One of his closest friends was King Baudouin of Belgium, with whom he maintained a long and intimate correspondence. Baudouin’s most useful advice was for the king to stay out of direct politics and use his growing mass support to deal with his opponents. The biggest test of his authority came in 1973, when widespread unrest spearheaded by radical students finally threatened the military grip of Thanom and Praphas. Hundreds of thousands of students and citizens protested outside the royal palace, and dozens were gunned down by trigger-happy soldiers before the king finally convinced the ruling junta to leave Thailand, using his own radio transmitter, as he was denied access to the government station