Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee

Fuen Ritthakhanee
Fuen in 1954
Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand
In office
2 August 1955 – 16 September 1957
Prime MinisterPlaek Phibunsongkhram
Preceded byPhin Choonhavan
Muni Mahasantana Wechayantrangsarit
Boonkerd Sutantanon
Succeeded byWan Waithayakon
Praphas Charusathien
Sukich Nimmanheminda
Minister of Transport
In office
6 December 1951 – 2 August 1955
Prime MinisterPlaek Phibunsongkhram
Preceded bySawat Sawatranachai Sawatdikiat
Succeeded byMuni Mahasantana Wechayantrangsarit
Minister of Public Health
In office
31 March – 16 September 1957
Prime MinisterPlaek Phibunsongkhram
Preceded byPrayoon Pamornmontri
Succeeded byLuang Chaloem Khamphirawet
4th Commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Air Force
In office
1949–1957
Preceded byLuang Thewarit Pan Luek
Succeeded byChalermkiat Watanangura
Personal details
Born(1900-02-21)21 February 1900
Phra Nakhon district, Phra Nakhon, Siam (now Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok, Thailand)
Died8 July 1987(1987-07-08) (aged 87)
Military service
AllegianceThailand Thailand
Branch/service Royal Thai Air Force
Years of service1914–1961
Rank General
Admiral[1]
Marshal of the Air Force[2]
CommandsCommander-in-Chief
WarsWorld War II

Marshal of the Royal Thai Air Force Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee (Thai: ฟื้น รณนภากาศ ฤทธาคนี) (21 February 1900 – 8 July 1987) was a Royal Thai Air Force officer who served as the Commander of the Royal Thai Air Force from 1949 to 1957. In July 1951, Ritthakhanee became Minister of Transport and in 1955 he was elevated to the position of Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. Relinquishing the Deputy Prime Ministership in 1957, he briefly served as Minister of Health that year.

In 1947 he was one of the group of senior officers who planned and carried out the Siamese coup d'état.

On 13 December 1949 Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee took over as Commander of the Royal Thai Air Force, replacing Air Marshal Luang Tevaritpunluok. He continued in the Air Force's senior post until 1957.[3]

In 1953, Air Chief Marshal Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee founded the Royal Thai Air Force Academy, albeit on a temporary basis. Four years later in 1957, Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee who was by then a marshal of the Royal Thai Air Force and its Commander, returned to the Academy laying its foundation stone during a ceremony which marked its permanent establishment.[4]

In the 1960s Fuen Ronnaphagrad Ritthakhanee was the chairman of the United Flour Mill Public Company Limited, Thailand's first wheat flour mill.[5] Fuen was retired at the Supreme Command Headquarters in 1961. He died on 8 July 1987, at the age of 87.

  1. ^ Archived copy Archived 10 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Archived copy Archived 14 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ http://www.fader.dyndns.org/wings/TAirForce/thaiafbasis08e.htm[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-28. Retrieved 2008-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ "United Flour Mill". sunsite.icm.edu.pl.