ship in October by a coalition of students, workers, and small shopkeepers was welcomed almost universally. The King of Thailand gave the movement his blessing, and formally inaugurated the new civilian regime which was entrusted with the task of preparing a new constitution. The new Prime Minister was a former university rector, Sanya Thammasak.
The action of the Thai students has been welcomed by important sections of the ruling class in the United States and Thailand. The British Economist regarded the Thai students* moderation as a contributing factor to the success in overthrowing the dictator Kittikachorn, and contrasted this with the French 'students in May '68. What is then the real nature of the student movement in Thailand?
The organisation which played a co-ordinating role during the October demonstrations was the NSCT (National Student Centre of Thailand). It is the equivalent of the NUS in this country before the CP-Broad Left took over control, It found itself at the head of a mass mobilisation which involved 200,000 peopie at ls neignt (in a country where there are only about 40,000 university students). The reason behind this rapid involvement of other social layers was the vacuum which existed because of the complete absence of political parties in the life of the country. An analogy could be drawn with the South Korean and Pakistani student movement of the 60's in this regard. In any event the NSCT found itself rentrented with a semi-insurrection However, the ideology of a large bulk of its leadership could be characterised as liberalism, spiced with the teachings of Buddha. At a crucial stage, when the question of dual power was posed, the NSCT simply asked the demonstrators to go home. It took care that the insignificant government buildings which were set on fire were burnt carefully: ie the portrait of the monarch and his queen was removed beforenaTTe The NSCT was also very careful not to burn any properties owned by foreign companies. Thus on the main boulevard of Bangkok, you can still see a burnt office and next to it an untouched and unscarred shop with a glass front exhibiting two dozen of the latest model Mercedes Benz cars. It is these and other related factors which have led'a number of local leftIsts to speculate as to whether the overthrow of Kittikachorn might not have been decided by the King and Washington.
NSCT SPLIT The most militant wing of the NSCT was led by his supporters split from the NSCT and set up the FIST (Free Independent Students of Thailand). The political basis of the split was confused, but essentially FIST argues that instead of taking up some of the functions of the bourgeois state, the NSCT should Instcad nave organised popular brigades and militin to defend some of the gains. The NSCT's last public function was to organise a conference on underdevelopment from which China, Laos, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the Cambodian FUNK were excluded. The conference was supported by the Thai government, The big outbreak of strikes over the last six weeks has aso shown mc acrences mate ist oerween ene NSCT and FIST. While the former has appealed to the workers to go back to work in the interests of the country, the latter has supported the workers" strikes and explained why they are taking placc. The strikes are fairly widespread and involve large sections of the working class including workers from hospitals, banks, and hotels, teachers, government servants, cte. There have been violent scenes-in clashes between bus workers and the transport companies, buses operated with scab labour were wreked and burnt. While the generals, such as Prachuab Suntrangkoon, have blamed the strikes on communists, the Thai Communist Party is in fact virtually absent North Eastern provinces of the country, and appears to have played no role whatsoever in the city rebellions Which have shaken Thailand.
WAITING IN THE WINGS Despite the fact that strikes are taking place and the army is not formally exercising power, it would be naive to imagine that the military has been defeated. The generals are waiting in the wings, and if any political force sympathetic to the communists rears its head there is little doubt that the army would intervene. Thus communist literature is still banned, no criticisms of the monarchy are tolerated, and a selt-imposed censorsh ip exists in the country. If the spontaneity of the workers begins to break out of this cage, the military will be back and with a vengeance.
The mass upheavals in Thailand provide us with yet anorner gumpse or ine role scudents can play in dictatorships where political parties are weak or nonexistent, while at the same time revealing the limitations of the student movement and its ideology. In addition, the Thai events have shown the increased social weight of the proletariat in semi-colonial countires after the limited industrialisation created by the economic/military penetration of imperialism. This change must be tuuy comprenenaca ana incorporatec in working out a strategy and tactics for the socialist revolution.
Red Weekly 14 December 1973 Page 7
Red Weekly