Editing Plaek Phibunsongkhram (section)

===First premiership===
On 16 December 1938, Phibun replaced [[Phraya Phahol Pholphayuhasena|Phraya Phahon]] as [[Prime Minister of Thailand]] and as the [[List of Commanders of the Royal Thai Army|Commander of the Royal Siamese Army]]. Phibun became a ''de facto'' dictator, and established a [[military dictatorship]], consolidating his position by rewarding several members of his own army clique with influential positions in his government.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

After the revolution of 1932, the Thai government of Phraya Phahol was impressed by the success of the [[March on Rome]] of [[Benito Mussolini]]'s [[Italian Fascism|Italian fascist]] movement. Phibun, also an admirer of Italian fascism, sought to replicate fascist-style propaganda tactics, valued in Italy as one of the most powerful propaganda instruments of political power. In Italy, its main purpose was to promote [[nationalism]] and [[militarism]], strengthen the unity and harmony of the state, and glorify the policy of ruralisation in Italy and abroad. As a consequence of the fascist leanings of Thai political leaders, Italian propaganda films including newsreels, documentaries, short films, and full-length feature films, such as [[:it:Istituto Luce Cinecittà|Istituto Luce Cinecittà]], were shown in Thailand during the [[interwar period]]. Phibun adopted the [[fascist salute]], modelled on the [[Roman salute]], using it during speeches. The salute was not compulsory in Thailand, and it was opposed by [[Luang Wichitwathakan]] and many cabinet members as they believed it inappropriate for Thai culture. Together with Wichitwathakan, the Minister of Propaganda, he built a [[Cult of personality|leadership cult]] in 1938 and thereafter. Photographs of Phibun were to be found everywhere, and those of the abdicated King Prajadhipok were banned. His quotes appeared in newspapers, were plastered on billboards, and were repeated over the radio.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}

==== Thai Cultural Revolution ====
{{Main|Thai cultural mandates}}
[[File:Thai Cultural Mandate Dress Code c1940 Phibunsongkhram.png|150px|thumb|left|Thai poster from the Phibunsongkhram era, showing prohibited "uncivilised" dress on the left and proper Western-style dress on the right.]]

Phibun immediately promoted [[Thaification|Thai nationalism]] (to the point of [[ultranationalism]]), and to support this policy, he launched a series of major reforms, known as the '''Thai Cultural Revolution''', to increase the pace of modernisation in Thailand. His goal aimed to uplift the national spirit and moral code of the nation and instil progressive tendencies and a newness into Thai life. A series of [[Thai cultural mandates|cultural mandates]] were issued by the government, which encouraged all Thais to salute the flag in public places, learn the [[Phleng Chat Thai|new national anthem]] and use the standardised [[Thai language]] (not regional [[dialect]]s or languages). People were encouraged to adopt Western-style attire as opposed to traditional clothing styles, and eat with Western-style utensils, such as [[fork]]s and [[spoon]]s, rather than with their hands as was customary in Thai culture at the time. Phibun saw these policies as necessary, in the interest of [[progressivism]], to change  Thailand's international image from that of an undeveloped country into a civilized and modern nation.<ref name=Numnonda-1978>{{cite journal |last1=Numnonda |first1=Thamsook |title=Pibulsongkram's Thai Nation-Building Programme during the Japanese Military Presence, 1941–1945 |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=September 1978 |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=234–247 |jstor=20062726 |doi=10.1017/S0022463400009760 |s2cid=162373204 }}</ref>

Phibun's administration encouraged [[economic nationalism]] and espoused staunch [[anti-Chinese sentiment|anti-Teochew sentiment]]. Sinophobic policies were imposed by the government to reduce the economic power of Siam's [[Thai Chinese|Teochew-Hoklo population]] and encouraged the [[Thai people|Central Thai people]] to purchase as many Thai products as possible. In a speech in 1938, Luang Wichitwathakan, himself of one-quarter Chinese ancestry, followed [[Rama VI]]'s book ''Jews of the East'' in comparing the Teochew in Siam to the Jews in Germany, who at the time were harshly repressed.

On 24 June 1939, Phibun changed the country's official English name from "Siam" to "Thailand"<ref name="brit">{{cite web |title=Luang Phibunsongkhram |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luang-Phibunsongkhram |website=Britannica |access-date=30 August 2024}}</ref><ref name="parmu">{{cite web |last1=Komnpelin |first1=Chetiya |title=การเปลี่ยนชื่อประเทศจาก "สยาม" เป็น "ไทย" |url=https://parliamentmuseum.go.th/2564/ar64-siam-thai.html |website=Parliament Museum |access-date=30 August 2024}}</ref> at Wichitwathakan's urging. {{citation needed|date=August 2024}} The name "Siam" was an [[exonym]] of unknown and probably foreign origin, which conflicted with Phibun's nationalist policies.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} 

In 1941, in the midst of [[World War II]], Phibun [[Thai solar calendar#New year|decreed 1 January]] as the official start of the new year instead of the traditional ''[[Songkran (Thailand)|Songkran]]'' date on 13 April.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

====Franco-Thai War====
{{Main|Franco-Thai War}}
[[File:จอมพลป. พิบูลสงคราม ในปี 2484.jpg|260px|thumb|Phibunsongkhram inspecting troops during the Franco-Thai War]]
[[File:01จอมพลป.กับชาวนา.jpg|thumb|left|Phibunsongkhram with Thai farmers in 1942 at Bang Khen|150px]]
Phibun exploited the [[Fall of France]] in June 1940 and the [[Japanese invasion of French Indochina]] in September 1940 to advance Thai interests in [[French Indochina]] following a border dispute with [[French Third Republic|France]]. Phibun believed Thailand could recover territories ceded to France by King [[Rama V]] because the French would avoid armed confrontation or offer serious resistance. Thailand fought against [[Vichy France]] over the disputed areas from October 1940 to May 1941. The technologically and numerically superior Thai force invaded French Indochina and attacked military targets in major cities. Despite Thai successes, the French tactical victory at the [[Battle of Ko Chang]] prompted intervention from the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]], who mediated an [[armistice]] where the French were forced to cede the disputed territories to Thailand.

==== Alliance with Japan ====
{{Main|Thailand in World War II}}
Phibun and the Thai public viewed the outcome of the Franco-Thai War as a victory, but it resulted in the rapidly expanding Japanese gaining the right to occupy French Indochina. Although Phibun was ardently pro-Japanese, he now shared a border with them and felt threatened by a potential Japanese invasion. Phibun's administration also realised that Thailand would have to fend for itself if a Japanese invasion came, considering its deteriorating relationships with Western powers in the area.{{Citation needed|date=April 2015}}

When the Japanese invaded Thailand on 8 December 1941, (because of the [[International Date Line]] this occurred an hour and a half before the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]), Phibun was reluctantly forced to order a general ceasefire after just one day of resistance and allow the Japanese armies to use the country as a base for their invasions of the [[British Empire|British]] colonies of [[British rule in Burma|Burma]] and [[British Malaya|Malaya]].<ref>Churchill, Winston S.'' The Second World War'', Vol 3, "The Grand Alliance", p. 548, Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1950</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pattayamail.com/504/columns.shtml#hd6|title=Pattaya Mail – Pattaya's First English Language Newspaper|website=pattayamail.com}}</ref> Hesitancy, however, gave way to enthusiasm after the Japanese rolled through the [[Malayan Campaign]] in a "[[Bicycle infantry#World Wars|Bicycle]] Blitzkrieg" with surprisingly little resistance.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.warbirdforum.com/tsuji2.htm|title=Colonel Tsuji of Malaya (part 2)| access-date = 30 June 2011|last=Ford|first= Daniel|date=June 2008|website=Warbirds Forum|quote=Though outnumbered two-to-one, the Japanese never stopped to consolidate their gains, to rest or regroup or resupply; they came down the main roads on bicycles.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/bukit_chandu/directory_bicycles.htm|title=The Swift Japanese Assault|access-date=30 June 2011|year=2002|website=National Archives of Singapore|quote=Even the long-legged Englishmen could not escape our troops on bicycles.|archive-date=10 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210210208/http://www.s1942.org.sg/s1942/bukit_chandu/directory_bicycles.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 21 December Phibun signed a [[military alliance]] with Japan. The following month, on 25 January 1942, Phibun declared war on Britain and the United States. [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]] and [[New Zealand#Foreign relations and military|New Zealand]] declared war on Thailand on the same day. Australia followed soon after.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pattayamail.com/506/columns.shtml#hd6|title=Columns|website=pattayamail.com}}</ref> Phibun purged all who opposed the Japanese alliance from his government. [[Pridi Banomyong]] was appointed acting regent for the absent King [[Ananda Mahidol]], while [[Direk Jayanama]], the prominent foreign minister who had advocated continued resistance against the Japanese, was later sent to Tokyo as an ambassador. The United States considered Thailand to be a [[puppet state]] of Japan and refused to declare war on it. When the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] were victorious, the United States blocked British efforts to impose a punitive peace.<ref>I.C.B Dear, ed, ''The Oxford companion to World War II'' (1995) p. 1107{{ISBN?}}</ref>

====Removal====
In 1944, as the Japanese neared defeat and the underground anti-Japanese [[Free Thai Movement]] steadily grew in strength, the [[National Assembly of Thailand|National Assembly]] ousted Phibun as prime minister and his six-year reign as the military [[commander-in-chief]] came to an end. Phibun's resignation was partly forced by two grandiose plans: one was to relocate the capital from [[Bangkok]] to a remote site in the jungle near [[Phetchabun Province|Phetchabun]] in north central Thailand, and another was to build a "Buddhist city" in [[Saraburi Province|Saraburi]]. Announced at a time of severe economic difficulty, these ideas turned many government officers against him.<ref>{{cite journal|url= http://www.hawaii.edu/cseas/pubs/explore/eric.html|title= The Origin and Significance of the Emerald Buddha|access-date= 30 June 2011|last= Roeder|first= Eric|date= Fall 1999 |journal= Southeast Asian Studies|volume=3|publisher= Southeast Asian Studies Student Association|quote= Judith A. Stowe, ''Siam becomes Thailand'' (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991), pp. 228–283|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605004548/http://www.hawaii.edu/cseas/pubs/explore/eric.html|archive-date = 5 June 2011}}</ref> After his resignation, Phibun went to stay at the army headquarters in [[Lopburi Province|Lopburi]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Khuang Aphaiwong]] replaced Phibun as prime minister, ostensibly to continue relations with the Japanese, but, in reality, to secretly assist the Free Thai Movement. At the war's end, Phibun was put on trial at Allied insistence on charges of having committed [[war crime]]s, mainly that of collaborating with the [[Axis powers]]. However, he was acquitted amid intense pressure as public opinion was still favourable to him, as he was thought to have done his best to protect Thai interests. Phibun's alliance with Japan had Thailand take advantage of Japanese support to expand Thai territory into Malaya and Burma.<ref>Aldrich, Richard J. ''The Key to the South:  Britain, the United States, and Thailand during the Approach of the Pacific War, 1929–1942.'' Oxford University Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-19-588612-7}}</ref>