Free Thai Movement

A strong, anti-Japanese Free Thai Movement developed, and, when the war began to turn against Japan, Phibunsongkhram’s government collapsed (July 1944) and a civilian government took power, controlled from behind the scenes by Pridi Phanomyong.

…Pridi directed the anti-Japanese underground Free Thai Movement in the later years of the war and engineered the downfall of Phibunsongkhram’s government in 1944. Over the next two years, Pridi was the real power behind successive civilian governments as Thailand, successfully avoiding treatment as an ally of Japan, regained international…