Thailand's 'godfather' dies

Chatichai was known as the 'no problem' prime minister

A former prime minister of Thailand, General Chatichai Choonhavan, has died at the age of 78 after being treated for liver cancer in a London hospital.

Mr Chatichai was one of the 'Godfathers' of Thai politics, and dominated the Thai political scene for two decades.

He was prime minster from 1988 - 1991, in the early days of Thailand's economic boom.

He was known as the 'no problem' prime minster. He loved smoking cigars, drinking wine, and playing tennis. But he was eventually ousted from power amid allegations of corruption.

In the family

His influence stemmed originally from his family connections.

Mr Chatichai was the son of Field Marshal Pin Choonhavan, who gained prominence in 1941 in a brief border war which enabled Thailand to annex parts of Laos and Cambodia.

Although this territory had to be handed back in 1946, the family had by then built up a considerable commercial empire, especially in the north-east of Thailand.

In addition, one of Mr Chatichai's elder sisters became the wife of Pao Sriyanond, the powerful Chief of Police, while Mr Chatichai himself married a close friend of the royal family.

In 1951, during one of the country's many military coups, this Pin-Pao clique, as it became known, seized most of the reins of power in Thailand.

But the family was expelled from power in another coup in 1956, amid allegations that its various members had amassed millions of dollars in Swiss bank accounts.

Mr Chatichai was given the post as ambassador to Argentina, a country with which Thailand had few obvious relations.

Glory days

He remained abroad for almost the next 15 years - until the political wheel of fortune in Bangkok took another sudden turn in 1970 and he returned home to become deputy Foreign Minister, and then Foreign Minister in 1975.

He also set up the Chart Pattana Party in 1975 to compete in the first genuinely democratic elections ever to be held in Thailand.

After that, amidst the many swings and roundabouts of Thai politics, Mr Chatichai was never far from the centre of power, helping both to make and to wreck successive coalition governments.

But he only achieved his ultimate ambition to become Prime Minister in 1988.

Then once again he was able to indulge his interest in foreign policy by declaring his intention to transform Indo-China "from a battlefield into a marketplace".

He had only just started to achieve this aim by persuading Thai businessmen to trade and invest in neighbouring countries when yet another military coup intervened and he was ousted from power, in 1991, on the grounds of alleged corruption.

Although that seemed to mark the end of Mr Chatichai's political career, he never ceased manoeuvring behind the scenes.