CONFIDENTIAL
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE
PROPERTY OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
THAILAND
18 July, 1967
Section 1
GOODBYE TO THAILAND
Sir Anthony Rumbold to Mr. Brown. (Received 18 July)
SUMMARY
The
Thais are as difficult to understand as other orientals. (Paragraph 1.)
The
domination of Bangkok.
(Paragraph 2.)
General
contentment and lethargy. (Paragraph 3.)
The
rigid structure of society and the rules which govern it. Unwillingness to assume responsibility and
endemic corruption. (Paragraphs 4-6.)
If
there are constitutional developments it will be because the Thais like to be
thought up to date. (Paragraph 12.)
Boom
conditions and prospects of indefinite economic progress. (Paragraph 13.)
Importance
of not over-estimating the terrorist movement in the north-east. (Paragraph
14.)
The Thais are afraid of China and
although they do not like to be dependent on foreigners they will tolerate the
American presence as long as they feel that it keeps danger at a distance. If
the Americans let go in Viet-Nam the Thais might change course. There is not
likely to be a sudden revulsion against the Americans. (Paragraphs 15-16.)
Our
stake in Thailand
is the same as that of other West European countries. Our membership of SEATO
makes no difference. Our export performance could be better. (Paragraph 17.)
The
Thai tradition of sending children to England to be educated gives us a
certain advantage. The best way we can help the Thais is in the field of
education. (Paragraph 18.)
I am on the point of leaving Bangkok after a stay of two and a half years and have the honour to set down some thoughts about Thailand which I hope may be of some interest to my successor. They are thoughts rather than convictions. There is a theory that the Thais are rather easier for Europeans to understand than are other oriental people. I do not believe this theory. It seems to me that Sino/Indian/Malay/Thai ways of thought are so alien to ours that analogies between events in South-East Asia and events in Europe are nearly always misleading, that forecasts based on such analogies are bound to be wrong, that the motives of Asians are impossible for us to estimate with any exactness, and that Thailand and the Thais offer no exception to these precepts. The general level of intelligence of the Thais is rather low, a good deal lower than ours and much lower than that of the Chinese. But there are a few very intelligent and articulate ones and I have often tried to get some of these with whom I believe myself to be on close terms to come clean with me and to describe their national characteristics as they see them themselves and to explain why they behave in this way rather than in that way. The result has never been satisfactory. Something always seems to be held back. Perhaps I am not on such close terms with them as I think I am. Perhaps they do not expect that I will believe them or even understand them if they were to be entirely frank. It may be that they are just determined for reasons unknown to retain a last barrier of reserve. There is also a small handful of foreigners in Bangkok who have lived here for a long time and whose opinions about the Thais are worth listening to. But most of these confess to there being great areas of Thai mentality which they have long ago given up attempting to penetrate. My own thoughts about the character of the Thais and about the things they are likely to be up to next therefore have a strictly limited value.
2. There is one thing that nevertheless seems to me to be quite certain and that is that Bangkok dominates Thailand in the same way in which for centuries Paris dominated France. Events outside Thailand can obviously have an effect inside the capital and in some circumstances provincial developments might have a limited influence. But all political, economic and social changes of any importance in Thailand are the result of calculations and decisions taken by men in Bangkok and reflect the development of relationships between men or groups of men in Bangkok. There are historical reasons for this. Until recently it was the King who decided everything. It was only by being attached to the King's court that anyone could hope to acquire influence or money. The great courtiers and officers of state lived at the capital wherever it might be, Ayudhya or Bangkok. They might be sent out to govern provinces or lead armies but although they received rewards in the form of land they never thought of living on their estates any more than did the courtiers of Louis XIV. There are no great country houses in Thailand and although the Princes of Chiengmai, Lampang and Nan still conduct a shadowy existence there is no provincial aristocracy. The Chinese merchants and money-lenders can make small fortunes in the provincial towns but if they want to get into the big league they must move into the city. There is no other city. Bangkok now has population of 2.5 million (it will be 6 or 7 million by 1980). The next largest town has a population of 100,000. Bangkok is the only real port for ocean-going vessels and when they build a new port they will build it near at hand. Industrial development is centred in the neighbourhood of the capital. A civil servant sent out to work in the provinces feels as if he had been exiled. Medical services in Bangkok are quite good, but in some provinces they scarcely exist at all, so reluctant are doctors and nurses to take up appointments outside the city and so small are the financial inducements to do so. There are some new provincial universities but the authorities are having great difficulty in getting them properly staffed. Bangkok sucks everything to itself. It is moreover extraordinary how little the average citizen of Bangkok knows at first hand about the rest of his country. Those who can afford to travel for pleasure go to Europe and America. Apart from occasional visits to nearby seaside resorts or to Chiengmai which has a certain snob appeal they do not dream of travelling in any other part of the country. They are simply not interested.
3. The Government is
conscious of the dangers of this top-heaviness and with the help of foreign
loans and advice is trying to open up the country as fast as it can. The
construction of roads and the expansion of agriculture are the top priorities
in its national development plans. But if we except the limited areas, chiefly
in the north-east, in which years of neglect have contributed to the growth of
a small and primitive Viet Cong type revolutionary movement, it is fair to say
that in spite of Bangkok the peasants, who constitute more than three-quarters
of the population, seem for the most part to be happy and by Asian standards
prosperous. They suffer from plenty of illnesses such as tuberculosis and
liver-fluke which combine with the climate in draining their energy. But there is little
malnutrition except in some places, as a result of ignorance, among
infants. The average peasant owns his
own holding. He can grow enough rice to sell to the Chinese middle-man, he owns
a bullock or two and he is showing
himself to be quite quick at learning how to grow other crops, though he is not generally very energetic or ambitious. Some of the new wealth created in the capital by industry and trade percolates down to him although he gets less than his fair share of it. He even looks better dressed than he did two years ago. New roads and irrigation schemes bring him unlooked-for benefits however slowly. He is not interested in ideas and does not care much one way or the other about what happens in Bangkok. He has a vague feeling of loyalty to the King. He is almost impervious to political propaganda. For the next few years at least the foreigner who wants to follow what is going on in Thailand had best keep his attention fixed on Bangkok. Let him by all means travel around for his own pleasure to visit some of the 40,000 villages and to see the background against which the action in Bangkok is being played out. But let him concentrate on watching the actors in the front of the stage and dismiss from his mind the idea that they may suddenly be thrust aside by the incursion of a crowd of fresh actors from the wings. I do not believe that any such thing is likely to happen, at least not in the time of my successor for whose benefit I am writing this dispatch.
himself to be quite quick at learning how to grow other crops, though he is not generally very energetic or ambitious. Some of the new wealth created in the capital by industry and trade percolates down to him although he gets less than his fair share of it. He even looks better dressed than he did two years ago. New roads and irrigation schemes bring him unlooked-for benefits however slowly. He is not interested in ideas and does not care much one way or the other about what happens in Bangkok. He has a vague feeling of loyalty to the King. He is almost impervious to political propaganda. For the next few years at least the foreigner who wants to follow what is going on in Thailand had best keep his attention fixed on Bangkok. Let him by all means travel around for his own pleasure to visit some of the 40,000 villages and to see the background against which the action in Bangkok is being played out. But let him concentrate on watching the actors in the front of the stage and dismiss from his mind the idea that they may suddenly be thrust aside by the incursion of a crowd of fresh actors from the wings. I do not believe that any such thing is likely to happen, at least not in the time of my successor for whose benefit I am writing this dispatch.
4. The outward aspect of Bangkok has undergone
some regrettable changes during the last few years. When I caught a glimpse of
it in 1955 it was a pretty place of canals and trees and scarlet-and-gold
temples. It is now fast becoming one of the ugliest towns in the world,
indistinguishable from the meaner parts of Tokyo
or Los Angeles.
But there have been no corresponding changes in the habits or attitudes of the inhabitants
though there are of course many more of them. The traveller Henri Mouhot described
the whole of Siamese society in the mid-19th century as being “in a state of
permanent prostration, every inferior receiving his orders from his superior
with signs of abject submission and respect". This is metaphorically still
true of Bangkok
and in some details still literally true. But I would go so far as to make the unfashionable
assertion that the most steadying feature in the body politic of Thailand,
irritating and even repulsive though it may be, is precisely this sense of his
place in society possessed and accepted by each and every individual. The
god-like position of the King is questioned by nobody, not even by the handful
of Thai exiles who compose seditious propaganda (at least not openly).
Foreigners get sickened by the unctuous servility with which the local Press
reports the daily doings of His Majesty; and conversely even Europeanised Thais
are quick to resent any off-hand references to the King or the Queen in the
foreign Press however well intentioned these may be. Below the King, very far
below him, the individuals who control the nation are ranged in their
respective places each one knowing exactly how he or she stands in relation to
each other. These relationships are perfectly clear to the Thais themselves and
are on the whole accepted as part of the natural order of things. The foreigner
must not try to unravel and define them in all their complexity because the
task is too difficult. The best he can do is to try to understand the general
rules by which they seem to be established.
5. Since the revolution of
1932 which put an end to the absolute monarchy though scarcely affecting the
veneration owed to the monarch, proximity to the source of military power has
been the most important factor in assuring influence and position. In that year
there was a sort of cataclysm in the Siamese universe producing a new magnetic field
and setting the stars on new courses. The shock-waves are still felt to-day although
their force has diminished since the death of Field-Marshal Sarit in 1963. Money
is another important factor. All Thais love money and the possession of it is
regarded as a sign of virtue or merit. They call it vitamin M. The amount of it
and the use made of it is of more significance in their eyes than the method by
which it has been acquired. Family connections are very important. Even good
birth is still a factor to be reckoned with, for weight is still given to
titles and honorifics and the rules of social precedence continue to be strictly
regarded. Nearly all those who have handles to their names are descended from
one or other or both of the great 19th century Kings, Mongkut or his son Chulalongkorn,
each of whom had about 100 children. Moreover until 1932 the State was almost
entirely administered by this royal nobility with the result that the public
service came to be regarded and is still regarded not just as respectable but
as the most honourable of all possible careers. On great State occasions when
everyone is dressed up as though he were at the court of King Babar the senior
civil servants wear the same white uniforms as the courtiers and are indistinguishable
from them. And the tradition of obsequiousness which might be proper or at
least understandable in a royal court has been carried over into the Civil
Service. Independence
of mind is frowned upon and willingness to take responsibility is firmly
discouraged. But the making of money by the exploitation of official position
is accepted as normal provided certain understood limits are not exceeded. This
has always been so and it is natural that it should continue to be so, so long
as the public service confers more prestige than do other occupations and yet remains
miserably paid.
6. At the end of the list
of factors which determine the rules of relationship is that collection of
human qualities or assets, intelligence, good education, hard work, single-mindedness
and so forth which we pretend to prize. In Thailand these qualities count for a certain
amount but they count for very much less than they do in Europe or America. As
time goes on perhaps they will come to count for more. The affairs of the
country become more complicated as it develops and the men who are called upon
to regulate them have to have a certain equipment which is not necessarily
possessed by a general however tough or a princeling however near the throne.
Some of the top civil servants are men of ability, trained for the most part in
Europe or the United States.
But naturally gifted and hard-working and even honest as they may be they are
still a long way from playing the part which we would think it proper for them
to play. And they themselves are still too much affected by the rules which
govern Thai society to claim such a part as their right or to feel any deep resentment
about the handicaps under which they suffer. Many of them feel frustrated and
they will talk about this frustration quite openly, but they are still a long
way from contemplating any action to redress their complaints.
7. Thailand is
governed by a benevolent dictatorship without a dictator. It is benevolent in
the sense that it does its best according to its lights to promote the welfare
of the people and that the rule of law prevails. Apart from minor changes made
necessary by death or extreme old-age the composition of the Government is the
same as it was four years ago. I can see no good reasons for supposing that it
will not be the same four years from now (though the Minister of Agriculture
and the Minister of Industry are both getting a little doddery and the Minister
of Economic Affairs may be sent abroad as an Ambassador). The orbits in which
members of this Government move are fixed by the rules to which l have referred.
9. There are two other
civilians worth mentioning who can be expected to play important parts in their
country's future. One of these is Nai Pote Sarasin, a former Prime Minister and
at present Minister of National Development. The other is Dr. Puey Ungpakorn,
Governor of the Bank of Thailand. They are both outstandingly able and between
them deserve to share most of the credit for their country's present prosperity
and for the prospects of undiminished growth which are plain for all to see.
Pote who is almost pure Chinese is conventionally ambitious and would be willing
to perform almost any political service which the military might ask of him. He
is a very rich man but owes his position mainly to the good grace of the
military and if ever some sort of political party life were to develop he might
emerge as the leader of the Government party or even as Prime Minister again as the
nominee of the military. Dr. Puey who incidentally has an English wife and a
first-class war record is quite a different type. He is unique in seeming to
owe nobody any favours. He has reached his position by sheer ability and by his
well-deserved reputation for incorruptibility. The strength of the currency is
his monument. He is known for his independence of mind and for his readiness
even to criticise the Government in public if he really feels driven to doing
so. But since he has no special link with the military and is neither well off
nor well born I cannot see him succeeding to the leadership in present
circumstances. He knows his place just as any other Thai does. But my successor
will do well to cultivate him not only for his own sake but also because if
there were some unpredictable convulsion leading to a further modification of
the rules Dr. Puey might be brought forward as a sort of national saviour. He
is the only individual about whom it is possible for this to be said and he
must be conscious of it.
11. The dictatorship is embodied jointly in the two military leaders. Field-Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and General Prapass Charusathiana. Minister of the Interior and Commander-in-Chief of the Army. The main levers of power, that is to say the army and the police, are firmly in the hands of General Prapass. But Field-Marshal Thanom has the backing of the King and enjoys a greater degree of general popularity and goodwill than does General Prapass, although the latter also has the common touch. These in simple terms are the factors that for a number of years have made it convenient to this rather ill-assorted pair to work in harness. They are quite different one from the other. Thanom is benevolent, accommodating, cautious, not spectacularly rich, very Thai in appearance and manner. Prapass is a gambler, rough and decisive, he and his wife have accumulated a fortune (though not on the Sarit scale) and he looks and would if necessary act like a Japanese war lord. Prapass does not carry quite enough general goodwill to topple Thanom and Thanom is not quite strong enough to dispense with Prapass. Their alliance of convenience was sealed some time ago by a marriage between their children. Stories of political plots to take over the Government used before my time to form one of the main subjects of Bangkok conversation. And when I first came here there were still some going around. They are never heard now. The fact is that there is no other officer or policeman in sight who can aspire to be the rival of either of these two. And anyway the days of the coup d’etat are probably over for good. Material considerations apart anyone who attempted a coup d’etat would certainly incur the displeasure of the King as well perhaps as being deterred by the fear of arousing the ridicule of foreigners. Changes at the top can now only be made by arrangement. Both Thanom and Prapass are in good health (Prapass' eye trouble is no worse than General de Gaulle’s) and there is no reason why the triumvirate should not continue for a long time to come. It is not a vigorous administration and there are some who regret the days of Sarit. The machine works slowly. Few decisions of importance are taken below the level of the Cabinet for the reasons I have mentioned above. The Prime Minister takes a long time to make up his mind about anything and Cabinet meetings are bywords for tedium. But for all that the system administered by Thanom and Prapass seems to suit the present requirements of Bangkok fairly well and there is no obvious substitute at hand.
12. There is at present an interim Constitution in Force of an openly authoritarian character. A constituent assembly was appointed in 1959 with the task of drafting a permanent Constitution and they have been at it ever since. The official theory is that the draft will be completed in time to be presented to the King on his 40th birthday next December. If this happens then the situation in the north-east or the international situation could still be used as an excuse for postponing the elections which should in theory follow the promulgation of the Constitution by the King at an interval of six or nine months. Elections would present a problem to Thanom and Prapass. There would presumably have to be a Government party to win them but this would have first to be got going and somebody would have to be appointed its leader. Attempts have been made during the last year or so to organise some sort of party life but they have run into the sand. And Thanom, Prapass and Pote have each of them at one time or another and with a greater or lesser degree of disingenuousness disclaimed any desire to be the leader of a Government party although there is no other very obvious person who could do it. The fact is that almost nobody in Thailand is interested in the idea of party politics in the sense in which these are understood in the West. There have been political parties as well as elections in the past in Thailand but they have been artificial affairs. I have only met two Thais, one a constitutional lawyer and the other the discredited leader of the defunct “democratic party" who have shown any signs of sincerity in expressing the hope for constitutional development. Some Thais pay lip-service to the idea in the hearing of foreigners because they think it is what they ought to do. But even rather phoney elder statesman Prince Wan who is chairman of the constitutional commission occupied with drawing up the new Constitution, although greatly enjoying the intricate arguments which accompany his work, seems not to be remotely disturbed by the thought that it may never be completed or that if completed may never be put into use. He is quite is quite cynical in his conversation on the subject and anyway he is himself on the side of the generals. One wonders therefore what all the fuss is about. If the Thais on the whole content with the present system why do the authorities continue to bother about a new Constitution in which nobody is interested? I think it is because they feel rightly or wrongly that the outside world and in particular the Americans expect them to modernise their political institutions as they are modernising their economic and (to a much lesser extent!) their social institutions. I am sure that the King feels this strongly. Moreover, neighbouring countries, including even South Viet-Nam in the middle of its war, have parliaments and elections of a kind. The Thais must feel that comparisons are being drawn by foreigners to their disadvantage. They mind a great deal about what foreigners think of them, though they resent any interference by foreigners and I am sure that the United States Government has never put any direct pressure on them in this matter. Why should it want to? The Thais of course attach great importance to forms. They might therefore genuinely feel more comfortable if it could be made to appear that they were governed in what passes for an up-to-date way even though it might not really suit them and they had no genuine desire for it. Everybody who is not a manual labourer in Bangkok now possesses and often wears a dark European-style suit and tie when white clothes or even a panting would suit local requirements much better. The move towards a Constitution and elections is a similar phenomenon.
13. If progress consists in
producing and consuming more goods then the progress made by the Thais during
the last few years has been spectacular and there are no signs of the pace
slowing down. During the period of the last Five-year Plan just ended the average
annual rate of growth has been 7 per cent. During the period of the next Five-year
Plan it is expected to be 8.5 per cent. Allowing for the growth in population at
the current rate of 3.3 per cent (higher than the Indian rate) the average
income per capita, so the planners calculate, will go up by about 35 per
cent by the end of the period. Of course this will not be evenly shared since merchants
will get more than civil servants and city dwellers will get more than
peasants. But most will get some of it. Not only is output of rice expected to increase
considerably but so is that of almost every other crop including even that of
rubber in spite of the low price it now fetches on the world market. The
relative importance of agriculture will nevertheless decline. It is expected
that by 1971 the value of Thailand's
industrial output will be more than half the value of its agricultural output.
Twice as many ships now call at Bangkok
as did 10 years ago. The foreign currency reserves are enough to pay for 14
months' imports. The Thais have no difficulty in attracting investment from abroad
and foreign businessmen and investors need have no fear of being unable to
remit their profits. The International Bank has described Thailand as
“the perfect debtor".
14. Against this background
of political stability in Bangkok and of unremitting economic expansion it
seems to me a mistake to make much of the acts of banditry and terrorism which
continue to plague the inhabitants of some limited areas in the north-east and
in the south, though these are what mostly interest foreign journalists. The
“subversive threat” is on a very small scale. Even Prapass in whose interest it
lies to exaggerate the threat has estimated the number of “terrorists” under arms
as not more than 1,300 in the whole country (population 31 million rising to 37
million in 1971). The authorities are certainly slow in reducing the threat to entirely
negligible proportions as with a little more energy, better organisation and some
more special equipment including in particular helicopters and communications equipment
they could quite easily do. The Americans are now providing
much of the equipment that is needed. But the Thai authorities are lazy, they
are not used to deploying soldiers and policemen in remote areas, the rival
intelligence organizations are unco-ordinated and jealous of each other, and
the whole thing is expensive. And so it drags on and catches the headlines whenever
a village headman is murdered or a forced propaganda meeting is held in a village,
and the Americans with memories of Viet-Nam in 1958 get downcast. But so long
as there is no collapse of the American position in the rest of lndo-China. and
so long as the trained infiltrators from China, North Viet-Nam and Laos are
numbered as they now are only in handfuls, it would be absurd to get too
worried about this little rash on the healthy body of Thailand. The Thai
Communist Party can scarcely be said to exist and such as it is becoming more and
more vulnerable to penetration. Theft is no indigenous Communist menace. The
regime is more likely to be troubled in years to come by the discontent: which
normally beset a city that grows too fast, proletarianised country-boys and
educated or semi-educated unemployed. But these troubles are a long way off and
will have nothing directly to do with Communism or China.
15. Practically all Thais however genuinely feel menaced by China. Though they have successfully assimilated most of the Chinese in their midst their bones are chilled by the thought of this vast country almost on their doorstep outnumbering them by twenty times, soon to possess effective thermo-nuclear weapons and apparently gone quite mad. For as long as can be foreseen they will therefore cling to their American protectors. There is no division of opinion about the need to do this. There are only different degrees of regret that it should be necessary since it is contrary to their tradition to depend upon one ally and before the Japanese came in 1941 they had never for long willingly allowed a foreign Power to implant its presence among them. So they hope that the Americans will go away one day when the world is safer. But they are not likely to want to dispense with the American presence before that day comes, unless they decide that it attracts more perils that it averts. This they might be inclined to think if the American resolve to maintain South Viet-Nam in the American sphere of influence were to weaken. The Thais do not see their country as a forward bastion of the “free world”. They prefer to be well behind the battlements at a safe distance. They want the Americans to intensify the war in Viet-Nam and peace talk makes them nervous. Moreover the Viet-Namese are their old enemies as the Chinese are not. They are therefore quite glad in see North Viet-Nam being destroyed though they do not say so aloud. The horrors of the war do not move them. The fact that they are perpetrated by white men on Asians makes no difference. Thus I believe in the application of the domino theory to Thailand in the sense that the Thais would not willingly allow the Americans simply to fall back behind their borders. If there was any question of falling back the Thais would probably change course with alacrity and seek some new and less committed
status. They would not “go
Communist" whatever that means and it is quite possible that the same
individuals, including even Thanat, might in such an event lead Thailand along
a path very similar to the one followed by the much abused Prince Sihanouk.
16. But none of this is likely to happen since the Americans are unlikely to relax their grip on Viet-Nam. Speculation on the subject is therefore perhaps rather pointless. What is more to the point is to try to estimate how long, assuming that there is no great change in circumstances outside Thailand, the Thais are going to tolerate the undoubted affront to their national self-respect represented by the presence of so many thousands of Americans sprawling all over the five great air bases, breathing down their necks in every corner of their Administration, pushing up the rents and corrupting the girls. There has been a faint murmur about this ever since I have been here and it has grown a little louder lately. In the course of their history the Thais have more than once suddenly rounded on the presumptuous foreigner. The idea of Thais being always gentle and patient is only valid up to a point. They are given to explosions of anger and the most appalling crimes of violence are recorded daily in the Press. My French colleague who has been here for eight years expects a sudden revulsion against the Americans at any moment. It is true that it was only with extreme reluctance that the Thai Government recently acknowledged what everyone knew about the use being made by the Americans of Thai bases for bombing Viet-Nam and that this was because it disliked admitting that the Americans were using Thai soil as a convenience and because it did not wish the record of its involvement with the Americans to be unambiguously clear. But I think M. Clarac's judgment is due to wishful thinking. My own view is that the Thais will tolerate the American presence in its existing form for just as long as it seems necessary to keep the Chinese and Viet-Namese enemies as far away from Thailand as possible.
18. One of our assets here
is that a large proportion of the ruling class has been educated in England. The
tradition of English education goes back a long way and shows few signs of
declining. The King is having his only son educated in England because
he believes strongly that all Thai youth is in need of the kind of discipline
which only our schools can provide. In terms of actual numbers more
Thais now go to the United States
than to England
mainly because there is more money available for scholarships. But most Thais
would send their children to England
for preference. They still have a touching faith in the character-building
qualifications of English schools. The whole top crust is strongly marked by
the imprint of the English educational tradition. At the biggest "public
school" in Bangkok
the boys play fives and sing “forty years on" and at luncheon with the
board of the Bank of Thailand the talk is about the county cricket championship.
One must accept all this without scoffing because it all helps. But we can do
more in the field of education than just benevolently encourage old-school-tie
sentiments among the rich and privileged. Precisely because of the growth of
population and the spread of wealth it is in the field of popular education
that the Thais most need help and if money were no object it should be the
British who should give them this help since they are accustomed to learning
from us. The civil service is not only over-manned and under-paid but with the
exception of its leaders is abysmally ill-equipped. If any Thai Government
tried to imitate the Government of Burma and introduced State control over
every activity the result would be catastrophic. The inefficiency of the lower ranks
of the civil service does enough harm as it is in this strongly capitalistic
economy. It is in fact the greatest obstacle to further economic progress (and
therefore to bigger markets and therefore to more British exports). The
hierarchical and submissive attitude of the Thais to which I have referred is
partly responsible but the main reason is plain lack of education. Although the
number of students in the universities has increased by 50 per cent in the last
five years there has been no improvement in the standard of teaching. Moreover
in most of the disciplines it is necessary for the advanced student to know
English. There are no Thai text books on such subjects as engineering. But
taken as a whole the Thais are poor linguists and there are very few good Thai
teachers of English. The best thing we could do for them while serving our own interests
at the same time would be to step up the help we give them in the held of education
generally and in the field of English teaching in particular. I do not undervalue
the help we give them in the field of agriculture (in particular cotton
production) from which we should ourselves benefit in the long run by greater
sales of agricultural machinery and fertilisers. Nor do I object to our
providing the Thais with various specialist services from time to time. But
teaching and in particular language teaching is by far the most important of
the fields in which we can help the Thais. Every pound spent would bring more
direct benefits to the Thais and indirect benefits to us than many pounds spent
on more grandiose engineering or road-building projects. We can leave these to
the Americans and the Australians and the World Bank. If we concentrate our
little aid effort on education we would be working in a domain in which the
Thais have for generations been used to following our lead. Within a few months
I hope that the British Council will be installed in some brand-new premises
specially built for their purpose. If I have done nothing else here I am glad to
have played some part in promoting this particular project and I am confident
that my successor will take full advantage of it. If anybody still thinks in
terms of influence and prestige when considering the British stake in Thailand, he
should be concerned with this sort of thing and with the commercial exploitation
of the great opportunities offered by the requirements of the Thai development
plan. He should forget about the threadbare trappings of the SEATO military
alliance.
19. I have very much
enjoyed living for a while in Thailand.
One would have to be very insensitive or puritanical to take the view that the
Thais had nothing to offer. It is true that they have no literature, no painting
and only a very odd kind of music, that their sculpture, their ceramics and
their dancing are borrowed from others and that their architecture is
monotonous and their interior decoration hideous. Nobody can deny that gambling
and golf are the chief pleasures of the rich and that licentiousness is the
main pleasure of them all. But it does a faded European good to spend some time
among such a jolly, extrovert and anti-intellectual people. And if anybody
wants to know what their culture consists of the answer is that it consists of
themselves, their excellent manners, their fastidious habits, their graceful
gestures and their elegant persons. If we are elephants and oxen they are gazelles
and butterflies. On the other hand I am glad not to be staying here longer. I am certain that the deterioration in my
mental process is due not only to the onset of old age but
more particularly to the enervating effects of the climate which no amount of
exercise and airconditioning can nullify.
I have, &c.
20. Finally I must express
my gratitude to the staff of this Embassy without whose cheerfulness and
industry I could not have had so agreeable a stay.
21. I am sending copies of
this dispatch to Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Vientiane
and to the Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief Far East at Singapore.
I have, &c.
A.
RUMBOLD.
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