Thailand, 1981 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
On 1 to 3 April 1981 a faction of Thai army officers known as the Young Turks, a group of Class 7 military academy graduates who had grown powerful and restive, attempted a coup against the government of Prime Minister General Prem Tinsulanonda. The rebels, led by figures including General Sant Chitpatima, mobilized a large part of the Bangkok garrison, seized key points in the capital, and briefly held the upper hand, in what became known as the April Fool's Day coup. But the attempt failed for a decisive reason: Prem escorted the revered royal family, including King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to the loyal northeastern base at Korat, and the King's evident support for Prem swung the army and public against the rebels.
Deprived of royal legitimacy, the coup collapsed within days and its leaders fled or were arrested, though many were later amnestied. Prem survived and remained prime minister for years, and the episode underscored the decisive role of the Thai monarchy in the country's recurrent military power struggles.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
80004011981- Albrecht/Koehler/Schutz (CAM) id
CAM-800-1981-04-01
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda defeated the April 1981 Young Turks coup after securing the King's support at Korat.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
Wikipedia
New York Times
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →