View source for Siddhi Savetsila

{{Short description|Thai air force officer and politician (1919–2015)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-suffix = [[Order of Chula Chom Klao|PChW]] [[Order of the White Elephant|MPCh]] [[Order of the Crown of Thailand|MWM]] [[Order of the Defender of the Realm|PMN]] [[Order of Prince Henry|GCIH]]
|name= Siddhi Savetsila
|native_name = {{nobold|สิทธิ เศวตศิลา}}
|native_name_lang = th
|honorific-prefix   = [[Air Chief Marshal]]
|birth_date={{Birth date|1919|1|7|df=y}}
|death_date={{Death date and age|2015|12|5|1919|1|7|df=y}}
|birth_place=[[Bangkok]], Thailand
|death_place=[[Bangkok]], Thailand
|image=Siddhi Savetsila (1980).jpg
|caption=Siddhi Savetsila at the [[Catshuis]] in 1980

|office= [[Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand]]
|primeminister = [[Prem Tinsulanonda]]
|term_start=15 January 1986
|term_end=5 August 1986

| office1              = [[President of the United Nations Security Council]]
| successor1           = {{Plainlist|
* Errol Mahabir 
* D. H. N. Alleyne
 }}
| predecessor1         = [[Javier Arias Stella]]
| termstart1          = 1 May 1985
| termend1            = 31 May 1985

|office2=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Thailand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
|term_start2= 11 February 1980
|term_end2= 26 August 1990
|primeminister2 = {{ubl|[[Kriangsak Chamanan]]|[[Prem Tinsulanonda]]|[[Chatichai Choonhavan]]}}
|predecessor2  = [[Upadit Pachariyangkun]]
|successor2 = [[Subin Pinkayan]]

|office3          = Minister to the [[Office of the Prime Minister (Thailand)|Office of the Prime Minister]]
|primeminister3 = [[Kriangsak Chamanan]]
|term_start3      =  30 January 1980
|term_end3        = 11 February 1980
|predecessor3  = [[Boonrueang Buajaroon]] <br> [[Somporn Boonyakup]] <br> [[Thawin Rainanon]]
|successor3 = [[Peeda Kanasut]] <br> [[Yos Devahastin na Ayudhya]] <br> [[Boonying Nanthapiwat]] <br> [[Pramual Kullamas]] <br>[[Porn Thanapoom]]

|office4   = Secretary-General of the [[National Security Council (Thailand)|National Security Council]]
|term_start4   = 11 December 1974
|term_end4    = 30 January 1980
|primeminister4 = {{ubl|[[Sanya Dharmasakti]]|[[Seni Pramoj]]|[[Thanin Kraivichien]]|[[Kriangsak Chamanan]]|[[Prem Tinsulanonda]]}}
|predecessor4  = [[Lek Neawmalee]]
|successor4    = [[Prasong Soonsiri]]

|party=[[Social Action Party|Social Action]] (1983–1990)
|otherparty   = [[Free Thai Movement]]
|occupation  = {{hlist|[[Politician]]|[[Diplomat]]|[[Royal Thai Air Force|{{nowrap|Air Force Officer}}]]}}
|allegiance= {{flag|Thailand}}
|serviceyears=
|rank= [[Air Chief Marshal]]<ref name="ratchakitcha.soc.go.th">{{Cite web | title=Not Found}}</ref>
|branch= [[Royal Thai Air Force]]
|commands=
|unit=
|battles= [[Pacific War]] 
|awards=
|signature= Sithi Sawetsila signature.png
|education = [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]: [[Bachelor of Science|S.B.]], [[Master of Science|S.M.]]
}}

'''Siddhi Savetsila''' ({{langx|th|สิทธิ เศวตศิลา}}, {{RTGS|''Sit Sawetsila''}}, {{IPA|th|sìt sàʔwèːtsìʔlaː}}, 7 January 1919 – 5 December 2015) was a Thai air force officer and politician. After finishing his military career with the rank of [[air chief marshal]], he served as the [[Foreign Minister of Thailand|foreign minister of Thailand]] from 1980 to 1990. In 1991, he became a member of the [[Privy Council (Thailand)|Privy Council]] of King [[Bhumibol Adulyadej]]. He was the [[President of the United Nations Security Council|president of the united nations security council]] in 1985 with [[Mom Luang]] Birabhongse Kasemsri.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scpres1980.htm |title = Presidents (1980-1989) : Security Council (SC) : United Nations (UN) |archive-url=https://archive.today/20051129085457/http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scpres1980.htm |archive-date=29 November 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Life and education ==
[[File:FreeThaiMedalofFreedom.jpg|thumb|left|Siddhi and Group of [[Free Thai Movement|Free Thais]] who received the [[Medal of Freedom]] from the U.S. government on September 2, 1945]]
Siddhi Savetsila was born in [[Bangkok]]. He is a member of the Thai aristocracy. His father was a high-ranking official in the royal government. His paternal grandfather was [[Henry Alabaster]] who was the British consul in Siam during the reign of King [[Mongkut|Rama IV]] (Mongkut) and then served as an advisor to King [[Chulalongkorn|Rama V]] (Chulalongkorn).<ref>{{Citation |author=Derick Garnier |url=http://www.anglicanthai.org/alabaster.htm |title=Henry Alabaster, 1836- 1884 |publisher=AnglicanThai.org |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904021243/http://www.anglicanthai.org/alabaster.htm |archivedate=2011-09-04 }}</ref> His mother was an offspring of the influential [[Bunnag]] family. He is a direct descendant of Somdet Chao Phraya Borom Maha [[Prayurawongse]].<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.bunnag.in.th/prarajpannuang032.html |title=สายเจ้าคุณพระราชพันธุ์นวลชั้นที่ ๔ สายเจ้าพระยาสุรพันธพิสุทธิ์ (เทศ บุนนาค) ได้แก่ |publisher=The Bunnag Lineage Club |access-date=2013-06-23 |archive-date=2013-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014172921/http://www.bunnag.in.th/prarajpannuang032.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Siddhi studied [[metallurgy|metallurgic engineering]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), graduating with an [[Bachelor of Science|S.B.]] degree in 1943. During the [[Second World War]], he joined the [[Free Thai Movement]] ''(Seri Thai)'' which resisted against the ''de facto'' occupation of Thailand by Japanese forces. He collected data for the US foreign-intelligence agency [[Office of Strategic Services|OSS]] (predecessor of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]) and was temporarily detained by the Japanese.<ref>{{Citation |author=Robert O. Tilman |title=Southeast Asia and the Enemy Beyond |publisher=Westview Press |year=1987 |page=54}}</ref> Two of Siddhis sisters married US intelligence operatives, one was the wife of former OSS agent Willis Bird and one of CIA officer [[James William Lair|William Lair]].<ref>{{Citation |author=Daniel Fineman |title=A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958 |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |place=Honolulu |year=1997 |isbn=0-8248-1818-0 |page=133}}</ref> After the end of the war, he returned to the MIT and received his [[Master of Science|S.M.]] degree in 1947.

Siddhi holds honorary doctorate degrees from the [[University of the Philippines]], the [[National University of Singapore]] and five universities in Thailand.

== Air Force career ==
He then served in the [[Royal Thai Air Force]] and rose up to the rank of air chief marshal ''(phon akat ek)''. 

== Security career ==
From 1975 to 1980 he served as secretary-general of the [[National Security Council (Thailand)|National Security Council]]. In this position he assisted Prime Minister [[Kriangsak Chomanan]] at the time of the [[Cambodian–Vietnamese War|Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia]] during 1978 to 1979.

== Political career ==
[[File:Van Agt met luchtmaarschalk Siddhi Savetsila, Bestanddeelnr 931-0371.jpg|thumb|left|Prime Minister [[Dries van Agt]] with Siddhi Savetsila in 1980]]
In 1980, Kriangsak appointed him minister of foreign affairs. He kept this position when [[Prem Tinsulanonda]] took over the premiership a few months later. As Thailand' representative in the [[United Nations]] (UN) and [[ASEAN]], Siddhi advocated a tough line towards Vietnam which was occupying Cambodia after 1979. In 1983, Siddhi was elected member of parliament and in 1985 he took over the leadership of the [[Social Action Party]] (SAP) following the retirement of [[Kukrit Pramoj]]. The party did well in the [[1986 Thai general election|1986 election]] and Siddhi additionally became deputy prime minister for a short time.

In August 1990, the new Prime Minister [[Chatichai Choonhavan]] dismissed Siddhi as he sought a more pragmatic relationship with the communist-ruled countries of Southeast Asia. Siddhi's SAP was in great difficulties during the late 1980s and, in September 1990, Siddhi gave up his leadership. One month later, he completely retired from the parliament and the party, stating that he was tired of politics.<ref>{{Citation |author=Michael Leifer |title=Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia |place=London |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=0-415-13821-3 |page=147}}</ref> In 1991 King Bhumibol appointed him to his privy council.<ref name="OHM">''[http://www.ohm.go.th/asset/lib/kcfinder/upload/files/Privy/member/Siddhi-Savetsila_eng.pdf H.E. Air Chief Marshal Siddhi Savetsila, Privy Councillor.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208061123/http://www.ohm.go.th/asset/lib/kcfinder/upload/files/Privy/member/Siddhi-Savetsila_eng.pdf |date=2015-12-08 }}'' Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary.</ref>

== Legacy ==

Siddhi Savetsila is widely regarded as a symbol of restraint, technocratic integrity, and traditional diplomatic poise in modern Thai history. A descendant of both the Alabaster and Bunnag families, Siddhi’s background embodied the synthesis of Western education and aristocratic Thai values. As Thailand's foreign minister and ASEAN statesman during the Cold War, he played a pivotal role in shaping regional diplomacy, emphasizing negotiation, consensus, and alignment with international norms, while maintaining Thailand’s autonomy and cultural identity.<ref name="nation2015">{{cite news |last=Editorial |title=Siddhi Savetsila: Diplomat and warrior |url=https://www.nationthailand.com/perspective/30277609 |newspaper=The Nation |date=16 December 2015 |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>

During his tenure as foreign minister, Siddhi was instrumental in reinforcing ASEAN’s collective stance during a period of geopolitical volatility in Southeast Asia. In the aftermath of Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia, he advocated for a unified ASEAN response and maintained firm opposition to foreign occupation, while avoiding direct military confrontation. His steady diplomacy helped shape ASEAN’s reputation as a cohesive regional bloc and reinforced Thailand’s position as a key diplomatic actor balancing relations between Western allies and neighboring communist regimes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weatherbee |first=Donald |title=International Relations in Southeast Asia: The Struggle for Autonomy |year=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=103}}</ref>

Siddhi’s personal and familial ties to American intelligence added a layer of strategic importance to his role during the Cold War. Two of his sisters married senior U.S. operatives, one an OSS agent and another a high-ranking CIA officer, reflecting deep trust between Thailand’s elite and U.S. foreign policy circles. Siddhi himself was active in the Free Thai Movement during World War II, serving as an OSS intelligence contact, which laid the groundwork for decades of cooperation between Thailand and American security agencies.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fineman |first=Daniel |title=A Special Relationship: The United States and Military Government in Thailand, 1947–1958 |publisher=University of Hawai‘i Press |year=1997 |page=133}}</ref>

Unlike many of his military contemporaries, Siddhi operated with a technocratic, non-populist style that emphasized discretion, continuity, and institutional loyalty. Though a senior officer and advisor to multiple prime ministers, he avoided direct involvement in military coups and instead pursued influence through formal roles in diplomacy and national security. His later appointment to the Privy Council reflected his enduring reputation as a statesman of discipline and balance, earning respect across political divides for his commitment to national stability over personal ambition.<ref name="nation2015" />

Retrospective assessments often contrast Siddhi’s modest, duty-driven statesmanship with the more populist or transactional leadership styles of later decades. He has been praised for his moral clarity, his lack of self-promotion, and his steady stewardship of Thai diplomacy during a volatile regional and international period.<ref name="bangkokpost2015">{{cite news |title=Former foreign minister Siddhi dies at 96 |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/785021 |newspaper=Bangkok Post |date=5 December 2015 |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref><ref name="eaf2016">{{cite web |last=Pongsudhirak |first=Thitinan |title=Thailand’s diplomatic past and future |website=East Asia Forum |date=17 April 2016 |url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/04/17/thailands-diplomatic-past-and-future/ |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>

== Died ==
He died on 5 December 2015 at the age of 96.<ref>{{cite news|title=Privy councillor Siddhi dies at 96|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/785717/privy-councillor-siddhi-dies-at-96|accessdate=6 December 2015|work=Bangkok Post|date=5 December 2015}}</ref>

==Honour==
He was decorated with the [[Order of Chula Chom Klao]] (first class), the [[Order of the White Elephant]] (special class) and the [[Order of the Crown of Thailand]] (special class), as well as foreign decorations from 14 countries.<ref name="OHM"/>

On 8 May 2000, he was among the five Free Thai veterans who were awarded the [[Agency Seal Medallion]] by [[CIA]] director [[George Tenet]].
=== Foreign Honours ===

* [[File:Order of Chula Chom Klao - 1st Class (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Chula Chom Klao]]
* [[File:Order of the White Elephant - Special Class (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the White Elephant]]
* [[File:Order of the Crown of Thailand - Special Class (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Crown of Thailand]]
* [[File:Freeman Safeguarding Medal - 1st Class (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] Freemen Safeguarding Medal, First Class
* [[File:Chakra Mala Medal (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] Chakra Mala Medal
* [[File:King Rama IX Royal Cypher Medal (Thailand) ribbon.svg|80x80px]] [[Bhumibol Adulyadej|King Rama IX]] Royal Cypher Medal, 3rd class

===Foreign honour===
* {{flag|United States}} : 
** [[File:Medal of Freedom stripe.svg|80x80px]] [[Medal of Freedom (1945)|Medal of Freedom]]
* {{Flag|South Korea}} :
** [[File:Order of Diplomatic Service Merit (Class 2) Gwanghwa Medal ribbon.gif|80x80px]] [[Order of Diplomatic Service Merit]], Gwanghwa Medal
* {{Flag|Chile}} :
** [[File:CHL Order of Merit of Chile - Grand Cross BAR.svg|80x80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Merit (Chile)|Order of Merit]] 
* {{Flag|Argentina}} :
** [[File:ARG Order of the Liberator San Martin - Grand Cross BAR.svg|80x80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Liberator General San Martín|Order of the Liberator San Martin]]
* {{Flag|Austria}} :
** [[File:AUT Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria - 2nd Class BAR.svg|80x80px]] Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash of the [[Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria]]
* {{Flag|Malaysia}} : 
** [[File:MY Darjah Yang Mulia Pangkuan Negara (Defender of the Realm)- PMN.svg|80x80px]] Honorary Commander of the [[Order of the Defender of the Realm#Commander|Order of the Defender of the Realm]] ('''P.M.N.''') (1983)<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.istiadat.gov.my/index.php/component/semakanlantikanskp/|title=Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat}}</ref>
* {{flag|Portugal}}: 
** [[File:PRT Order of Prince Henry - Grand Cross BAR.svg|80x80px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Prince Henry]] ('''G.C.I.H.''')

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savetsila, Siddhi}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:Social Action Party politicians|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Leaders of political parties in Thailand|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Royal Thai Air Force air marshals|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Thailand|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Thailand|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Thai people of British descent|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Thailand|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Ministers to the Office of the Prime Minister of Thailand|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bangkok|Siddhi Savetsila]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Bangkok|Siddhi Savetsila]]