Maha Vajiralongkorn has provoked something new in Thailand: open criticism of a king
Portraits of Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun and the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej are displayed at a department store in central Bangkok, Thailand, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
The moments disappear in the dark. In April 2017 it was a small bronze plaque from Bangkok’s Royal Plaza. It marked the spot where, in 1932, revolutionaries proclaimed the end of Thailand’s absolute monarchy. In December 2018 a statue was hauled away. It commemorated the defeat of rebels who attempted a coup against those same revolutionaries. Last month activists installed a plaque in the heart of Bangkok’s royal district to protest against the missing monuments. “The people have expressed the intention that this country belongs to the people, and not the king”, it stated. Within a day it was gone.
The world knows Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn as a playboy who has churned through four wives, lives among lots of women in a German hotel and relishes skimpy crop tops that reveal elaborate temporary tattoos. For Thais, his four-year-old reign has been more sinister.
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Categories: Asia, Good governance, Thailand
The father of the present King was most respected and loved. His only mistake: He should have had several wives (like his predecessors), so that he would have had more sons than just this one. There should have been a choice.
In the movie ‘the King and I’ the oldest son of the King said ‘I, and my 22 sisters and brothers welcome you’ … yea, and that is why another great King was made.
Poor Thailand. We pray that they can find a better person as King, (ok, or Queen if you like). This one just is not up to the position.