As Thailand’s problems increase, the king moves to reinforce his image

Photographer: Vichan Poti / Pacific Press / LightRocket / Getty Images

After political and economic instability has generated unprecedented demands for a reform of the Thai monarchy, King Maha Vajiralongkorn is trying to polish his image in what is turning out to be another year of tension in the country.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha oversees an economy with tourism wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic, factories laying off workers and destroyed exporters. Farmers have faced the worst drought in four decades. The gross domestic product contracted about 6.6% last year.

Although some recovery is expected in 2021, it must be relatively anemic for an economy that has been slow for years. A new wave of coronavirus infections has seen an extension of a state of emergency by the end of February. Meanwhile, Thailand’s largest opposition party plans to seek a vote of no confidence against the government for its alleged “poor management” of the country, including Covid-19’s response.

Hovering above all are the months of demonstrations in which the protesters openly criticized the monarchy, Thailand’s most powerful institution. At the moment, the streets are relatively quiet – with small protests over the weekend – but student leaders have promised to return to the the demands are addressed: less real power, a more democratic constitution and the resignation of Prayuth, a former army chief who struck a coup in 2014.

Vajiralongkorn has increased its presence in Thailand since the riots began. He returned in October from Germany, where he had spent much of his reign. The king and his entourage have since attended religious ceremonies, handed out diplomas to graduates, saluted supporters kneeling dressed in yellow shirts and up swept the floor in one of his charity projects.

Although Vajiralongkorn automatically inherited vast power and wealth when he ascended the throne in 2016, many Thais also adhere to a concept of informal authority – what Buddhists call “barami” or virtue – which must be earned rather than bequeathed. Throughout his 70-year reign, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej amassed and demonstrated his own barami.

“King Bhumibol’s moral authority and informal power were not transferable,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “There is not the same type of ability to call on different sides to end the conflict. In fact, the opposite is happening – the monarchy has become a party to the conflict. This is very alarming. “

During an appearance in early November, Vajiralongkorn called Thailand “the land of compromise” in a rare public comment for foreign reporters. The Royal Household Bureau did not respond to a request for comment and subsequent calls to the Bureau went unanswered.

Contrary to the turmoil of the past – Thailand suffered about a dozen blows in the past century – the protesters do not seek power for themselves: they want the military and the monarchy to be more accountable to the country’s 70 million citizens.

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Political and economic risks are high: even before the disturbances, the wealth gap in Thailand had widened, while poverty was rising. A 2019 study by The Bank of Thailand research institute found that about 36% of corporate equity is concentrated in the hands of just 500 people.

The government has so far avoided a bloody crackdown like that of some previous demonstrations, although at least a dozen protest leaders face accusations of insulting the monarch, which carry prison sentences of up to 15 years. A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a former civil servant who was arrested in 2015 to 43 and a half years in prison for sharing clips on social media from an online interview program that allegedly defamed the monarchy, whose human rights group Amnesty International called the harshest condemnation under the statute to date.

On Wednesday, the Thai government filed a real defamation charge against former Prime Minister candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, one of its biggest critics, after he questioned the involvement of a company with ties to the monarchy in vaccine production. from the country.

The Prayuth government is complying with existing laws and has not focused on using a specific statute to target protesters, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said when asked earlier about the use of the lese majeste law.

Sulak Sivaraksa, a Buddhist activist who has studied the monarchy for decades, said that Vajiralongkorn already has moral authority among monarchists and is now trying to polish his image with the rest of society. He noticed the king was “very shy” compared to his father, although he also performed charitable activities.

“Many people criticize the king because he spent a lot of time abroad and very little inside the kingdom – I think he realized that now,” said Sulak, 87. “People were afraid of him, you know, but now he walks around and talks to people, allowing people to photograph him and his royal family and have a good chat with them. I think it earned him a very good reputation.

Traditionally, a Thai monarch’s level of esteem depends on adherence to ten virtues of royalty, including generosity, self-sacrifice, honesty and integrity.

During his lifetime, King Bhumibol was careful to appear in tune with ordinary Thais, even while overseeing an estimated $ 40 billion fortune. He often met with mountain tribes and farmers, sponsoring programs aimed at cutting opium production and taking irrigation development to distant regions.

Bhumibol preached a lifestyle of moderation befitting his semi-divine status and spiritual role within Buddhism, the religion of more than 90% of all Thais. In the last four decades of his life, Bhumibol has traveled outside Thailand only once to preside over the opening of a bridge that crosses neighboring Laos.

At the height of his power in 1992, Bhumibol intervened – despite limited legal authority – to end deadly clashes between military and protesters, Paul Handley wrote in his 2006 book, “The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej. “

“King Bhumibol has accumulated authority to summon the most powerful men in the country and, with a few words deliberately spoken, to expel them from politics,” Handley wrote.

Married four times, his son’s personal life for years is the subject of gossip. In July 2019, he appointed an official royal consort for the first time in almost half a century, three months after announcing his fourth wife Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana as queen. Shortly thereafter, he removed the titles from the consort, only to restore them again last year.

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