Manhattan Rebellion

The Manhattan Rebellion of June 1951 was the Royal Thai Navy's long-expected attempt to overthrow the government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram. The rebels' defeat resulted in the near-complete dismantling of the navy, as well as the rise to power of Phibun's two chief rivals, Phao Siyanon and Sarit Thanarat.

Preliminaries

In April 1951 Phao initiated a campaign to transfer the navy's coastal patrol duties to his increasingly powerful police. Wanting to secure control over the endpoint of the opium trade, he pushed the issue despite strong navy opposition. ^[1]

The Rebellion

On June 29, during a ceremony transferring the American dredge Manhattan to the Thai navy as part of the US military assistance programme, a small group of junior naval officers kidnapped prime minister Phibun at gunpoint and took him to the nearby flagship Si Ayutthaya. Naval guards loyal to the officers also seized fleet headquarters, and a group of naval and marine officers captured the navy radio station.

Although the rebels appear to have taken in no part in any plotting by higher-ranking naval officers, they possibly expected the rest of the navy to rally to their cause. In this, the young officers made their first crucial mistake in the badly arranged operation. Khuang Aphaiwong and the navy leadership, although then plotting to overthrow Phibun,^[2] stood still, leaving the rebels to fight the government alone.^[3]

Their second fatal error was to assume that the Coup Group would accede to their demands in order to save Phibun's life. Instead of bargaining with the rebels, the military began a fierce counter-attack. The army and police besieged naval bases throughout Bangkok, and the air force and police even bombed and shelled the ship holding Phibun.^[4] In the end the Si Ayutthaya was sunk and the field marshal, miraculously unharmed, managed to swim away to safety.

The rebellion was over within thirty-six hours. The Coup Group by then were in control of the capital. Shooting wildly and acting without discipline, government soldiers and police killed twelve hundred - mostly civilians - and injured an additional three thousand.^[5]

Aftermath

The navy lost the most in the Manhattan Rebellion. During the fighting, the police and the army overran navy positions in Bangkok and, once they had crushed the rebellion, the Coup Group dismantled the navy. Leading admirals were arrested, the central and eastern provinces previously occupied by the navy were re-assigned to army command, and entire battalions of marines were disbanded. The air force assumed control over the navy's air section, and navy headquarters were moved from the capital to the eastern seaboard. Nothing remained of the navy's political power.^[3]

Phibun, however, also suffered from the navy's defeat. The Coup Group's evident willingness to sacrifice him belied his supporters' contention that Phibun was the government's indispensable prop. The rebellion deprived Phibun much of his previous authority.

Phibun's and the navy's loss was Phao's gain. Sarit's Bangkok-based First Division, as in the Palace Rebellion, and Phao's police had figured most prominently in the defeat of the rebels, and both generals reaped the consequent benefits in prestige and power, but Phao especially benefited. Although Sarit still had to share control of the army with Phao's father-in-law, Phin Chunhawan, Phao enjoyed unquestioned command of the police, without doubt one of the nation's two most powerful armed forces now that the navy was broken. Phao moved quickly after the rebellion to take key offices. Phao had the government issue an order empowering provincial police commissioners, rather than deputy provincial governors, to act for provincial governors in their absence and got himself appointed assistant to the permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry. While it became common in the upcoming years to refer to a triumvirate of Phibun, Phao and Sarit, many informed observers considered Phao the country's most powerful man.

References

1. ^ Fineman, Daniel. A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947-1958. 131
2. ^ Rolland Bushner. Current Thai Political Plottings. USNA. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Thak Chaloemtiarana. Thai Politics: Extracts and Documents 1932-1957. Social Science Association of Thailand. 
4. ^ Rolland Bushner. Attempted Coup d'etat of June 29-30 and its Aftermath. USNA. 
5. ^ David K. Wyatt. Thailand: A Short History. Silkworm Books.