LEAVING THAILAND

09 May 2000

IN the concluding article of a two-part series, Thanpuying Poonsuk, widow of the late Pridi Banomyong, recalls key events in her life following her arrest in 1952 on trumped-up charges of threatening state security in this interview she gave last year to Subhatra Bhumiprabhas.

Incarceration and trial

"During my time in detention [at the Special Branch Bureau in Pathumwan], some policemen used aggressive language in an attempt to harm [intimidate] me but I never answered back. Certain senior officers would still wai me when they passed although they'd never utter a single word; they were afraid that the room might have been bugged. Everything sent from my house, including all the food, was searched before it was given to me. Letters sent by my daughter Suda from France were also opened, as were mine to her.

"After I'd been kept there for 12 days, the police took me to court. They told me to avoid having my photo taken by reporters. I answered that it was they themselves who had brought me; that I certainly didn't want to be there. In the courtroom, I met other people who'd been arrested on the same day as me. They were seated in the ordinary [public] part of the courtroom while I was put in a special part [dock] with a policeman on either side of me. They must have been really afraid of me! The police told the judge that witnesses needed for the prosecution were abroad and requested permission to continue detaining me. [Permission was granted]. My mother wanted to post bail for me but I wouldn't let her because I know I hadn't anything wrong.

"While in detention, I wasn't allowed to read newspapers or listen to the radio. And the only place I could walk around freely was on the balcony adjoining the room where I was kept. I was allowed visitors on Saturdays but their names and addresses were noted down."

Exile

I was arrested on November 16 1952, the 24th anniversary of my wedding, and released in February 1953. The day I was set free, I told myself that I could no longer continue living in Thailand. So I made preparations and applied for travel papers for a departure to France in April. I had no idea at that time where Pridi was. It had been four years since we'd last seen each other at that secret meeting [during Pridi's surreptitious return to Thailand in 1949 to stage, what proved to be, an abortive counter-coup against the government of Field Marshal Phibulsongkhram]. Even during our early days in France, we [Poonsuk and her children, Dusadee and Wanee] weren't sure if he knew where we were. Then I received a letter from him. It was sent from Europe, not China. In the letter he asked us to join him in China. We left France in November that year."

Chinese hospitality

"In Thailand we weren't able to live like a real family. [Pridi was frequently away on business.] But in China, we were all together except my eldest daughter [Lalita] who had to stay in Thailand because of her poor health and my son Pal who was still in jail. [After his release, Pal was reunited with his family and moved to live in Paris. He died of natural causes at the age of 50.]

"Living in China, we [she and Pridi) set ourselves to learning 15 Chinese ideograms every day. During the 21 years I spent in China the government took very good care of us. We will always be grateful to China which gave us food to eat and where our children were given an education ... an education which helped them build lives and careers for themselves.

"All Thailand ever gave us was a place to be born. When Pridi died [on May 2, 1983 in Paris], the Thai government didn't even sent a wreath."

Life in France

"Even though China took good care of my family, there were some inconveniences. It was difficult to keep in contact with our relatives and friends [abroad] because China was [shunned during the Cold War years as] a communist country. After spending 21 years of my life there, Suda [her second eldest daughter] and I moved to France where Pal was already studying. [Her daughter Wanee followed and later got a job teaching Chinese at the University of Paris; her second son, Suprida, got work with a private-sector company which sometimes sent him on assignments to the Lao PDR]. We rented a small studio in Paris. It had only one multi-purpose room [and a bathroom]. We lived there for three years. After making all the necessary arrangements to reunite my family, I went back to China to collect Pridi. From China we travelled to Hong Kong where we stayed for three months. Then we flew to France.

"We hadn't received a pension since 1947. I raised money by selling our two houses in Thailand. In France, we led a simple life: reading books, listening to radio programmes, having discussions with friends and making trips to the libraries. Sometimes I would go out alone. Other times Pridi and I would go for walks in the park. We had many visitors at our house. Most of them were sincere but some came merely out of curiosity; they wanted to see our way of life ... how we were faring."

Forgiveness

"While we were in China, we received a New Year's card from Field Marshal Phibulsongkhram [the former prime minister was then living in exile in Japan]. It contained only two short words in English [letters]: "Please ahosikam" [Thai pronunciation of the Pali term ahosi karma meaning 'forgiveness']. When we heard on the radio that he had died [June 11 1963 at the age of 67], we quickly sent a telegram to his family to express our condolences. Therefore when Pridi died in France, Thanpuying La-iad [Phibulsongkhram's wife] sent a similar telegram to us. Since then our children have reconciled [the grievances] between the two families. We don't discuss matters from the past. Our children go to make merit together [at Wat Phra Sri Mahathat in Bang Khen] on June 24 every year [the anniversary of the 1932 revolution which toppled the absolute monarchy].

"Over the years many people suggested that we return to Thailand, reasoning that the statute of limitations on the case [mysterious death of King Ananda Mahidol in June 1946] had expired. But that wasn't the reason why we were unwilling to go back. [Poonsuk did not return home until 1986, three years after her husband's death.] Even today the Pridi Banomyong Foundation is still receiving anonymous letters accusing Pridi of involvement in King Ananda's death. Last year letters were sent to Unesco claiming that Pridi was not the leader of Seri Thai."

[The UN body had lauded Pridi as 'one of the founding fathers of Thailand's constitutional monarchy' and agreed to 'associate' itself with celebrations to mark the centenary of his birth. Some people claim that Seri Thai, the wartime anti-Japanese resistance movement, was founded by MR Seni Pramoj, Thailand's ambassador to the US at the outbreak of World War II. Seni rejected Phibulsongkhram's declaration of war on the US saying it did not represent the real wishes of Thai people. He proceeded to recruit Thai expatriates in the US for Free Thai units, some members of which were subsequently infiltrated into Japanese-occupied Thailand.]

"I won the [libel] case against Khun Khaimuk Chooto."

[In a book she wrote about King Ananda, Khaimuk accused Pridi of being involved in that monarch's violent death. Thai Rath newspaper later published extracts from the book. Poonsuk sued both parties for libel.]

"Khun Khaimuk always came to the courthouse in a palace car. The court ordered her to pay me Bt100,000 [in damages] and ordered Thai Rath to pay me Bt300,000. I told her that I would give the money as a gift to HM the King but she retorted that this was much too small a sum to take when paying a courtesy call on the King.

"Even though I won the case, I don't want to fight such accusations in court again. I see no [hope of getting] justice there. Not long before his death I met General Chatichai (former prime minister Chatichai Choonhavan) at a function at the Chinese Embassy. We'd been invited to attend celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chou En-lai. He sat next to me and was very nice to me. We chatted about general topics. [Years before, when still a junior Army officer, Chatichai had led a search party to Pridi and Poonsuk's home in Bangkok.]

"I sincerely forgive everyone who has ever done bad things to our family."

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