Siamese Revolution of 1932 - June 24, 1932

On this day in 1932, Khana Ratsadon, or the People’s Party, overthrew the government of King Rama VII, ending 700 years of absolute monarchy under the kings of Siam.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.
Hey y'all, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day History Class,
a podcast for people who can never know enough about history.
Today is June twenty fourth, twenty twenty. The day was

(00:23):
June twenty fourth, nineteen thirty two. The Siamese political party
Kana Rat Sadan or the People's Party, overthrew the government
of King Rama the Seventh, ending seven hundred years of
absolute monarchy under the Kings of Sayam. The bloodless coup
resulted in the introduction of democracy and the first constitution
of Thailand. Since seventeen eighty two, the Kingdom of Siyam

(00:47):
or modern day Thailand, had been ruled by the Chakri dynasty,
beginning with Rama the First, who founded the capital city Bangkok.
Throughout the nineteenth century, much of Southeast Asia was colonized
by the British, French, and Dutch. Siam was never subjected
to colonial rule, but Rama the Fifth, who reigned from
eighteen sixty eight to nineteen ten, set out to modernize

(01:10):
the kingdom. He introduced social and governmental reforms that were
based on Western models. The old ruling families rejected his reforms,
but from the mid eighteen eighties to the early nineteen hundreds,
Rama the fifth overhauled the administration, established military conscription, abolished slavery,
and made other major changes in the country. The king

(01:33):
was committed to modernization, but he was also committed to
maintaining Thai traditions and independence. He instituted all these reforms
under the guise that they would save CM from the
threat of Western colonialism. If Sam looked civilized to colonial powers,
then it would supposedly avoid Western invasion. Rama the fifth
son and successor Rama the sixth, also worked to modernize

(01:56):
CAM and welcome the adoption of some European ideals. His
reforms upset members of the aristocracy and nobility, as well
as groups of progressives and radicals. In nineteen twelve, a
group of military officers conspired to overthrow the king, but
the plot failed. There is debate over the main causes
of the nineteen thirty two Revolution, but the rise of

(02:19):
Western educated commoner elites who'd become dissatisfied with politics in
CM played a significant role in the event. Rama the
seventh ascended the throne in nineteen twenty five. He created
the Supreme Council of state made up of senior princes
who had served in previous administrations. They quickly let go
of commoners who had been appointed in the civil service

(02:42):
and military during Rama the Seventh's rule. Returning Western educated
students grew disillusioned with the status quo. In nineteen twenty seven,
a small group of military and civilian students gathered in
Paris with the intent of founding a party to bring
change to CM. This group of seven people called themselves
the Promoters, and they decided to stage a coup to

(03:05):
end absolute monarchy in the country. To achieve this goal,
they formed the Khana Rat Sadan or People's Party. The
Promoters worked on gathering supporters. Meanwhile, CM was facing economic problems.
The Great Depression made it to the country. By nineteen
thirty the value of rice, SM's major export felled drastically.

(03:26):
Land values also fail, so the government had to make
a bunch of budget cuts. By nineteen thirty two, the
People's Party was made up of more than one hundred students,
military officers, and non royal government officials. On the morning
of June twenty fourth, nineteen thirty two, while the King
was away from Bangkok, the People's Party led the coup,

(03:48):
the promoters seized control of the army as well as
posts and telegraph offices, and they arrested royal officials who
were part of the ruling group. Armored vehicles and troops
gathered at the Throne Hall in the Royal Place, and
one of the promoters read the Kana Rat Sadadan Manifesto
declaring the end of absolute monarchy and the establishment of
a constitutional state. Rama the seventh was playing golf in

(04:11):
the south of Siam when he got news of the coup.
He agreed to the demands for a new constitutional system,
and by December of that year he had promulgated a
new constitution. A state Council and National Assembly were established,
but conflict between the Kanna Rat Sa'adan and the king continued.
A couple of years after the revolution, Rama the seventh

(04:33):
left for England, and in nineteen thirty five he abdicated
the throne, spending the rest of his life in England.
Though the coup was a major turning point in Thai history,
the next few decades were still characterized by political unrest
and rule by military governments. I'm eve chefcote, and hopefully
you know a little more about history today than you

(04:54):
did yesterday. And if you have any commerce our suggestions,
feel free to send them our way. We're at This
Day at iHeartMedia dot com. If you want to send
us an email, you can also hit us up on
social media. We're at T d HC podcast. Thanks so
much for listening to the show and we'll see you tomorrow.

(05:20):
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