Prior to Chomanan , Thanin Kraivixien administration had spiraled the country into a perilous state of civil war . Incidents of the Communist Party of Thailand ( CPT ) increasingly sabotages activities in rural areas across all of Thailand and of border clashes with Cambodia and Laos incidents frequent the news headlines . The administration forceful suppressive policy actually helped emboldened the CPT ’s popularity amongst the population . Furthermore , members and close aides of the royal family also became targets of attacks by the communist insurgents , as recorded in the assault of a helicopter assassinating the queen ’s secretary and a bomb explosion in same vicinity as the king while he was visiting the south of Thailand . The country-wide deterioration and increase activities of communist incidents induced actions among the Thai armed forces . The first attempt to overthrow the Thanin administration was led by General Chalad Hiranyasiri and took place in March 1977 where the coup was unsuccessful and Chalad was executed on Thanin 's order . With increasing unrest , the Thanin government was successfully overthrew when a group of Thai military called Young Turks asked the 1976 coup leader ( the coup that ousted the elected civilian government of Seni Pramoj and appointed the current royal favorite Thanin Kraivichien as prime minister ) General Sa-ngad Chaloyu and the Supreme Commander General Kriangsak Chomanan to oust Thanin on 20 October 1977 . Chomanan was later appointed as the new Prime Minister by a majority votes through both the National Assembly and the NARC , as a new Prime Minister has not yet been selected or volunteered . 8 As Prime Minister , Kriangsak moved to modurate and neutralize his predecessor Thanin Kraivichien 's severe measures , which had driven young Thai intellectuals from multiple universities to join Communist insurgencies in the countryside . In 1978 , in a major risk to his political position with his right leaning supporting base , he submitted an amnesty bill to the National Legislative Assembly to release the leftist students and labor activist Bangkok 18 , deemed to be wrongly jailed in 1976 , in the Thammasat University Massacre . The move have greatly bolstered his international position as a South East Asian humanitarian leader as noted by commemoration from many international bodies such as that expressed by letter of congratulations from US President Jimmy Carter and Assistant Secretary of State Patricia Derian , Chief State Department official responsible for human rights and humanitarian affairs . He also started a successful amnesty program for Communists as part of a reconciliation policy . 1 As Prime Minister , Kriangsak is widely credited for defusing a long-running communist insurgency in northern Thailand . He is reported to have met in 1979 with Deng Xiaoping , then supreme leader of the People 's Republic of China , allowing China to ship arms to the rebel Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in exchange for the PRC withdrawing its support for the communist insurgency in Thailand . These reports were confirmed contemporaneously by the Sunday Times and wire services . However , claims of a deal involving the Khmer Rouge was denied by the Thai government , which cites his offer of amnesty as the primary reason for the withdrawal of communist insurgency and policy of reunifications . The other benefit of the deal with China for Thailand was that it would not have Vietnamese troops on its border . In the same way Kriangsak had secret deals with rebel armies across the border in Burma , which provided a buffer zone against Burmese aggression
Bangkok 18
Thammasat University massacre
Kriangsak Chamanan