics experts, would have blown his skull apart, not caused the small wounds seen by many witnesses. Stevenson writes that no cartridge case was found, and subsequent inquiries ordered by King Bhumibol, but suppressed by later governments, found that the Colt had not been fired.
Rayne Kruger
Another account, which concluded that Ananda Mahidol's death was the result of suicide, was explored by journalist Rayne Kruger in his book, The Devil's DiscusThe Devil's Discus
The Devil's Discus is an investigation into the death of King Ananda Mahidol of Siam by English-South African author Rayne Kruger.-Book summary:...
The book is banned in Thailand. However, a website by a Thai writer has provided a summary of Kruger's arguments, and it links to other material about the death. Kruger, who had unprecedented access to members of the inner circle of the Thai royal family (although these contacts had to remain unidentified), drew the conclusion that Ananda's death was most probably an 'accidental suicide'. Thus, said Kruger, it appears the sad, most likely accidental, death of the young king was exploited for the purposes of a political vendetta, and that three innocent victims were executed to maintain the façade.
Paul Handley
Biographer Paul Handley feels that either suicide or an accidental shooting by Prince Bhumibol was responsible for the King's death: "I have no idea whether Ananda shot himself or was killed by Bhumibol, the two possibilities most accepted among historians. If the latter, I clearly term it an accident that occurred in play".In memoriam
- Figure 1: 1959 statue of Ananda Mahidol, erected in Wat SuthatWat SuthatWat Suthat Thepphawararam is a royal temple of the first grade, one of ten such temples in Bangkok . Construction was begun by His Majesty King Rama I in 1807 . Further construction and decorations were carried out by King Rama II who helped carve the wooden doors, but the temple was not completed...
, Bangkok, by King Bhumibol AdulyadejBhumibol AdulyadejBhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
as a tribute to his brother. - Figure 2: 2002 Rama VIII BridgeRama VIII BridgeThe Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok, Thailand, officially opened on September 20, 2002. The cable-stayed bridge consists of a single pylon located approximately one-third of the distance from the northwest end of the bridge. Golden suspension cables extend from this pylon to the road surface. The...
across the Chao Phraya RiverChao Phraya RiverThe Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It runs through Bangkok, the capital city, and then empties into the Gulf of Thailand.-Etymology:...
. - Figure 3: 2003 back of 20-bahtThai bahtThe baht is the currency of Thailand. It is subdivided into 100 satang . The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand.-History:The baht, like the pound, originated from a traditional unit of mass...
banknote, Bridge in background behind portrait of King Ananda Mahidol; to the left, the king, shaded by a royal umbrella, is followed on his right and one step behind by his brother with his ever-present camera. Design date 12 February 2546 BE/AD 2003. - Figure 4: Detail of legend at lower right. Translation: If all Thai people know they are owners of the nation/and each one discharges their duties accordingly/and according to right principles,/then the difficulties of the nation will pass away./Thus spoke/King Ananda Mahidol/A.D. 1925 - 1946.
Ancestors
See also
- History of Thailand (1932–1973)
- French-Thai WarFrench-Thai WarThe Franco-Thai War was fought between Thailand and Vichy France over certain areas of French Indochina that had once belonged to Thailand....
- Japanese Invasion of ThailandJapanese Invasion of ThailandThe Japanese invasion of Thailand occurred on December 8, 1941. It was fought between Thailand and the Empire of Japan. Despite fierce fighting in Southern Thailand, Thai resistance lasted only a few hours before ending in a ceasefire.-Background:...
- Free Thai MovementFree Thai MovementThe Free Thai Movement was a Thai underground resistance movement against Imperial Japan during World War II. Seri Thai were an important source of military intelligence for the Allies in the region, and were notable for being the only World War II resistance movement to use fighter aircraft of its...