THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST

the whole political life in a morass of suspicion and counter-suspicion. Pridi’s
supporters have ever since blamed these rumours on the deliberate activity of the
royalists in general and the Democrat Party in particular. The mysterious telephone
calls and the shout in the cinema are attributed to them; and even the employment
of a group of men to go about in public places spreading the allegation of Pridi‟s
complicity. Kuang… and the Pramoj brothers hotly assert, however, that the outcry
was the spontaneous and inevitable reaction of the public at large once any suspicion
of foul play arose. As the Prime Minister responsible for the King’s safety, as well
as the man who had both invited Ananda to Siam and extended his stay, Pridi was
obviously answerable to the nation, especially as allegations of his direct complicity
multiplied, and their plain duty was to call him to account. [Krueger, The Devil’s
Discus]
Their denial, however, is contradicted by U.S. cables from June 1946, sent by chargé
d'affaires Charles W. Yost to the Secretary of State in Washington. On June 13, Yost sent a
cable titled “Death of King of Siam”. It was classified “secret”, and predicted:
The death of Ananda Mahidol may well be recorded as one of the unresolved
mysteries of history.
The cable recounted a conversation between Yost and Pridi:
The Prime Minister spoke to me very frankly about the whole situation and ascribed
the King's death to an accident, but it was obvious that the possibility of suicide
was in the back of his mind. He was violently angry at the accusations of foul play
levelled against himself and most bitter at the manner in which he alleged that the
Royal Family and the Opposition, particularly Seni Pramoj and Phra Sudhiat, had
prejudiced the King and especially the Princess Mother against him. He repeated
several times that he had been overwhelmingly busy attempting to rehabilitate
and govern the country and had not had time to have luncheon and tea with Their
Majesties every day or two as had members of the Opposition. [RG59 892.001/6-
1346]
The following day, another cable from Yost, “Footnotes on the King's Death”, discussed the
various theories about Ananda’s death, and recounted a conversation with Foreign Minister
Direk Jayanama who had just had an audience with Bhumibol. It was also classified “secret”:
The Foreign Minister...informed me that he an audience this morning with the new
King in which His Majesty had inquired about rumours in regard to his brother's
death are still being spread about. According to Direk, he replied that the rumours
are still being circulated widely, that some claim that the King was murdered by the
orders of the Prime Minister, some … murdered by former aide-de-camp and some
that he committed suicide under political pressure.
King Phumipol thereupon informed the Foreign Minister that he considered these
rumours absurd, that he knew his brother well and that he was certain that his death
had been accidental... What the King said to Direk does not necessarily represent
what he really believes, it is nevertheless interesting that he made so categorical a
statement to the Foreign Minister.
Yost added that Dr Nit had also informed him that Bhumibol had ruled out foul play in their
discussions, and had insisted his brother’s death was an accident. He described efforts by Seni
to convince U.S. diplomats that Seni was implicated in the death of Rama VIII:
28