After the Thammasat University massacre of 6 October 1976 , the democratically elected prime minister Seni Pramoj was toppled by a military coup led by Admiral Sangad Chaloryu . Two days later , King Bhumibol Adulyadej appointed his favourite , Thanin , to be interim prime minister . Thanin insisted on selecting his cabinet himself and rejected most of the military junta 's nominations . The military occupied only the positions of deputy prime minister and deputy minister of defence . Thanin 's was the first Thai cabinet in which women — Wimolsiri Chamnarnvej and Lursakdi Sampatisiri — held ministerial posts . Thanin was seen as honest and intelligent , but also as eminently ideological and politically extreme . After his taking office , he sent police special forces to notoriously liberal book shops , and ordered the confiscation and burning of 45,000 books , including works of Thomas More , George Orwell , and Maxim Gorky
Thammasat University massacre
Thammasat University massacre
Thanin Kraivichien