Washington had declined to embrace Phibun after his 1947 coup, but began to fund Thailand as a strategic Asian ally immediately after communist Victory in China. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 Phibun’s government was the first in Asia to offer military support to the United States, and was rewarded with further military aid. The army was thereby emboldened to dispense with its uncomfortable royalist allies and take over government in the 1951 coup. It cemented its strong relationship with Washington by cracking down on the remaining liberals and leftists in Thailand’s public sphere. For Phibun the alliance was needed not against the negligible communist party, but as internal legitimation, and strengthening against traditional rivals Viet Nam and Burma. However, US military aid to the army, and CIA support for the police, strengthened these two rival networks of patronage to the extent of undermining Phibun’s control. He responded with another round of liberalization, ensuring that his allies won a flawed election in 1957.The army, now led by Field Marshall Sarit Thannarat (1908-63) and GeneralT Thanom Kittikachorn (1911-2004), shifted to a more blatant military dictatorship in two coups of 1957 and 1958. Sant ruled as Prune Mmister until his death, and Thanom thereafter until the pro-democracy movement of 1973. Wholly Thai-educated, these generals were unapologetic in declaring democracy unsuited to Thailand, preferring an imagined harmoni¬ous order undertheold monarchy. During America’s Indochina wars,Thailand became its essential base for bombing raids, vital supplies,Thai troops deployed m Viet Nam and Laos, and a congenial rest and recreation center for its troops. Military-backed‘‘development’ was touted as the only viable model for growth short of communism.