- Phetsarath Rattanavongsa
Infobox Monarch
name =Prince Phetsarath Rattanavongsa
title =Uparaja
caption =
reign =
coronation =
othertitles =
full name =Prince Chao Maha Oupahat Petsarath Rattanavongsa
predecessor =
successor =
suc-type =
heir =
queen =
consort =
spouse 1 =Khamvene
spouse 2 =Mom Sy
spouse 3 =
spouse 4 =
spouse 5 =
spouse 6 =
issue =
royal house =
dynasty =
royal anthem =
father =Bounkhong
mother =Thongsy
date of birth =19 January 1890
place of birth =Luang Phrabang
date of death =14 October 1959
place of death =Luang Phrabang
date of burial =
place of burial =|Prince Phetsarath Rattanavongsa ("Somdej Chao Maha Oupahat Pethsarath Rattanavongsa " lit: His Highness (the) Vice-King Phetsarath Rattanavongsa) was prime minister of
Laos from 1942 to 1945, and was the first and last vice-king of the Kingdom of Laos.Biography
Early life
Phetsarath was born on
19 January 1890 inLuang Prabang , the second son ofOupahat Bounkhong and his second wife, Princess Thongsy. One of his younger brothers wasSouvanna Phouma . Bounkong's eleventh wife was the mother ofSouphanouvong . Phetsarath went to study at the colonialLycee Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon and continued on in 1905 to theLycée Montaigne and to the École coloniale in Paris. He returned to Laos in 1912, married Princess Nhin Kham Venne in 1913, and started working as an interpreter for his father.Government service: 1914-1941
In 1914, he became a clerk at the Office of the French governor in Vientiane. Two years later he was promoted to assistant secretary to the French governor. In 1919 he received the title of Somdeth
Chao Ratsaphakhinay , a title held by his father and one of the highest ranks in the country. That same year he was named Director of Indigenous Affairs of Laos operating under the French governor.As the country's last oupahat, he became a leading figure of modern Laos. He established the system of ranks and titles of the civil service, promotion and pension plans, and created a Lao consultative assembly, reorganized the king's Advisory Council. Phetsarath reorganized the administrative system of the Buddhist clergy, and established a system of schools for educating monks in Pali. He created the Institute of Law and Administration to train entry level officers (Samien) who would then move up the ladder as Phouxouei, Chao Meuang, and Chao Khoueng successively. He set up rules to reward, reassign, and promote deserving civil servants, and created the judicial system, including civil and penal codes.
Lao Issara: 1941-1957
Phetsarath played a dominant role in Lao politics before and after the Japanese occupation. He was the leader of the
Lao Issara movement.He left for
Thailand in 1946 to head the Lao Issara government-in-exile.Note in 1944 he sent Kathanong Souvannakhily, a brigade officer, to attack Thailand, but he went missing in action. The attack was then halted.
Return: 1957-1959
In March 1957, he returned to
Vientiane where he received a wild welcome. On10 April 1957 , he traveled to Luang Prabang by car and was received by an enormous crowd of citizens, government officials, and members of the police and the army. On16 April he paid a courtesy call to KingSisavang Vong and was given back his old title of oupalat of theKingdom of Laos . In December 1957 he visitedSamneua andPhongsaly where Souphanouvong symbolically offered the return of thePathet Lao 's two regrouping provinces to the Kingdom of Laos.He was offered an official government residence in Vientiane, but preferred to stay in his villa,
Xieng Keo , in Luang Prabang with his Thai consort, Mom Aphiphorn. In early October 1959 thePhoui Sananikone Government decided to use Phetsarath's official residence in Vientiane as the new prime minister's office. They vacated the building and shipped his personal belongings by boat to Luang Prabang, which upset him immensely. On14 October 1959 Phetsarath was taken ill to the hospital, suffering from a severebrain hemorrhage . A French doctor operated on him, but it was already too late. He never regained conscience and he died at the age of 69.In part because of his popularity and in part because of his perceived
saksit power, manyLao people hang his picture in their homes.References
* Sila Viravong: Chao Phetcharat - Strong Man of Kingdom of Laos, Thai Translation by Sommai Premjit, Matichon Press, BE 2542 (AD 1999), ISBN: 9743214658
* Søren Ivarsson and Christopher E. Goscha: Prince Phetsarath (1890–1959): Nationalism and Royalty in the Making of Modern Laos, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies (2007), 38: 55-81, Cambridge University Press
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