Editing Plaek Phibunsongkhram (section)

===1957 coup and exile===
[[File:แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ในหนังสือธรรมศาสตร์.jpg|thumb|Phibunsongkhram in 1957|200px]]
[[File:Pramuan Phap Song Phanuat (1956, p 06).jpg|thumb|left|On 31 October 1956, the monk Bhumibalo visited the [[Government House of Thailand|Government House]]. Phibun is on the right. The King clashed with Field Marshal Plaek over his restriction of royal power.]]
In February 1957, public opinion turned against Phibun at the end of his second term when his party was suspected of fraudulent practices during an election, including the intimidation of the opposition, buying votes, and [[electoral fraud]]. In addition, critics of Phibun accused him of a lack of respect for the [[Thai monarchy]], as the anti-[[aristocratic]] prime minister had always sought to limit the role of the monarchy to a constitutional minimum and had taken on religious functions that traditionally belonged to the monarch. For example, Phibun led the celebrations of the 2500th anniversary of Buddhism in 1956/57 instead of the King [[Bhumibol Adulyadej]], who was openly critical of Phibun. On 16 September 1957, Phibun was eventually overthrown in a coup d'etat by members of the Royal Thai Army under the command of Field Marshal [[Sarit Thanarat]], who had earlier sworn to be Phibun's most loyal subordinate. Sarit was supported by many royalists who wanted to regain a foothold, and there were rumours that the United States was "deeply involved" in the coup.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/446100|title=American Policy in Thailand|author=Darling, Frank C.|year=1962|journal=The Western Political Quarterly|volume=15|issue=1|pages=93–110|doi=10.2307/446100|jstor=446100|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Phibun was then forced into exile after the coup, first fleeing to [[Cambodia]], but later settled in Japan after Sarit's new regime rejected his requests to allow him to return to Thailand. In 1960, Phibun briefly travelled to India to be a [[monk]] in the Buddhist temple in [[Bodhgaya]]. {{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}