15 Aug 2025
An Inspiring Bike Tour Of “Free Thai” Movement Political Hotspots
Bangkok — Thailand, the “Land of the Free,” is the only country in Southeast Asia never to have been colonised. Its political history is a fascinating metamorphosis of constitutional changes, military coups and on-again off-again experiments with democracy. Several places associated with this chequered history are located a short walk from the popular tourist spots of the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
On 10 August, I joined a bike tour to follow in the “Footsteps of the Free Thai Movement” organised by the Pridi Banomyong Institute of Thammasat University, along with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and Bangkok Urban Cycling Alliance (BUCA). As a diehard history buff, it was a fascinating trip through the backstreets of historic Bangkok, taking in sights and sounds that defy any mumbo-jumbo touristic description.
The Free Thai Movement was a political activist group that grew out of the ashes of World War II and Thailand’s evolution from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. The tour began with a lecture about its central figure, Dr Pridi Banomyong, a French-educated technocrat and educator who played a key role in that transition. Many believe that his vision of Thailand as a torchbearer of human dignity, freedom, democracy, education and freedom is still work in progress.
More about the historical significance of each spot on the bike tour can be read here: https://pridi.or.th/th/content/2025/08/2588 (with a little help from a translation app). While soaking up the historical memorabilia, I also examined each spot from a visitor perspective. For students of political and economic science, Thammasat university, Bank of Thailand museum and Democracy Monument are not to be missed.
Saturday, Aug 16, will mark Thai Peace Day (Wan Santiphap Thai). Although not a national holiday, it is certainly cause for reflection on current political events, globally, regionally and locally. After the 2023 national elections, the government launched an economic recovery programme called “Ignite Thailand.” Upcoming developments in the second half of August are likely to give new meaning to that term. The
Here are some of my own images of the tour.
