Editing Plaek Phibunsongkhram (section)

====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>