On a visit to Thailand two years ago, Lyndon Johnson said that the time had come for Southeast Asia to "separate the men from the boys" in its battle against Communist aggression. In every sense of the word, Thailand's Premier Sarit Thanarat was a man. A bluff, hard-wenching, hard-drinking soldier, Sarit was also a masterly pro-Western politician who stabilized Thailand's chaotic government and sagging economy, rooted out official corruption and cracked down hard on Communist infiltration. In the "domino" view of Southeast Asia, according to which the collapse of one country could knock over all the others, Thailand alone stood...
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