On the Thai Monarchy
by Wes Man on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 5:49pm
WARNING: I am American and I like democracy. If that makes you uncomfortable, don’t read
this…And, if you are a lover of kingly kitsch, stop now. This is the essay that will lose me most
of my Thai friends and never allow me to set foot in Thailand again (without going to jail). So be
it. Consider yourself warned. cc:letters@washingtonpost.com
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Human Beings are capable of incredible self-deception. We all have to fight that. We are very
vulnerable to myths. Because, some of them we want to believe. And just because they’re
fictional, why not keep believing them?
-Ralph Nader, speech in Seattle, May 7th, 2010
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Part 1 - The Mythical King
When you go to Thailand, some of the first things you will notice are the pictures of “The King”
along with other photos of members of the Royal family (save one…we’ll get to that in a
moment). But mostly it is just pictures of the King. Everywhere. On walls in people’s homes, in
businesses, on calendars, and huge pictures on freeway overpasses, in front of schools, hospitals
and military bases. The ubiquity of king photos, and ‘shrines’ to the king add a distinct air and
flavor of kitschiness to the whole phenomenon. It is very much akin to Elvis worship in some
parts of America, only enforced with a big stick.

For example, at the start of every movie in Thailand, everybody has to stand up to watch a 2 1/2
minute PR puff piece for the the King. If you don’t stand, these days you will be reported to the
police for “Lesse Majeste” (even 2 years ago this was not the case - me, I always used to go to
the bathroom and the popcorn stand as soon as the lights went down - when I posted such
opinions on thaivisa.com, my post was deleted as a threat to the monarchy and I was warned not
to do it again!).

The king seems to be universally and unquestioningly revered. Any criticism of the King or just
wondering what’s the big deal(?) is the equivalent of breaking wind during a Church sermon, and
will be met with harsh and bitter recrimination from even the lowliest members of Thai society.
The standard lines when you talk with a Thai person are these:
Thai Person: The King is good.
Me: Why is the King good?
Thai Person: Because he helps Thai people.
—Conversation is now over—-

This is always where the discussion begins and ends in an overwhelming number of encounters
with Thai people. Most people in Thailand won’t or can’t give any specific information
regarding this subject. Basically because most people are taught to accept these statements as self
evident, and true without question.

The king is thought of by many as “perfect” and beyond criticism. To underscore the idea of the
“perfection” of the king, you - and especially Thai people - are not allowed to criticize the King,
the king’s projects or the institution of monarchy. If you do, you will be charged with the crime
of “Lesse Majeste” (bad mouthing the king) and given a 7-14 year prison sentence.

It seems crazy to me that anyone so actually ‘perfect’ would need a law like this. Psychologically
speaking, it looks to be a cover for insecurity and weakness - and possible guilty feelings. Thai
Lesse Majeste seems to be used In the 21st century as a crude and violent means to shut up
dissent. Lesse Majeste protects what amounts to a feudal institution in the midst of nearly world-
wide post-enlightenment republican government. Thailand has a kind of Kingly Kitsch enforced
at the end of a rifle barrel, so to speak.

When I tried to dig deeper to find more information about why the king is so good and ‘how’ he
helps the Thai people, I get this:

Item number 1 - in 1992, the king met two opposing leaders in a civil unrest and stopped the
unrest (who or what was involved, much less if the unrest ~should~ have been stopped has never
been mentioned to me). OK bully. For the record, the king said in this case that the military,
which at that time was butchering Thai people in the streets (a familiar hobby), were his
preferred camp.

Item number 2 - if it comes up at all from everyday Thais:
The Royal Projects.

These are a series of projects cooked up by the king to “help” the people. What documentation I
could find online was pretty thin and heavy on the Public Relations.
Here are two Projects touted on the Royal websites:

1. Finding meaningful employment for Hill Tribes - that is “meaningful employment” in the Thai
capitalist economy - or employment other than their traditional sustainable ways of inhabiting
the land of northern Thailand. (Note: these people are not exactly considered ‘Thai’ people, even
though they live in Thai territory.) So helping hill tribes is sort of buying their acquiescence on
behalf of normal Thais.

2. Also are science projects dedicated to ‘investigating’ different kinds of sustainable plants and
crops to grow in the fertile soil of Northern Thailand. In my opinion, Thailand is one of the most
fertile farmlands on earth, and I think I would never have any problem sustaining any plant here.
Anyhow, these projects do not seem to be submitted to peer review from any outside agencies.
You won’t find many references -if any- to a Chinese or Russian university or Western
institution X’s scientific involvement in any of the Thai Royal Projects.

Other than that, details remain pretty thin. And I believe that is by design. These projects and the
money involved are as opaque as a bulletproof limousine window. There is no way to trace who
got the money, what the objectives were and how the project played out. The standard line is that
these projects always work. They are always successful. As usually with anything Kingly in
Thailand, criticism or questions are beyond the pale.
Here are the heavy-on-the-PR-short-on-details royal project websites:
http://www.rpf.or.th/general/english/achieve.html
http://www.tceb.or.th/the-splendour-of-thailands-royal-projects.html
http://www.royalprojectthailand.com/general/english/index.html
http://kanchanapisek.or.th/projects/index.en.html
Do a search for “Thailand Royal Projects Criticism” and you’ll get basically nothing - except for
one project involving Distance learning at a school in Hua Hin - (surreptitiously reported by
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/ site) which may have resulted in corruption, seems
to have failed outright, and will require a lot more money to fix than the initial outlay.
So there you have it.
______________
The King is Good
Why?
Because he helps the Thai people.
Oh really? How?
1. He stopped civil unrest (in favor to the military). 2. He’s got Royal Projects
End of Discussion.
______________

Now…you will buy this line, boy, and no further questions or you’re looking at 7-14 years in the
Bangkok Hilton. So best to mind your manners - or else.

There you go. Try to run with that logic outside Thailand and see how far you get. For anyone
interested in rational discussion, and empirical or academic evidence, this kind of hiding behind
bushes and threatening people with a stick is annoying beyond belief. If it is all so “good”, why
not open up the books and prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. I think the Thai people deserve a
little sunlight.

Over the two years I stayed in Thailand, The whole process began to sound like a bad broken
record. Something along these lines:

“Our designated guy wins. Period. You and everybody else in Thailand lose. If you don’t like it
pound sand, go to jail, or die. Now shut up and get back to work.”

Lastly, over the years, the Thai King has acquired a current net worth of US$30 billion,
consisting of cash and prime rent-producing real estate in Thailand. This fortune in a country
where the average income is less than $5000 per year. Draw your own conclusions.
__________________________
Part 2 -The fruit doesn’t not fall far from the tree.

The King’s son - Prince Vajiralongkorn - has gained a terrible reputation over the years as an
irresponsible over-indulged wastrel, now on his third wife. In a supreme act of doublethink, most
Thai people worship the royal institution but hate and despise the very son and appointed
successor of the “good” king.

I don’t know a lot about this guy but a few weeks ago a very unsettling (to me) home video of
his dog’s birthday party was leaked to the Thailand section of wikileaks.com
http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Suppressed_video_of_Thai_Crown_Prince_and_Princess_at_dec
adent_dog_party

Dog’s birthday you say?

Incredibly, this “family” video comes off as a kind of misogynist soft-core porn.
In the otherwise rather boring video, we see Princess Srirasmi , royal ‘consort’ or wife #3, in a
skimpy see-through dress, having dinner with her husband Prince V. They are sitting next to a
big swimming pool and surrounded by splendiferous accouterments. Servants and staff are
walking around delivering food and stuff in full view of the next queen’s bodacious T&A?.
Dude…it’s just too weird, and way beyond my cultural sensitivity level.

Then it gets weirder. Towards the end she falls on the floor in a staged act of submission or
worshipful reverence before - her squatting husband? - the next king? - her pimp daddy? - I don’t
know. It just seems a bit twisted and sick to me. Then they both sing “Happy Birthday” in lame
English, while clutching the little fluffy poodle (symbolism!?!).

I know it’s always great to see a good looking girl in a see-through dress, but, ahem, excuse
me…WTF is going on with being an exhibitionist in front of the hired help? Is she doing that for
herself? or at the request of Vajiralongkorn? … and then posing as a little slave girl ( a real
shining example to all the young Thai ladies), making the next king look like a sugar daddy?
What “family” purpose could any of this serve? The ostentation of this video in the midst of third
world Thailand is difficult for me to stomach.

I always think about the poor old sick Thai guy who used to sleep in the back of my alley
because he had nowhere else to go. Or the old lady who made her living as a bottle picker who
used to say hi to me everyday when I walked to work. Or the two middle age ladies who tried but
failed to run a laundry business, or the old couple - with the man retired - who tried but failed to
run a restaurant (they slept in the restaurant when it was closed), or the lady from Khorat who
tried but failed to run a pizza business down the street - despite me eating there 3 times a week.
These are Thai people busting their asses to make ends meet. When I compare these people to
their next ‘king’ and ‘queen’, I can’t fail to become nauseous.

Not to beat a dead horse, but this all gets even worse.

Bodacious Princess Srirasmi, is the designated “new” face of the institution of the Thai
monarchy. Therefore, within the last year in Thailand I noticed that her “picture” is starting to
pop up next to all the important ubiquitous pictures of the old King. This is probably a smart
move since she certainly is more attractive and better looking than anyone else in the family,
that’s for sure.

Finally, here is the deal breaker for me:
One day after watching this video, I saw a giant 3-story picture of what I thought was Srirasmi
hanging on the outside wall of Pattaya Elementary/Middle School #8
Here is the photo -
I am not 100% sure that this photo is her, but it looks an awful lot like this set up from a few
years back:
http://www.whoweeklymagazine.com/royalfamily_thai_detail.php?t=thai&t1=royalty&id=19
For the record, I think no other Thai royal would be caught dead in a short dress - even knee
length.

Either way, when I saw this giant poster on the school I immediately felt physically sick and
damn near lost it on the sidewalk. I understand that almost all people are well meaning - even the
Thai royals - but something horrible split open in my brain on that day and I have never been the
same. I worked in a Thai Elementary school and this was just too much for me. I still have real
daytime nightmares and severe physical and emotional problems when I try to reconcile the
royals plastering themselves all over Thai schools. These kids hardly have a fighting chance
when this sort of accept-the-monarchy-no-questions-asked line is pitched at them from such an
early age.

After this, I could only see the whole Kingly enterprise in Thailand is a gigantic unaccountable
self interested project - crazily enough with legitimate calls for oversight or accountability
punishable by prison or death.

In this system the people pay the king - in the millions of dollars per year (rather handsomely for
a 3rd world country) - and the king spends the PEOPLE’S money to “help” the people - but the
people can’t look at how or where the money is being spent. So why finance the spectacle? Why
not remove one layer and let the people spend their own money and oversee it every step of the
way?

To make matters worse, the king, by virtue of his silence after April/May 2010 has proven
himself to be a partisan yellow shirt as well. He obviously has no problem with the orders to
shoot down the red protesters in Bangkok. He has no problem with the unjust witch hunt against
people who voted against his Yellow shirt party in the last 4 popular elections. And now the king
is fine with delayed elections or no elections. I think Military rule is much preferable to
democracy for the Thai monarchy which benefits rather handsomely from the current state of
affairs. As long as the king who can’t take criticism or questions of even the smallest sort, and
his self-interested institution benefit, Thailand and the Thai people can prostrate themselves and
accept the moral contradictions or go jump in a lake.

Rational government in the interest of the whole Thai society has been overridden. Now we have
rule by appeal to emotion and irrationality. The Greek’s have a word for it: pathos. Pathos is a
form of persuasion based on emotion. The modern word is “Pathetic”
_________________________

Part 3 - Defense of the King and Stockholm Syndrome - What it means to be Thai today
The best reason why Monarchy is a strong government is, that it is an intelligible government.
The mass of mankind understand it, and they hardly anywhere in the world understand any other.
-Walter Bagehot

The Thai king hides behind state power, and claims to be the absolute center of Thai culture. He
tries to push the line that he represents everything that it means to be Thai. He’s “The Father”
and all other Thais are “The Children”. And thousands of Thai people unthinkingly and
unquestioningly buy into this idea. To me, it looks like it is easier for some people to be a slave.
Let’s excuse for a moment the total pig-headed arrogance of this idea…that in the 21st century,
what it means to be Thai is to be a vassal, a slave, a royal subject, a bend-over boy or a
bootlicker. My universally brilliant Thai students have shown me beyond any doubt that they do
not deserve this condescendtion.

In my opinion, Pridi Banyogmong - the father of Thai democracy who helped to establish the
first Thai republic in 1932, made a critical mistake at that time by ~not~ calling for the end of the
monarchy in Thailand. And 14 years after the establishment of a Republic, in 1946, Pridi’s
refusal to do away with the king led directly to THIS king, Bhomibol and his sycophants using
the Thai military to attack, overthrow and do away with the republic. And Thailand has
continued to live without substantial democracy, and without a republic ever since.

And when the results of any democratic elections in Thailand failed to please “The monarchy”,
the military has stepped in to overturn the election by performing coup after coup after coup (18
total coups since 1946 - all with the apparent blessing of “The Father”). It seems really clear that
Thailand has to choose either a king or a democracy. The way things are set up now, there really
is no other choice. If democracy is to succeed, then at some point the military has to be put on a
leash, and the king is obviously not going to do that.

A further rationalization used to support the monarchy is the appeal to history.
In the 1300’s the fist state that could be called Thai —- Sukothai —
came into existence. This model posted the King as the Father and the subjects as the Children.
Modern defenders of the monarchy point to this model and say that it is “the old way”, the
original state of Thailand and therefore the “good” way. I think this is an argument made by
masochists. This is kind of like claiming that modern America would be better and stronger if it
returned to its proper original state with the Articles of Confederation or as a colony of England.
I am not buying any of it. This is backward looking and requires sticking your head in the sand in
the face of the myriad of challenges facing all people in the modern world.

The one feature of “SukoThai” that is never mentioned by monarchists is the idea that in the old
days, if the King’s subjects had a petition or a problem, they could go to the king’s house , ring
the bell, and be offered an audience with the king who would arbitrate disputes and offer
guidance.

That sounds good to me. But try to do that in today’s Thailand and you’ll probably be shot on the
steps of the palace gate. The problem with today’s appeal to Sukothai is that it never includes
accountability of any kind on the part of the king.

The last line of defense (which by the way you hear a lot of these days) is that if the king is
abolished, then Thailand will cease to exist. If I can pick myself up off the floor before I laugh to
death, I suppose without a king, the mighty Lao or the great imperial Cambodian Army, or the
Burmese blitzkrieg will instantly overrun and annex Thailand. This is either the lamest argument
in history, or these military/monarchist guys are self-aware of their own incompetence,
cowardice and corruption. My bet is that without a king, Thailand would exist - just like Bhutan
(ex monarchy 2006) or Nepal (ex monarchy 2008) or France or America. Not only would it exist,
it would thrive.

As things stand now, the monarchy provides a convenient excuse for:
1. everyday people to sit on their butt and complain about everything but the monarchy.
and
2. for those who benefit from royal patronage (i.e. kingly apple polishers who want to keep their
gravy train rolling)

Being “Yellow” in 2010

Yellow is the color of the king, and the default setting for almost all Thais is to unquestioningly
support the King (and tacitly by default his “Yellow Shirts”). This is by far the easiest choice.
Calling kingly BS, or refusing to follow the proscribed King-Worship plan results in severe
ostracization and punishment in a society where social cohesion and conformity are considered
crucially important.

What do you do when you have grown up your whole life and you only know one way, you only
experience one idea of government? And everyone in your society follows only this path: to fall
on the floor and scream for a king. This is the essence of what many people today consider what
it means to be “Thai”. No other path is allowed, and to even speak of another path will subject
you to being outcast, or even jailed, or even killed? What would you do? Would you fall in line?
Most of the time before 2010 the yellow phenomenon was just amusing and annoying. But when
push comes to shove, it quickly becomes clear that the Thai military is actually the monarchy’s
private mercenary army. When Red-shirt protesters started turning up dead in the streets, it
seemed that the Thai military was just performing its proscribed job.

And after April-May 2010, I really began to notice people’s true colors.

En masse, average to middle to upper class Thais who claimed to be neutral, turned right around
and supported the king, despite the king’s silence (and tacit approval), and political benefit from
having his political opponents butchered like dogs in the streets. No questions asked. No
apologies. Even some red shirt people whose family members and friends were killed, never
wavered from the must-love-the-king meme. This is the essence of the Stockholm Syndrome - to
fall in love with your abuser.

One Thai girl who I think is a genius and the total bee’s knees, and who on good days I had
dreams of asking to marry me, turned up on her facebook page with the phrase “Love the King”
tagged to her name (maybe as a nice way to ward off the cyber police - but I doubt it). She is a a
good “Thai”, taking the easy route.

In my opinion, continuing to support yellow shirts after, the 2006 military coup, was annoying
but somewhat understandable…

Continuing to be yellow after the overturning of legitimate fair elections in 2007 and 2008 by
Yellow-minded judicial decision, was pushing the limits.
…But continuing to scream for the yellows after the killings in April and May to me was pure
madness. A complete toxic moral waste dump and a disgusting wallow in brainless brutality. All
with the unspoken, tacit approval of the monarchy and the elite members of Thai society.
And still the yellow people march on. They are insatiable and they will never be satisfied. There
is one Red Shirt woman who fled to Cambodia after the protests. She was arrested last week by
the Cambodian police and deported to Thailand, where she will presumably be charged with
terrorism and face a firing squad!!!!….in a Buddhist country!!!!!! On that day The yellows will
give a loud cheer and puff themselves up self-righteously. (I have seen this sick opera before -
last time it was ‘Sodom’ Hussein and America.) Little do the yellows know that they have led
their country into a monstrous anti-Buddhist hell on earth from which they obviously have no
plans or desire to escape.

I don’t think any of the yellow brutality is changing anyone’s minds, but it is turning the yellow
supporters into rooting, amoral, anti-human pigs full of hate and bloodlust. These are not people
I want to hang out with or be associated with in any way.
Presumably, someday, there will be another election in Thailand. And presumably the yellow
government will get its butt kicked once again - for the 5th consecutive time since 1998. And
presumably the Yellow Shirt tanks and helicopters will shortly thereafter hit the streets and Thai
democracy will die again. When the Thai monarchy is on a roll, who will stand up and stop any
of this?

My prediction is that the majority of Thais, unwilling to learn from history and taught from
childhood to scream to be subjects of a king, will get exactly what they deserve. Don’t ask me to
stand up and applaud.

Happy Bastille Day
Thank you for your support