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Phayom Chulanont

Thai politician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ4517894
Source-derived summary

Phayom Chulanont (Thai: พ.ท.พโยม จุลานนท์; 12 March 1909 – 7 September 1980) was a Thai military officer, politician, and leader of the Communist Party of Thailand. He was the father of former Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont.

Biography

The son of Phraya Wiset Singhanat of Phetburi, and son-in-law of Phraya Sri Sitthi Songkhram, Phayom became an ally of Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram in his coup against the government of Thawan Thamrongnawasawat and Pridi Banomyong in 1947. He later disagreed with the leaders of the junta and started a failed coup of his own, the so-called Army Staff School coup. When the coup failed, he fled to China via Mae Sai and Burma. At the time, his son, Surayud, was only six-years-old.

Phayom returned to Thailand in 1957 to run in the general elections in March, becoming MP of Phetburi. Later that year, Sarit Thanarat seized power from the government of Plaek Phibunsongkhram. Phayom subsequently left his family and went underground, adopting the nom de guerre Comrade Too Khamtan (สหายตู้คำตัน). He later became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Thailand and the Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army of Thailand.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Phayom Chulanont” as thai politician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phayom, Chulanont and Thai.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1909, 1980, 1947, 1957—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1909-03-12. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Phayom, Chulanont and Thai providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Phayom Chulanont”, the useful work is to connect “thai politician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4517894. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1909, 1980, 1947 and 1957.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Phayom Chulanont”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Phayom Chulanont primary sources, Phayom Chulanont archive and Phayom research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Phayom Chulanont”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Phayom Chulanont” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.