in general did not, and he believed they should be compel duo change their ways in the interests of national honour and dignity The gov ernment was clearly supportive of this idea, and Wichit's committee was ordered to formulate an appropriate State Convention. The resultant directive prescribed that whenever the National Flag was raised or lowered in public places individuals in the vicinity were required to stand al attention. Citizens were also required to stand to attention when the National Anthem or the Royal Anthem was played at official functions, festivals or in places of entertainment Members of the public were further instructed that they should help enforce these new regulations personally by reminding any individual whom they saw disregarding the Convention of the importance of respecting the flag and as national symbols ss This form ol citizen pressure, the possibility of being arrested, ensured that the directive was widely adhered to and it quickly became an integral part of Thai public life. Nevertheless, there were notable infringements of the order, such as case in October 1941 when men were caught on the banks o the River cleaning a boat with the National Flag: of the offenders was jailed for sixteen days while the other was fined the not insignificant sum of 15 baht State Conventions and the Economy Since the economic sphere was an area of major reform and one ol deep concern to the Phibun regime, it is not suprising that the State Conventions were used as a means for promoting its policies. Two Conventions were formulated by Wichit's committee. The first of these, which appeared on 1 November 1939 called on the public to buy local produce and support Thai industrial and commercial enterprise. The second Convention, announced on 21 March 1940, encouraged all Thais to"contribute to the task of national reconstruction which meant that, "every able-bodied person must work". It was further s that those"who take up no occupa tion neglect their duty in assisting national progress do not deserve to be held in respect by the general public".57 by the These two Conventions were part of a complex process administration to"Thai-ify" the economy. From Vajiravudhs time, there had been calls for the state to become more active in the eco- nomic sphere by establishing government factories and providing greater employment opportunities for Thai nationals sa However, as Hewison notes, the pre-1932 regime"took a largely laissez-faire position