In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 25 March 1905
- Died
- 28 September 2000
- Birthplace
- Bangkok, Siam
- Country
- Thailand
- Nationality
- Thai
- Known for
- Leading Thailand’s civilian interim government after the September 1957 coup
- Prime minister
- September–December 1957
- Foreign minister
- 1949–1950
- Ambassador
- United States, 1952–1957
- Regional office
- First SEATO secretary-general
Why this life matters
Pote supplied diplomatic credibility to Thailand’s post-coup transition while linking national government, the United States alliance and the institutional history of SEATO.
Timeline
Key moments
Born in Bangkok
Born on 25 March into the Sarasin family and later educated in Thailand, the United States and Britain.
Entered national government
Joined the foreign ministry leadership as deputy minister after a career in law and business.
Served as foreign minister
Left office after opposing Phibun’s decision to recognise the Bảo Đại government in Vietnam.
Represented Thailand on Korea
Served on the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea.
Ambassador in Washington
Managed Thailand’s most important Cold War diplomatic relationship during the expansion of United States aid.
Helped negotiate the Manila Pact
Took part in the diplomacy that created the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
Became prime minister
Accepted leadership of a civilian interim cabinet five days after Sarit overthrew Phibun.
Supervised a general election
Oversaw the election promised after the coup and then yielded office to Thanom Kittikachorn.
Led the SEATO secretariat
Served as the alliance organisation’s first secretary-general from its Bangkok headquarters.
Returned to senior government
Held national development, commerce and deputy-prime-ministerial responsibilities under Thanom.
Died in Bangkok
Died on 28 September at the age of ninety-five.
Legal training and an independent diplomatic voice
Pote Sarasin was born in Bangkok in 1905. He attended Bangkok Christian College, studied in Massachusetts and trained in law at the Middle Temple in London before practising in Thailand. That international education and professional background made him an unusual figure in a political system dominated by officers from the 1932 and 1947 military networks.
He entered government as deputy foreign minister in 1948 and became foreign minister the following year. His term ended when he opposed Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s decision to recognise the anti-communist Bảo Đại government in Vietnam. A later Ministry of Foreign Affairs history treats the resignation as evidence that formal office did not give a minister final control over foreign policy when the prime minister chose to intervene directly.
Washington, Korea and the making of SEATO
Pote represented Thailand on the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea and became ambassador to the United States in 1952. His Washington posting coincided with the rapid expansion of American military and economic assistance. He therefore worked at the centre of an alliance that strengthened Thailand’s external security while also reinforcing the armed institutions competing for power at home.
In 1954 he participated in the Manila meeting that produced the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty. Thailand became one of only three Asian members of SEATO and Bangkok hosted its permanent headquarters. Thai diplomatic research identifies Pote as the organisation’s first secretary-general, a role that made him one of the most recognisable civilian faces of the country’s Cold War alignment.
The civilian face of Sarit’s 1957 transition
Sarit Thanarat’s coup of 16 September 1957 removed Phibun and destroyed Police General Phao Siyanon’s political network. Five days later, Pote became prime minister. A contemporary United States assessment described the selection as useful to both Sarit’s army group and the palace: Pote had stayed outside the factional struggle, was respected abroad and could reassure allied governments that Thailand’s international commitments would continue.
That credibility did not make the government independent of the coup leaders. Sarit remained military governor and the decisive power behind the cabinet, while the National Assembly was dissolved. Pote’s task was narrower but consequential: restore an administrative government, maintain foreign relations and supervise the election ordered within ninety days. Voting took place on 15 December, after which Thanom Kittikachorn succeeded him.
Development offices and a legacy of institutional continuity
Pote continued as SEATO secretary-general until 1963 and then returned to cabinet service. World Bank archival material records later terms as minister of national development, commerce minister and deputy prime minister, as well as leadership roles connected to investment and Khon Kaen University. Those assignments placed a diplomat associated with treaty politics inside Thailand’s development-state institutions.
His career complicates a simple divide between civilian diplomacy and military government. Pote sometimes resisted Phibun, yet accepted office after Sarit’s coup and later served the authoritarian order built by Sarit and Thanom. His significance lies less in the length of his premiership than in the legitimacy and continuity he supplied: he connected a coercive transfer of power to elections, international recognition and a durable pro-Western foreign policy.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Pote Sarasin
- Who was Pote Sarasin?
- Pote Sarasin was a diplomat, interim prime minister and SEATO secretary-general. Pote supplied diplomatic credibility to Thailand’s post-coup transition while linking national government, the United States alliance and the institutional history of SEATO.
- What is Pote Sarasin best known for?
- Pote Sarasin is best known for leading Thailand’s civilian interim government after the September 1957 coup.
- When and where was Pote Sarasin born?
- Pote Sarasin was born on 25 March 1905 in Bangkok, Siam.
- When did Pote Sarasin die?
- Pote Sarasin died on 28 September 2000.
Sources and further reading
How this biography was checked
Core dates and offices are checked against the sources below. This profile was last reviewed on 3 October 2026.
- Secretariat of the Prime Minister of ThailandDirectory of Prime Ministers of Thailand
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of ThailandNames of Past Foreign Ministers
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of ThailandThailand and ASEAN, 1967–1979
- Central Intelligence Agency Reading RoomPote Sarasin—Provisional Premier of Thailand
- World Bank Group ArchivesThailand political and biographical brief, 1971
- Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of StateThe September 1957 coup and interim government
- Wikimedia CommonsPote Sarasin portrait and public-domain record
