On the Rebound

Kriangsak wins a key election

The campaign tactics were rowdy even by the rough-and-tumble standards of Thai politics. Nails were scattered around cars parked at party rallies; saboteurs disrupted election speeches by plying crowds with Mekong whisky; and before they went to the polls last week, many of the peasants of the northeastern province of Roi Et gladly pocketed bribes from the 14 candidates. When the 133,000 ballots were counted in the key parliamentary election, a familiar figure emerged triumphantly: former Prime Minister Kriangsak Chomanan, 63, who hopes that his victory will soon sweep him back into power in Bangkok. Said Kriangsak after his victory: "The march toward full democracy in Thailand starts from this moment."

A career soldier who fought in Korea before becoming Thailand's supreme commander, Kriangsak was involved in four coups, the last of which brought him to the Prime Minister's office in November 1977. Trading his camouflage fatigues for pinstripe suits, he evolved into a democrat and statesman. He abolished press censorship, hiked the minimum wage, offered amnesty to Communist insurgents and organized free elections under a new constitution. He also pulled off a tricky diplomatic balancing act, improving relations with Communist neighbors in Hanoi and Phnom-Penh while strengthening Thailand's ties with Washington.

Even so, a 35% leap in petroleum prices eroded his popularity, and, as inflation soared and public discontent grew, Kriangsak stepped aside in March 1980 in favor of army Commander in Chief and Minister of Defense General Prem Tinsulanond. Prem soon had his own problems, especially after a leading group in his ruling coalition walked out of the government in February.

In June, when Parliament passed a bill permitting any political group with 15 members to register as a bona fide party, Kriangsak saw a ready-made coalition consisting of old allies belonging to other parties. With brisk efficiency he assembled a group of business supporters who poured more than $1 million into his election campaign.

Kriangsak enters Parliament with a powerful political base. He appointed 150 of the Senate's 225 members while Premier, and he hopes to attract enough support in the lower house to make his National Democrat Party the leader of the opposition. If that happens, Prem's regime will confront a formidable foe. But Kriangsak coyly denies any plan to topple the government. Says he: "I'm nobody's enemy."

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