WEDNESDAY'S CHILD

Arriving in Washington this week for a state visit, and to make a request for U.S. military and economic aid: Field Marshal Luang Phibun Songgram,* 58, Prime Minister of Thailand.

Early Life. The son of a rice farmer, Phibun developed an early aversion to the malodorous paddies, decided on a military career. As a bright young lieutenant in the Siamese army, he was rewarded with a four-year scholarship to study gunnery at Fontainebleau. France. In Paris in the '20s, he became friendly with Pridi Phanomyong, a Siamese political-science student who lived in the same pension; the two were destined to become political Siamese twins for the next 30 years. At the tables of the Cafe de Flore and the Deux Magots on the Left Bank, Phibun, Pridi and fellow expatriates plotted a revolution at home. Their schemes worked out successfully in the revolution of 1932, when King Prajad-hipok signed Siam's first constitution, which Pridi wrote.

Career. Phibun quickly learned the Siamese art of tarn ratthapraharn (masterminding a coup d'etat). Following a 1933 coup, he became Minister of Defense; in 1938 he took over as Prime Minister and, eventually, as absolute dictator. He assumed the title of Phunam ("The Leader"), changed his country's name to Thailand, and tried to Westernize his countrymen overnight (sample laws: farmers were ordered to wear shoes, and officials to kiss their wives before leaving for the office). In 1941 Phibun capitulated to Japan, later declared war on the U.S. and Britain. Old Friend Pridi, who had an anti-Japanese record, became leader of Thailand's underground. When the Japanese left, Pridi became Premier, and Phibun was jailed for a while, then retired until his collaborationist past faded away. When he reappeared on a Bangkok parade ground to fly his kites, Thailanders knew he was back in politics. A 1947 bloodless coup restored him to power, sent Pridi into exile. Durable Premier Phibun has survived several attempted counterrevolutions. (In 1951 he was politely captured by the navy in the midst of a ceremony. He was taken aboard a warship, but escaped when a bomb hit the ship. Phibun swam safely back to shore and power.) In recent years Phibun, the World War II collaborationist, has proved to be one of the best friends of the West, Southeast Asia's most militant anti-Communist (Pridi, on the other hand, has turned on his wartime friends, now mouths the Communist line and leads a band of guerrillas in Red China).

Personality & Private Life. Married to Mme. La-iad, a prominent feminist and a onetime Senator, Phibun has six grown children, entertains in a sumptuous Bangkok palace. He serves Coca-Cola to guests (a son-in-law is a local Coke concessionaire), and, like Coca-Cola Tycoon James Farley, he has a fondness for green furniture and carpets. Phibun, a devout Buddhist, was born on a Wednesday, and green is the lucky color for Wednesday's children in Thailand. (One of his prewar decrees made dancing compulsory in government offices on Wednesday afternoons.) A canny politician, he is an un-Thaipically lively, dynamic leader of a languid, gentle people.

* There are at least a dozen ways of spelling the Prime Minister's name, all of them pronounced Pea Bun Song Ram.

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