As the problems in Thailand grow, the king wants to strengthen his image

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

After political and economic instability saw unprecedented demands for Thai monarchy reform, King Maha Vajiralongkorn is trying to brush up his image in what is developing as another year of tension in the country.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha oversees an economy in which tourism has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, factories shedding workers and exporters slammed. Farmers are struggling with the worst drought in four decades. The gross domestic product shrank by an estimated 6.6% last year.

While some recovery is expected for 2021, it will relatively anemia for an economy that has been sluggish for years. A new wave of coronavirus infections has seen an extension of one state of emergency until the end of February. Meanwhile, Thailand’s largest opposition party is planning to launch a vote of no confidence against the government for alleged “mismanagement” of the country, including the response to Covid-19.

All over, months of rallies loom when protesters have openly criticized the monarchy, Thailand’s most powerful institution. At the moment, the streets are relatively quiet – with minor protests over the weekend – but student leaders have vowed to return to their demands are being addressed: less royal power, a more democratic constitution and the resignation of Prayuth, a former army leader who staged a coup in 2014.

Vajiralongkorn has strengthened its presence in Thailand since the unrest broke out. He returned from Germany in October, 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 yellow shirts, and even swept the floor at one of his charity projects.

While Vajiralongkorn automatically inherited enormous 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 – that should be earned rather than bequeathed. Over the course of his 70-year reign, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej gathered and demonstrated his own barami.

“The moral authority and informal power of King Bhumibol was not transferable,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. “There is not the same ability to call on the different parties to end the conflict. In fact, the opposite is happening: the monarchy has become a party to the conflict. This is very concerning. “

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

Contrary to the turmoil of the past – Thailand has had about a dozen coups d’état in the last century – the protesters are not seeking power for themselves: they want the military and monarchy to be more accountable to the country’s 70 million residents.

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Much is at stake, both politically and economically: Even before the unrest, Thailand’s wealth gap had widened, while poverty emerging. A 2019 study of the The Bank of Thailand research institute found that about 36% of corporate equity is owned by just 500 people.

The government has so far avoided bloody repression like that seen in some previous demonstrations, although at least a dozen protest leaders allegations of insult to the monarch, with imprisonment of up to 15 years. A Thai court on Tuesday sentenced a former official who was arrested in 2015 to 43 and a half years in prison for sharing clips on social media from an online talk show allegedly defaming the monarchy, which human rights organization Amnesty International cited the most severe conviction under the statute to date.

On Wednesday, the Thai government filed a royal defamation suit against former Prime Minister Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, one of its most high-profile critics, after questioning the involvement of a company with ties to the monarchy in the country’s vaccine production.

Prayuth’s government enforces existing laws and has not focused on using one particular statute to attack protesters, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said when previously asked about the use of the lese majesty law.

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 polish his image among the rest of society. He noted the king was “very shy” compared to his father, even though he is likewise engaged in charity activities.

“A lot of people criticize the king for spending too much time abroad and too little time in the kingdom – I think he realizes that now,” said Sulak (87). “People used to fear him, you know, but now he walks around talking to people so people can photograph him and his royal family and have a good conversation with them. I think that has earned him a very good reputation. “

Traditionally, the appearance of a Thai monarch depends on its observance ten virtues of royalty, including generosity, self-sacrifice, honesty and integrity.

During his lifetime, King Bhumibol was careful to keep pace with ordinary Thais, even as he oversaw a fortune worth an estimated $ 40 billion. He often met hill tribes and farmers, sponsored programs aimed at curbing opium production and bringing irrigation development to distant regions.

Bhumibol preached a lifestyle of moderation in keeping with his semi-divine status and spiritual role within Buddhism, the religion of over 90% of all Thais. In the last four decades of his life, Bhumibol traveled outside of Thailand just once to lead the opening of a bridge to 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. or Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej. “

“King Bhumibol had acquired the authority to raise the most powerful men in the country and drive them out of politics with a few deliberately spoken words,” Handley wrote.

Married four times, the personal life of his son has been the subject of for years gossip. In July 2019, he appointed an official royal consort for the first time in nearly half a century, three months after announcing his fourth wife Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana as queen. Shortly afterwards, he stripped the consort of her titles to restore them last year.

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