A week after the change in administration, Wicnit seemed to move away frorn this somewhat conciliatory approach and adopted a strong pro-government stance. Despite the "radical" tag applied to Pridi from within the royalist camp, Wichit gave his long-time associate a glowing endorsement in the editorial column of the Thai mai. Wichit said that he had known Pridi for many years, and judged him to be "a lawyer who respects the law an individual who upholds the law for just purposes not for personal aggrandizement". His concluding remarks were even more supportive: he called Pridi "the hope of the nation'' (pen khuwam wang khong chat, and claimed that his participation