In a country where few dare to speak openly about the royals, how do Thais feel about their new ruler?
Michael Peel / Financial Times | 12 October 2017
[excerpts]
The pomp of the funeral ceremonies, taking place over five days later
this month, will draw foreign dignitaries and transfix much of a
country where respect for King Bhumibol (pronounced roughly
“Poom-ee-pon”), buttressed by propaganda and a draconian royal insult
law, lifted him to the status of a demigod. The monarchy’s mythology is
drummed into Thais from their earliest years. Images of the royals
abound and the national anthem is played twice daily in some public
places, including Bangkok’s BTS Skytrain urban railway. People are
expected to stop in the middle of morning and evening rush hours and
stand still and straight. It is a reminder of the power of the state,
headed by the king, to reach deep into their daily lives. A year after
King Bhumibol’s death, many Thais still wear black or white, or at least
avoid colourful clothing, in mourning for him — longer than some might
for a death in their own family....
King Vajiralongkorn has also
already taken significant fresh powers, at times apparently
wrong-footing senior generals. He intervened to change a new
constitution that was drafted under military diktat and passed in a
tightly controlled August 2016 referendum. As a result, the King — who
has spent a good deal of time in Germany in recent years — is allowed to
travel abroad without appointing a regent. He also has even greater
authority to intervene in political crises. Under a new law in July, he
took direct control of the Crown Property Bureau, a national treasure
chest whose huge landholdings and stakes in industries ranging from
banking to cement are estimated to be worth tens of billions of dollars.
He has seemingly unlimited authority to manage the fund, just as he has
acquired control of other institutions previously considered to be
under the aegis of the government, police or military. This month,
shares in Siam Commercial Bank worth more than $500m were transferred on
behalf of King Vajiralongkorn, according to a regulatory filing by the
Crown Property Bureau. The filing gave no details about the ultimate
beneficiary, or if any money was paid.
Some Thais privately hope
to muddle through the new kingship. One business person says of King
Vajiralongkorn: “Some people are not confident, but we are with him.
Meaning, he is here. We can only do what we can do.”...
It is
impossible to generalise about how — and to what degree — devotion,
affection and fear bind Thai citizens to their kings. As one Thai
journalist has put it, if it’s compulsory to love the monarchy, you end
up with two kinds of people: those who love the monarchy and those who
lie about their love for the monarchy. The only certainty seems that the
balance has already begun to shift. As King Bhumibol’s funeral brings
his long era to a close, one well-connected Bangkokian points to the
many questions now swirling in private chats about the new reign. “You
and I are talking. People in other circles are talking. Of course it
will boil over. But how?”
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