Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej Dies at 88
bbc.com
bbc.com
I hope that Thailand will stay stable. Support of the King has been key to successful military coups and transitions. The Crown Prince is much less admired, and quite odd:
"The 63-year-old crown prince, Vajiralongkorn (pictured), is spoilt and demanding, and—to put it mildly—widely loathed. Three times divorced, he spends a lot of time abroad, often in Germany. In 2007 leaked video footage showed him and his then-consort, who was wearing nothing but a G-string and heels, holding a lavish royal party. The only guest appeared to be Foo Foo, his poodle, which before dying in 2015 enjoyed the rank of air chief marshal."
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21702497-after-ailing-mon...
For those unaware, it has been illegal to defame or insult the monarchy for the last 100 years or so under the country's Lèse majesté law, widely used to silence critics.
Some notable cases from Wikipedia [1]:
2008, Harry Nicolaides from Melbourne, Australia - Wrote an offending passage in his self-published book Verisimilitude. The book, which sold a mere 7 copies, mentioned the "romantic entanglements and intrigues" of royalty. He was arrested upon arriving at Bangkok's international airport[56] and charged with lèse majesté. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to three years in jail but then pardoned by the king after spending a month in jail, released, and deported.
2012, Ampon Tangnoppakul, He was accused of sending four Short Message Service (SMS) messages from his cell phones. The messages were deemed offensive to the King and Queen of Thailand. He had been denied bail on 8 occasions and died in a prison hospital at the age of 61 while serving a 20–year prison sentence.
2013, Somyot Prueksakasemsuk - Sentenced to ten years in prison, convicted of publishing two articles under a pseudonym that made negative references to the crown in his now-defunct magazine Voice of Taksin.
2015, Thanakorn Siripaiboon, Thai factory worker - He had been detained on 8 December 2015 and had been kept in an undisclosed location prompting fears of his forced disappearance. He faces multiple charges including that of insulting the king's adopted dog Tongdaeng. Thai military junta did not detail the precise insult made towards the animal. He faced up to 37 years in prison. He was granted bail on 8 March 2016; the bail was set at half a million baht
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A8se_majest%C3%A9_in_Thai...
A more plausible cynical position would argue that the widespread development projects funded by revenue from the king's vast royal fortune bought the affection.
But the Thai people seem to generally respect, even revere King Bhumibol, feeling that he sincerely cared for the well-being of his people.
obviously you never been/read about central Europe during Soviet occupation (1949-1991), Stalin pictures/busts everywhere, people cried on the streets when he died. In Poland we had _mandatory_ 'work holiday' celebrations on 1 of may. People would march on the streets holding Stalin pictures and chanting "Stalin! Peace! Party! Comecon (Eastern Bloc version of EU) makes us stronger!" and other nonsense while being observed by secret police and party monitors.
Stalin picture was a standard wall ornament in every living room and classroom.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/09/ec...
Queen Elizabeth of UK (and CANZ) has been ruling since 1952.
One summer, I read about their wedding in the paper. He wasn't BSing me after all!
"While at MIT she first met Peter Ladd Jensen, whom she later married."
Given media control in Thailand, there's no doubt plenty of incentive leading those in the media to go out of their way to praise the royal family (deserved or not).
"...there is now an official period of mourning of one year from 14 October 2016; you should respect the feelings and sensitivities of the Thai people at this time; access to entertainment, including restaurants, bars, and shopping areas may be restricted and you should behave respectfully when in public areas; if possible, wear sombre and respectful clothing when in public; check local media regularly and follow the advice of the local authorities"
Now, there's nobody with moral authority to mediate between clashing factions.
Previously, the king could just say "Guys, stop killing each other and cut it out" and they'd actually listen. The crown prince has no such power and influence over the country. Will be interesting to see who rushes in to grab influence.
"Bhumibol Adulyadej ... chose not to condemn the 1976 massacre at Bangkok's Thammasat University of dozens of pro-democracy protesters ..."
Time Magazine: "Thailand Bids Farewell to Beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej", regarding said events:
In early October of that year, demonstrations convulsed Bangkok in response to the arrest of prominent student activists. The crowd swelled to around 400,000, including many members of the public, owing to the military’s heavy-handed response that resulted in at least 100 civilian deaths. Bhumibol intervened, ordering the doors of Chitrlada Palace opened to provide the students refuge, and persuaded Thanom and his cohorts to go into temporary exile.
In September 1976, Bhumibol allowed Thanom to return to Thailand, even visiting him with Sirikit in Wat Bovornives — the Chakri dynasty’s personal temple — where he had ordained as a monk. Thousands of furious students gathered inside Thammasat University to oppose Thanom’s return. On Oct. 5, spurred on by radio broadcasts accusing the students of threatening the crown prince and communism, thousands of royalist paramilitaries massed outside the campus.
The killing began the following dawn. First, a rocket-propelled bomb was fired into the throng of students, reportedly killing four and injuring dozens. Military weapons wreaked a heavy toll until around 9 a.m., and at least two students were dragged out, tortured and lynched. Three others were seen dumped on tires, drenched in petrol and burned alive. A junta headed by the Defense Minister, Admiral Sa-ngad Chaloryu, seized power immediately after the massacre. Another flirtation with democracy had been crushed.
"New photos of 6 Oct 1976 massacre emerge" (NSFW, but apparently safe enough for the U.S. to consider Thailand among its staunchest asian allies for the past several decades):
To at least my outside perspective, The King seems to have been a stabilising force which prevented Thailand from descending into outright civil war.
And I can't help but feel that somehow insinuating that America shouldn't consider Thailand an ally after the events you listed is a bit ridiculous considering the year before they occured the US was still in Vietnam fighting a war with allies who were torturing and killing a damned site more people than what was happening in Thailand around the same time.
Yeah, I can't imagine having B-52s unloading on Cambodia or Laos had anything to do with that. Clearly it's their lack of a monarchy.
Maybe the US found a friend, given that its military also killed college students in the same era; students using their democratic right to protest?
So yes, Kent State was a mistake born from confusion, but there's still similarities in using the military and live rounds to control the population.
Or perhaps a different moral standpoint: in the same era, look at how the US military treated the very Vietnamese civilians that they were explicitly there to protect. I'm not saying the US is an autocratic junta, I'm just saying the glass houses/stones thing - how can the US be a staunch ally of such a place? Well, because the US is often A-OK with those kind of actions.
> Thailand is a unique society in the modern world: a Theravada Buddhist monarchy with a parliamentary system. The clarinet-playing king, believed to be a living incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, presides via lèse majesté laws over a hedonistic and technology-obsessed Asian Tiger economy, centered in one of the most sophisticated urban cultures on earth. No one has ever been able to understand how it all holds together.
The mystery behind that last sentence may just about to be revealed.
(The whole new-age wave in the West seems to have brought a change of heart to "wannabe Brittania".Indic languages are generally entropically dead to be fair.)
We have been advised to take out lots of cash and get food sorted as we may not have access for a little while.
The bigger question is what is going to happen with the junta now?
Making it a crime to criticize the royal family with punishments up to 15 years tends to make it look like uncoerced love.
I started asking about him because the pictures were everywhere. Maybe I was fooled but it sure seemed like they liked him and had good things to say. Not that they were fearfully trying to avoid speaking ill of the king.
Is there a law requiring them to hang his picture? I don't think I've been in a single thai owned business that didn't have him hanging on the wall.
There are a ton of US news sources while there is less reporting on Thailand and it is hard to get nuance when you don't speak the language.
Even people who are native English speakers but are not from the US don't understand politics in the US.
The monarchy is (almost) completely separate from the political system. While many people might debate the pros and cons of the Conservatives versus Labour, UKIP or liberal democrats, very few question the role of Queen Elizabeth II.
In the UK, the monarch has the the right to veto legislation passed through the parliament but this right is rarely exercised. This is quite different to the US system where the president is ultimately in charge and has to fight for re-election every few years.
It sounds like the monarchy in Thailand has strived to maintain stability for the people in spite of an unstable political environment. This might explain why the people continue to believe in the monarchy in Thailand in a way which seems alien to anyone in the USA.
Well, unless you get pulled off a flight that turns out to connect through Thailand and go to jail.
Abolish monarchy!!!
Monarchies are not necessarily bad, and the kind of shallow, absolutist thinking displayed here contributes nothing to the discussion.
Apparently we have some UK's Queen fans, since my comment is down voted.
Again, look at how the Dutch do it. As with so many other things in this world, they get it pretty damned right.
Again, what are you talking about mate? The fact that their country is doing well doesn't mean it's ok to decide on the lives of people just because you're the son of a monarch. There could be a lot of people more prepare and that could do better.
Thailand largely functions either as a parliamentary system or military junta, depending on the year.