Hi Nathaniel, I hope you do not mind my remarks to your interesting posts. (Unlike one righteous member of my fan club who scolded me in PM seeing and writing red, outraged, how dare I...)

I come back to your story about Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongraam - the falang sources never mention him as Poh. This obviously is only in Thai literature, I assume that how a fatherly and authoritative personality is liked to be called (Father), an example Kamnaan Poh, or the boss in companies Poh Lien, Mae Lien.

He was the one who with his friend Pridi Banomyong sailed in 1932 to Hua Hin, accompanied by a group of young progressive people with a proposal of constitutional monarchy to present it to King Rama VII in his royal palace Klai Kangwon (Far from Worry), to accept it or else...

The history as found in Thai sources is quite lenient to big actors, rather omitting any critical features. In falang literature is Pibul described as a dictator, not only since he was an admirer of Mussolini and later also of Hitler's ideas. That why he readily opened the country to Japanese armies in their run to Burma in 1941 (what actually was inevitable anyway) and willingly served them during the whole occupation time. For that he was not favorably accepted by Allies after WW2, finally imprisoned as collaborator for few years.

However, he was very clever strategist. Later he had made use of the long lasting investigation of the King Ananta death, when he orchestrated (with few others willing cooperators) a propaganda against his former friend Pridi, a good man (that time PM), accused of involvement in king's assassination. Finally, in a fast coup getting again into power, forcing his childhood friend in emigration, he just narrowly escaping only with a help of US and UK envoys, spending his life in China, dying in France.

Incidentally, some 20 years ago I have met his (Pibul's) son Nitya at an official luncheon at Dr. Surakiat at FM ministry, having a small talk with him before the table was prepared. He, after many years serving in high envoy positions abroad, was further functioning near Dr. Surakiat, afterwards self became FM, passed away few years ago.