You seem a little confused by all of this, so let me try and help you understand what’s really going on. As a Thai person, I have a unique insight into the situation that you simply do not. You can’t appreciate our country’s current events just by reading those academic, peer-reviewed books of yours, because they rely far too much on facts and corroboration, and miss out on the nuances that define our culture and kingdom. Also, it has been well documented that the foreign press has been unduly influenced by dark forces, and I have it on good authority that most of the books and articles that attack our position were paid for by Thaksin Shinawatra. Please set aside all those lies by the Economist and the Yale University Press. Those organizations have no credibility compared to the absolutely true rumors I heard from my friend on Facebook who heard it from someone who works in a insider position of such high authority I can’t even tell you what it is.
Allow me to explain our version of Thai history.
Thailand has always been ruled by kings. Before the Chakri Dynasty, there was the Ayuttaya Period, and before that the Sukhothai Period. The details of these old kingdoms are a little fuzzy, largely because no one wrote anything down, but the one thing that we’re sure of is that without the leadership of our kings we wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Burmese invaders. In one particularly famous battle, one of our queens even took up arms and fought in place of her fallen husband! Again, none of this was recorded in any official way, but we know it’s true because that famous queen, Suriyothai, was reincarnated as our current queen, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. So we have a first-hand witness to what transpired.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Chulalongkorn University, named after King Chulalongkorn, or Rama V, who held off colonial European powers with shrewd diplomacy, ended slavery, and modernized the country. He also had over 100 children, mostly with his cousins and half-sisters, but that was just the custom of the time. It’s very important to preserve the royal bloodline, because that’s where virtue exists and is passed down from generation to generation. It’s also why the sons of good men are more fit to lead than anyone selected through so called “elections.” This is the Thai way.
Did you know that democracy was created in Thailand by King Rama VII? He voluntarily gave up absolute power in 1932 so that the nation could move forward politically. That’s one of the reasons we are so upset when traitors and foreigners suggest that the monarchy is opposed to democracy. Without the foresight and encouragement of our great kings, the ignorant buffaloes of Isaan wouldn’t even have a vote to sell.
Rama VIII’s death was an accident. It will never be solved because there were no witnesses. End of story.
Our current monarch, His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej, is quite simply the greatest king who has ever lived. No one has ever done more for his people or cared more for the welfare of the nation than he has. Our beloved king has pioneered advances in rainmaking, irrigation, agriculture and economics. He has been awarded international patents and won medals in competitive sailing, and is a celebrated jazz composer. But you knew this already, because of the fine way that Rama IX’s history has been documented in books and exhibits and Thai Airways calendars. What you might not know is how our beloved king has been a proponent of freedom and democracy. Not only has he pardoned almost every criminal who has defamed him in violation of our sacred laws, but he has always been against the excessive use of force against the people – even when the people deserved to be shot.
Who saved the students in 1973? Who stopped the bloodshed in 1976? Who solved the violent impasse between the army and the democracy advocates in 1992? The Guiding Light of Thailand, our Wise Father, His Majesty. Is it his fault that the Red Gaurs were so zealous in their desire to protect him that they set students on fire? Is it his fault that the Army, in answering their duty to serve, followed the orders of right-wing militants and fired on possibly armed Communists? No, it is not, any more than it is his fault that the army removed Thaksin Shinawatra from power in 2006. Whatever you may have read about him winning three internationally-sanctioned elections, Thaksin was not legitimate. He bought votes, something which never happened in Thailand previously. In fact, according to secret documents posted on the internet, Thaksin wanted to be president and overthrow the monarchy. The army simply had no choice but to oust him, with the blessings of the majority of true Thais.
Do you see how everyone stands during the King’s Anthem before movies? No one taught us to do that, we just did it on our own because we wanted to express our love. Do you see how every Thai has a picture of His Majesty in their homes? No one gave those to us, certainly not the CIA as part of an anti-communist propaganda movement – I don’t care what all your “declassified documents” say. We did that all on our own, because the king was just as beloved in 1960 as he is now. General Sarit had nothing to do with it.
So when our movement calls for a coup, you need to see it in the correct context. It’s not that we don’t believe in democracy, it’s just that for the sake of the nation we can only allow democracy that selects the right people. Our history has proven to us over and over that the work of good men is the only proven source of prosperity, and any threats to that prosperity must be eradicated. Thaksin and any party under his control is a republican movement that uses carefully staged propaganda and the allure of a charismatic personality to cover up the truth. The sad thing is that the truth is readily available to anyone who is willing to look beyond his bubble of like-minded peers and read some actual history. But they’re too brainwashed to accept the fact that their hero is an autocrat, a self-serving elitist, and a collaborator with foreign powers.
Did you know that His Majesty wrote a book about his dog? I highly recommend you read it. Here, let me give you a picture of him embracing his mother. Don’t worry, I’ve got lost more. Take it home, put it on your wall, look at it every day. Then you’ll start understanding the minds of Thais.
No need to thank me, or apologize for your ignorance. I’m here to help.
