Pibul cuts down trees

From Nui's rants about Thai history: ...Two periods of dictators seems to stand out markedly, that of Field Marshall P. Phibulsongkram, who had two terms of non-elected rule, nearly 16 years in total.
I remember my mother telling me a few stories about how he organized society back then. Two stood out, there was one about the ancient trees on Wireless Road that were razed down because his son was killed when his car rammed into one tree. The other story was about how he imposed a dress code so that the people can look modern...

Earlier: Nation-building & the Pursuit of Nationalism under FM Phibunsongkhram - September 30, 2006