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The idea that the Red Shirts hate King Bhumibol has gained quite a bit of purchase among Yellow Bhumibolists. This is somewhat evident among the New Mandala comments, and especially evident among everyday Yellow Bhumibolists in public discourse. The following Facebook status for example has become quite widespread, and claims to be a quote from the King as conveyed through one of his physicians.
The King was sitting by the Chao Phraya River as if in a trance, looking as if he was going to cry. After a long interval, he said once sentence: ‘What have we done to them. Or are those Thais angry at me and hate me so.’ Those close to Father cried out of pity, for although he had spent his entire life working for the Thais, he has never ever hurt the Thais.
Bhumibol’s one official statement made since the Red Shirt protests commenced have been hard to interpret and have been unpolitical, at least on the surface.
But note the wide semantic and emotional gap between his official quote and his unofficial quotes. His previous unofficial quote was along the lines of “Tell me how I should change.” The response that his unofficial quotes have received from the public have been overwhelmingly anti-Red – all of which occurs under the mass media radar, for the quotes remain unofficial and the Palace has never denied or confirmed that they were ever made.
Are these unofficial quotes a conveniently deniable way for the King to affect public sentiment? Or are they creations of the network monarchy (in this case, the royal physician) that surround him? Or are they the fantasies of the yellow shirt movement fabricated to damage the red shirts?
I believe the statement quoted is just one of the latest in a long line of fabricated stories conjured up by the yellow shirts both to arouse hatred of the red shirts and as a channel for their own klansmen (I do believe the behaviour of some yellow shirt members resemble that of the infamous KKK. For instance, one member of PAD whose name I can’t remember openly encouraged Bangkokians to carry guns and to shoot the red shirts at will whenever they see ones.) to express their “exclusive loyalty” to the King. You will see similar stories being dispersed via forward mails or internet forums, generally eliciting sympathetic responses towards the King. Those who opined otherwise, or even expressed his or her indifference at the issue will be quickly branded as “anti-monarchist red shirts” by the loyalists, along with certain derisive comments along the lines of “If you don’t love the King, you are not Thai. Why don’t you go and live with Thaksin at Cambodia and/or Montenegro?”
Even though the King did utter the “Tell me how I should change” statement, the fact that the moment actually took place during the Thai administration fight against the communists in the 1970s (It is Pramote Nakorntorp, the person who actually heard the King saying it, who later revealed that the statement per se was not recent) only served to bolster the claim that the yellow shirts chose to spin those stories to further their own ends.
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I have been told the same story, but he said it while in hospital and a nurse wrote it down.
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I think we should assume that nothing to do with the king is accidental, if ‘unofficial’ quots have found their way into the public domain it is not as the result of carelessness or accident, there is a reason.
A recent newspaper article described the Thai king as ‘cunning’. I believe this is right. I believe he did not understand the consequences of his actions and those of his wife. He thought his people were unsophisticated.
He was wrong.
He appears to have believed that you can propagandise people ad-infinitum.
He was wrong.
He appears to believe that Thailand would always have a beloved monarchy that could do whatever it wanted because it (he) was the sole repository of wit, wisdom and everything good and wholesome.
He was very wrong.
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Well, one thing he can do is rein in his wife! It’s clear enough which side she’s on. He could also tell the yellow shirts to stop speaking in his name if he doesn’t want people to believe they are.
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“Tell me how I should change.”
Well, one thing His Majesty could do is to dissolve his “Praetorian Guard”, much as Emperor Constantine did.
Indeed, if I may be so bold, I would suggest that His Majesty read a well-written history of the Roman Republic/Empire and contemplate its contents until he can recognize the “Sejanuses” (Seiani to be pedantic :)) in his own court.
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PR exercise.
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Cazique, do you have a source for Pramote Nakorntorp’s assertion that the comment was from the 70’s? I saw dozens of instances people linking the the quote in Facebook, but everybody seemed to think that it was a response to the Red Shirt protests.
Also, could you explain the responses to the ““Tell me how I should change” quote? Was it published in newspapers, or was it passed on through word of mouth? Did the palace ever confirm/deny it at the time? Was it made pre-1973 or pre-1976?
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[…] […]
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#7
I do not have a definitive source, but I have read several forum posts regarding Pramote’s interview given to either the Nation or ASTV after the quote became famous. He personally said that the quote was definitely not recent.
http://teenoireturns.freeforums.org/topic-t203.html
This is another piece of evidence which pretty much confirmed my understanding. According to a post there, Pramote did mention there was a misunderstanding, that the statement was more or less an extrapolation of the King’s birthday speech on 4th December, 2005.
If I recall correctly, the King stated pretty clearly (which is actually uncharacteristic of him who normally excels at making vague comments) that he would tolerate criticisms.
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Cazique, so the “Tell me how I should change” quote was an paraphrase of the 2005 speech.
Did the King also say it (or something like it) back in 70’s as well?
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10# Some would say that he did say so back then. It’s not definite though.
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[…] 2010 by chapter 11 The king and facebook May 25, 2010 р╕Чр╕╡р╣Ир╕бр╕▓ – New Mandala р╣Бр╕Ыр╕ер╣Бр╕ер╕░р╣Ар╕гр╕╡р╕вр╕Ър╣Ар╕гр╕╡р╕вр╕З – р╣Бр╕Кр╕Юр╣Ар╕Хр╕нр╕гр╣М […]
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We know from the Dhamma that we should strive to keep our mind free of delusion and illusion if we are to steer our life on the right path. It is easy for a frail old man surrounded by sycophants to fall prey to delusion and illusion. Unless one keeps his mind objective, prejudice sets in and his sight is obscure.
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Yes, well. Compassion is one thing, so is forgiveness, but the subject being referred to had a jo which required him to remain free of illusion and delusion. Of course everyone with a brain knows his job was something else entirely, His job was to look after the interests and welfare of ALL the Thai people, not just the few at the top who donated the pots of tax-free money.
And he wasn’t up to the job so he should have abdicated in favour of a republic decades ago.
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12th May 2017
Thailand gives Facebook 4-day deadline to remove ‘illicit’ pages
THAI authorities have given Facebook until 10am local time next Tuesday to remove web pages it says violates local laws, failing which legal action will be taken.
According to news reports, by order of the Thai court, the social media giant needs to remove a total of 131 pages, some of which are said to contain posts critical of the monarchy.
“If even a single illicit page remains, we will immediately discuss what legal steps to take against Facebook Thailand,” The Guardian quoted Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, as saying.
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/05/thailand-gives-facebook-4-day-deadline-remove-illicit-pages/
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