What happens
In 1945, Thailand's premier Luang Gavitarahuiwang is anxious as the Pacific war draws near his country. Recalling the rise and fall of his predecessor, Luang Pibul Songgram, he remembers the Bangkok of happier times, its canals, markets, monks and modern boulevards. He recounts how Pibul's government drew closer to Japan, signed treaties with it, and was left under Japanese control. He also recalls the bombing of Bangkok by Allied aircraft and the strategic value of the country's railways, which make Thailand important to both sides. Much of the story is told through Gavitarahuiwang's memories and his conversations with his advisers.
Thailand, Bangkok and Petchaburi, during the Pacific War, 1945
Characters: Luang Gavitarahuiwang, Luang Pibul Songgram
Listen for: Gavitarahuiwang's memories of Bangkok and of Pibul's rise, the Japanese treaties, and his nervous conversations with his advisers about the approaching war
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.