The Seri Manangkhasila Party ( th, พรรคเสรีมนังคศิลา ) was a short-lived pro-military political party in Thailand. It was founded on 29 September 1955 by Field Marshal
Plaek Phibunsongkhram.
History
The party was established on 29 September 1955 as the first political party registered after the announcement of the Political Parties Act, B.E. 1955, with
Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkram
Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram ( th, แปลก พิบูลสงคราม ; alternatively transcribed as ''Pibulsongkram'' or ''Pibulsonggram''; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Marshal P. ( th, จอมพล ...
, Prime Minister, as the party leader. The party secretary was Pol. Gen
Phao Sriyanond, the Director of the
Police Department. The deputy leaders of the party were
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat (also spelt ''Dhanarajata''; th, สฤษดิ์ ธนะรัชต์, ; 16 June 1908 – 8 December 1963) was a Thai general who staged a coup in 1957, replacing Plaek Phibunsongkhram as Thailand's prime m ...
,
Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, and
Air Marshal Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee
Marshal of the Royal Thai Air Force Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee ( th, ฟื้น รณนภากาศ ฤทธาคนี) (21 February 1900 – 8 July 1987) was a Royal Thai Air Force officer who served as the Commander of the Roy ...
,
Commander of the Royal Thai Air Force
The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force ( th, ผู้บัญชาการทหารอากาศไทย), currently Air Chief Marshal Alongkorn Wannarot, who is headquartered in Bangkok.
The following individuals have co ...
, with the party head office located at Manangkhasila House.
In the
election on 16 February 1957, the Seri Manangkhasila Party won the most seats with 85 MPs. However, after a conflict within the party, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, along with a number of MPs, resigned from the party. From then on, Field Marshal Sarit encouraged
Sukich Nimmanhaemin to establish a new political party named the
Sahaphum Party
The Sahaphum Party ( th, พรรคสหภูมิ, sometimes translated as "United Land" or "Unionist Party") was a political party in Thailand. It was founded on 21 June 1957 by Sukich Nimmanheminda.
Behind the scenes, the party was formed ...
. After Field Marshal Sarit conducted a coup against the Government of Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsongkram on 16 September 1957, he was appointed as a guardian of the military department and appointed
Pote Sarasin
Pote Sarasin ( th, พจน์ สารสิน, , ; 25 March 1905 – 28 September 2000) was the 9th Prime Minister of Thailand from the influential Sarasin family. He served as foreign minister from 1949 to 1950 and then served as ambass ...
as Prime Minister and held a
new election on Sunday 15 December 1957.
In this election, the Seri Manangkhasila Party won only 4 seats out of the 160 which were directly elected. Soon, the Seri Manangkhasila Party was dissolved and merged with the
National Socialist Party, which had Field Marshal Sarit as the party leader, along with the Sahaphum Party on 21 December 1957.
References
{{Thai political parties
Defunct political parties in Thailand
Political parties established in 1955
Political parties disestablished in 1957
1955 establishments in Thailand