Siddhi_Savetsila

Siddhi Savetsila

Siddhi Savetsila

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Siddhi Savetsila (Thai: สิทธิ เศวตศิลา, RTGS: Sit Sawetsila, Thai pronunciation: [sìt sàʔwèːtsìʔlaː], 7 January 1919 – 5 December 2015) was a Thai air force officer and politician. After finishing his military career with the rank of air chief marshal, he served as the foreign minister of Thailand from 1980 to 1990. In 1991, he became a member of the Privy Council of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He was the president of the united nations security council in 1985 with Mom Luang Birabhongse Kasemsri.[3]

Quick Facts Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Prime Minister ...

Life and career

Dries van Agt with Siddhi Savetsila in 1980

Siddhi Savetsila was born in Bangkok. He is a member of the Thai aristocracy. His father was a high-ranking official in the royal government. His paternal grandfather was Henry Alabaster who was the British consul in Siam during the reign of King Rama IV (Mongkut) and then served as an advisor to King Rama V (Chulalongkorn).[4] His mother was an offspring of the influential Bunnag family. He is a direct descendant of Somdet Chao Phraya Borom Maha Prayurawongse.[5]

Siddhi studied metallurgic engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), graduating with an S.B. degree in 1943. During the Second World War, he joined the Free Thai Movement (Seri Thai) which resisted against the de facto occupation of Thailand by Japanese forces. He collected data for the US foreign-intelligence agency OSS (predecessor of the CIA) and was temporarily detained by the Japanese.[6] Two of Siddhis sisters married US intelligence operatives, one was the wife of former OSS agent Willis Bird and one of CIA officer William Lair.[7] After the end of the war, he returned to the MIT and received his S.M. degree in 1947.

He then served in the Royal Thai Air Force and rose up to the rank of air chief marshal (phon akat ek). From 1975 to 1980 he served as secretary-general of the National Security Council. In this position he assisted Prime Minister Kriangsak Chomanan at the time of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia 1978/79.

In 1980, Kriangsak appointed him minister of foreign affairs. He kept this position when Prem Tinsulanonda took over the premiership a few months later. As Thailand' representative in the United Nations (UN) and ASEAN, Siddhi advocated a tough line towards Vietnam which was occupying Cambodia after 1979. In 1983, Siddhi was elected member of parliament and in 1985 he took over the leadership of the Social Action Party (SAP) following the retirement of Kukrit Pramoj. The party did well in the 1986 election and Siddhi additionally became deputy prime minister for a short time.

In August 1990, the new Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan dismissed Siddhi as he sought a more pragmatic relationship with the communist-ruled countries of Southeast Asia. Siddhi's SAP was in great difficulties during the late 1980s and, in September 1990, Siddhi gave up his leadership. One month later, he completely retired from the parliament and the party, stating that he was tired of politics.[8] In 1991 King Bhumibol appointed him to his privy council.[9]

Siddhi holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of the Philippines, the National University of Singapore and five universities in Thailand. He was decorated with the Order of Chula Chom Klao (first class), the Order of the White Elephant (special class) and the Order of the Crown of Thailand (special class), as well as foreign decorations from 14 countries.[9]

On 8 May 2000, he was among the five Free Thai veterans who were awarded the Agency Seal Medallion by CIA director George Tenet.

He died on 5 December 2015 at the age of 96.[10]

Honour

Foreign honour

Military rank

Volunteer Defense Corps of Thailand rank

References

  1. [1]
    [bare URL PDF]
  2. [2]
    [bare URL PDF]
  3. [3]
    "Presidents (1980-1989) : Security Council (SC) : United Nations (UN)". Archived from the original on 29 November 2005.
  4. [4]
    Derick Garnier, Henry Alabaster, 1836- 1884, AnglicanThai.org, archived from the original on 2011-09-04
  5. [5]
    สายเจ้าคุณพระราชพันธุ์นวลชั้นที่ ๔ สายเจ้าพระยาสุรพันธพิสุทธิ์ (เทศ บุนนาค) ได้แก่, The Bunnag Lineage Club
  6. [6]
    Robert O. Tilman (1987), Southeast Asia and the Enemy Beyond, Westview Press, p. 54
  7. [7]
    Daniel Fineman (1997), A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958, Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, p. 133, ISBN 0-8248-1818-0
  8. [8]
    Michael Leifer (1996), Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia, London: Routledge, p. 147, ISBN 0-415-13821-3
  9. [9]
    H.E. Air Chief Marshal Siddhi Savetsila, Privy Councillor. Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary.
  10. [10]
    "Privy councillor Siddhi dies at 96". Bangkok Post. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  11. [11]
    "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
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