With Sarit’s death in December 1963, power
shifted to a new military alliance headed by Generals
Thanom Kittikachorn and Prapass Charusathien.
Thanom became the prime minister and Prapass assumed
the powerful posts of the commander-in-chief of the
army and minister of interior. After the military’s
dissolution of Parliament in November 1971, the
government continued to ban political parties and
political gatherings despite its promise to restore
democratic institutions. The military government of
Thanom Kittikachorn became unpopular, particularly
among university students, the Bangkok-based middle
class, heavily suppressed labor organizations, and farmer
groups. The opposition centered on the increasingly
politicized Bangkok-based student movement organized
under the National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT)
and the illegal rural-based Communist Party of Thailand
(CPT). From the end of 1972 there was an escalation in
the number of demonstrations and clashes with the
police. In early October 1973, 13 students were arrested
for distributing leaflets calling for a constitution. They
were charged with treason and attempting to overthrow