Boworadet

Biography

On the evening of 24 June 1932, the day of the coup that ended absolute monarchy in Siam, Prince Boworadet walked up to the building where the plotters had set up their headquarters and asked why he had not been warned. He was told that otherwise nothing would have come of it. He said that since they had begun, they should see it through, and left. A year later he himself led an armed uprising against the same men.

He was born on 2 April 1877, the son of Prince Naret and a grandson of King Mongkut (Rama IV). His childhood name was Mom Chao Boworadet Kridakorn. His father was then serving as Siamese minister in England, and the son studied there: at Harrow School, then at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He returned to Siam in October 1900 and began service in the army’s general staff department. He became one of the first Siamese officers to receive a military education abroad.

His career moved quickly. He commanded the military district of Nakhon Ratchasima, where conscription was first introduced in the country, became a major general at 29 and a lieutenant general in 1913. For about three years, in the early 1900s, he was minister in Paris. In 1915–1919 he governed the northern region from Chiang Mai. Under King Vajiravudh he was pushed aside, but under Prajadhipok he was brought back: in 1926 he became chief of the general staff, in 1928 he succeeded Prince Boriphat as minister of defence, and in 1929 he was raised to a higher princely rank.

In 1931 he quarrelled with Boriphat over the military budget and resigned. The resignation was accepted, and his relations with other powerful princes soured. A ruling of the special court later stated that on the eve of the 1932 coup he had discussed plans to change the government with future leaders of the People’s Party, but had refused to take part, being unwilling to use force.

A royalist, he never accepted the new order. The prime minister was not he, as the same ruling says he had expected, but Manopakorn, and then power passed to Phahon. At the end of July 1933 the leaders of the People’s Party sent prominent figures a warning to keep calm, and the letter reached, among others, Boworadet, who was in Hua Hin with the king.

In early October he appeared in Korat and raised the garrisons. On 11 October he demanded that the government resign, threatening force if it did not. Troops from Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon, Saraburi, Ayutthaya and other provinces moved by rail towards Bangkok and occupied Don Mueang airfield. The navy declared neutrality, and the king, who was in the south of the country, distanced himself from the rebellion. Government forces were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Phibunsongkhram. Many people on both sides were killed. Later Boworadet softened his demands and asked for a greater political role for the king, but reinforcements did not arrive, and the units in the capital stayed loyal to the government. By the end of October the rebel detachments had dispersed. A reward of ten thousand baht was offered for his capture. Colonel Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram, who commanded the rearguard, was killed on the railway near Pak Chong.

On the evening of 25 October Boworadet and his wife flew from Korat to French Indochina, to Saigon. About 230 people were arrested, among them his younger brother, Prince Sinthiphorn.

After the Second World War he moved to Cambodia, where he ran a weaving workshop and traded in charcoal.

He returned home on 12 May 1948, after an amnesty for political prisoners. His rank of general was restored. In Hua Hin he opened a workshop for printing and weaving fabrics, which sold well. He died on 16 November 1953, aged 76. He was cremated on 17 March 1954 at Wat Thepsirin.