Government Thirayuth Boonmee Seksan Prasertkul The popular uprising of 14 October 1973 (Thai: เหตุการณ์ 14 ตุลา, RTGS: Hetkan Sip-Si Tula, lit.

The uprising resulted in the end of the ruling military dictatorship of anti-communist Thanom Kittikachorn and altered the Thai political system.

The publication of the Social Science Review in the 1960s was credited as being responsible for restarting intellectual thinking and debate in Thai politics.

[3]: 10  Development programs, based on those of the United States Peace Corps, took students from various campuses to work in rural areas during their vacations and forced them to recognize the problems in the countryside.

The programs also served to show the students how inadequate their university training had been, as they were not able to use any of their knowledge to improve the conditions which the majority of the rural population faced.

Instead, it concentrated on areas such as community services, counseling new students, and producing a television show which praised the King, Bhumibol Adulyadej.

[6]: 17–18  This made it difficult for members of the more politically conscious groups to control or even influence the NSCT, as they were still viewed with suspicion by most students.

As well as handing out leaflets in shopping centers, proclaiming an "Anti-Japanese Goods Week" and presenting a ten-point economic plan to Thanom, the NSCT also organized a protest march.

[10]: 144–145 With the success of the anti-Japanese goods campaign, the NSCT took a more obvious stance in December 1972 by responding to the government's National Executive Council Decree No.

[9]: 139  These activities were exposed at a time when the government extended the terms of office of Thanom and his deputy Praphas Charusathien for another year.

[9] On 6 October, Thirayuth Boonmee and ten other political activists were arrested for distributing leaflets in crowded places in Bangkok such as Bang Lamphu, Siam Square, and Pratunam, urging support for an early drafting of the constitution.

The other arrestees were Thirayuth, Prapansak Kamolpetch, Boonsong Chalethorn, Bandhit Hengnilrat, Visa Kanthap, Thanya Chunkathatharn, Thawee Muenthikorn, Montri Juengsirinarak, Nopporn Suwanpanich, Preedi Boonsue, and Chaiwat Suravichai.

[5] On 7 October, Kongkiat Kongka, accused of being a member of a group advocating early promulgation of the permanent constitution, was also arrested.

[5]: 59–71 On 8 October, the twelve arrestees were denied bail and were also accused by Deputy Prime Minister Praphas Charusathien of being linked to a plot to overthrow the government.

By this time, the rally had moved to the grounds of Thammasat University to accommodate its growing size, with the number of protesters now reaching 50,000.

[13] On 13 October, the crowd, which had swelled to more than 400,000 (including many members of the public), marched to Democracy Monument to demand the release of the prisoners.

About 200,000 students refused to disband, however, and their leader, Seksan Prasertkul, decided to lead them to the palace to seek advice from King Bhumibol.

The soldiers finally withdrew in the evening, and about 19:15 the king announced on television and radio that Thanom's military government had resigned.

For a majority of the people, the military government was a main reason to support the students because it failed to curb inflation and prevent rice shortages.

Benedict Anderson, a Southeast Asia scholar, has argued that despite the power and credibility they lent to the movement, the Thai middle class were far less concerned about the students' goals than they were dissatisfied with social and economic changes affecting their lives.

[16]: 218–219  Student dissidence continued to emerge with grievances ranging from educational reform to Thailand's trade imbalance with Japan to the CIA's influence over the Thai military establishment.

[16]: 230  In the years after the uprising, riots and strikes took place with higher frequency and insurgency in the hills seemed commonplace while taxes rose.

This right-wing shift would culminate in the 6 October 1976 massacre of student protesters at Thammasat University, which marked the end of the "democratic period".

These include armed forces rivalries, especially between the army and the navy, and a series of wildcat strikes by common labourers and civilian workers in August and September 1973, both of which helped to create an atmosphere conducive to a change in the ruling government.

On 14 October, King Bhumibol appointed the Thammasat chancellor and dean of the faculty of law, former Supreme Court Judge Sanya Dharmasakti, as prime minister by royal command.

[10]: 286  Further, Gawin Chutima, an ex-communist, argues that students were firmly locked into the Sakdina ideology and were subordinate and obedient to older and socially superior persons.

The strong resurgence of the right wing and the military in late-1974 began a program of politically motivated assassinations of prominent peasant, farmer, and student leaders.

Ironically, after the end of the Thanom regime, the political repression that forced radical students to toe the NSCT line also dissipated.