Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1962
US involvement in the Indochina War leads to economic and infrastructural expansion of Bangkok;
dissatisfaction with the Thai government leads to communist insurgency.
1973
Student protests lead to violent military suppression; 1971 coup leader Thanom Kittikachorn is ex-
iled by Rama IX; Kukrit Pramoj's civilian government takes charge.
1981
General Prem Tinsulanonda is appointed prime minister after a military coup and is largely able to
stabilise Thai politics over the next eight years.
1985
Chamlong Srimuang is elected mayor of Bangkok; three years later, after forming his own largely
Buddhist-based political group, the Palang Dharma Party, he is elected mayor again.
1992
Protests led by Chamlong Srimuang against 1991 coup leader Suchinda Kraprayoon lead to violent
confrontations; Suchinda resigns following a public scolding by Rama IX.
1997
Thailand devalues the baht, triggering the Asian economic crisis; massive unemployment and per-
sonal debt, and a crash of the Thai stock market, follow.
1999
The BTS (Skytrain), Bangkok's first expansive metro system, opens in commemoration of Rama IX's
6th cycle (72nd) birthday.
2001
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's richest man, is elected prime minister on a populist platform in what
some have called the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history.
2004
The MRT, Bangkok's first underground public transport system, is opened; an accident the next year
injures 140 and causes the system to shut down for two weeks.
