Plaek Phibunsonkram (Little Man in the Shadow of Earth)

Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Thai: แปลก พิบูลสงคราม  [plɛ̀ːk pʰí.būːn.sǒŋ.kʰrāːm]; alternatively transcribed as Pibulsongkram or Pibulsonggram; 14 July 1897 – 11 June 1964), locally known as Chomphon Por (Thai: จอมพล ป.; [tɕɔ̄ːm.pʰōn.pɔ̄ː]), contemporarily known as Phibun (Pibul) in the West, was a Siam military officer and politician who served as the President of Constitution's Protector Council of Siam and dictator from 1938 to 1957.

Phibunsongkhram was a member of the Royal Siamese Army (later Siamese Defense Force) wing of Khana Ratsadon, the first political party in Siam, and a leader of the Siamese revolution of 1932 transforming Siam from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Phibunsongkhram became the Chairman of Constitution's Protector Council in 1938, establishing a de facto military dictatorship inspired by the Italian fascism of Benito Mussolini which promoted Siamese nationalism and sinophobia and allied Siam with Imperial Japan in World War II. Phibunsongkhram launched a modernization campaign known as the Siamese Cultural Revolution that included a series of cultural mandates.

WIP