As Thailand’s problems grow, the king moves to bolster his image

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

After the political and economic instability that led to an unprecedented demand for the reform of the Thai monarchy, King Maha Vajiralongkorn is trying to burn his image in what is shaping up as another year of tension in the country.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha oversees an economy with tourism decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, factories ousting workers and exporters ravaged. Farmers have struggled under the worst drought in four decades. Gross domestic product contracted by about 6.6% last year.

While some recovery is expected for 2021, it is expected to be relatively anemic for an economy that has been slow for years. A new wave of coronavirus infections has seen an extension of state of emergency until the end of February. Meanwhile, Thailand’s largest opposition party plans to pursue one vote of censure against the government for its alleged “mismanagement” of the country, including Covid-19’s response.

Above all are the months of rallies where protesters have openly criticized the monarchy, Thailand’s most powerful institution. Right now the streets are relatively quiet (with small protests over the weekend), but student leaders have promised to return to their homes. demands are addressed: less royal power, a more democratic constitution, and the resignation of Prayuth, a former army chief who staged a coup in 2014.

Vajiralongkorn has increased its presence in Thailand since the unrest erupted. 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, greeted kneeling supporters dressed in yellow shirts, and even he swept the ground in one of his solidarity projects.

Although Vajiralongkorn automatically inherited great power and wealth when he ascended the throne in 2016, many Thais also subscribe to a concept of informal authority – what Buddhists call “barami” or virtue, which must be earned. instead of bequeathing. 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, a professor at Chulalongkorn University of Bangkok. “There is not the same kind of capacity to convene the different parties to end the conflict. In fact, the opposite is true: the monarchy has become part of the conflict. This is very alarming. “

During an appearance in early November, Vajiralongkorn called Thailand “the land of engagement” in a rare public comment to foreign journalists. The Bureau of the Royal House did not respond to any requests for comment and subsequent calls to the Bureau went unanswered.

Unlike the last riot (Thailand has had about a dozen coups in the last century), protesters do not seek power for themselves: they want the military and the monarchy to be more accountable to the 70 million citizens of the world. country.

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The stakes on both the political and economic levels are high: even before the riots, Thailand’s wealth gap had widened, while poverty increasing. A 2019 study conducted by The Bank of Thailand research institute found that approximately 36% of the share capital is concentrated in the hands of only 500 people.

So far, the government has avoided bloody repression such as those carried out during some past demonstrations, although at least a dozen Protestant leaders are facing off. accusations of insulting the monarch, leading to up to 15 years in prison. A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a former civil servant detained in 2015 to 43 and a half years in prison for sharing clips on social media of an online talk show that allegedly defamed the monarchy, which human rights group Amnesty International called so far the harshest sentence under the statute.

On Wednesday, the Thai government filed a royal defamation charge against former prime ministerial candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, one of its top critics, after questioning the involvement of a company linked to the monarchy in vaccine production. country.

The Prayuth administration enforces existing laws and has not focused on using a specific statute to address protesters, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said when asked earlier about the use of the law of leses majesties.

Sulak Sivaraksa, a Buddhist activist who has studied the monarchy for decades, said Vajiralongkorn already has moral authority among royalists and is now trying to provide his image with the rest of society. He pointed out the king was “very shy” in comparison with his father, although in the same way he performs charitable activities.

“A lot of people criticize the king because he spent too much time abroad and too little time in the kingdom; I think he realizes it now,” said Sulak, 87. “People used to be afraid of him, you know, but now he walks and talks to people, allowing people to photograph him and his royal family and have a good chat with them. I think that was worth it. a very good reputation ”.

Traditionally, the level of esteem of a Thai monarch has depended on membership ten virtues of the king, including generosity, self-sacrifice, honesty, and integrity.

During his lifetime, King Bhumibol was careful to appear at the same pace as normal Thais, even while overseeing a fortune worth an estimated $ 40 billion. He often met with people from the mountain tribe and farmers, sponsoring programs aimed at reducing opium production and bringing irrigation development to distant regions.

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

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

“King Bhumibol had accumulated the authority to summon the most powerful men in the country, and, with some deliberately uttered words, expelled them from politics,” Handley wrote.

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

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