Seni Pramoj, who is credited with preventing the United States from attacking Thailand during World War II and went on to serve three terms as Thailand's prime minister, died Monday. He was 92.
Seni died of kidney failure and other complications of heart disease, doctors at Bangkok General Hospital said. A longtime smoker, Seni had been hospitalized since 1995 with heart disease and emphysema.Seni, as Thailand's ambassador to Washington, refused to deliver his government's January 1942 declaration of war against the United States and England to U.S. officials. Soon after, he began organizing a guerrilla force known as the Seri Thai - or Free Thai - to fight Japanese forces occupying his country.
Because of his role in the Seri Thai movement, the United States did not fight Thailand or treat it as a defeated enemy at the end of the war.
As a political leader, Seni was less successful. His longest term as prime minister was only six months. He stumbled in his attempts to shake the military's grip on the country and was criticized for mismanagement and lack of leadership.
Seni was born May 26, 1905, in Nakhon Sawan, north of Bangkok. He was the great-grandson of one a 19th century Siamese king.