THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST

No longer able to maneuver in and out of his yellow Rolls Royce, King Bhumibol left Siriraj
hospital, where he has been since mid-September, in a wheelchair pushed up the back ramp
of a VW van to make the brief trip to the Grand Palace's throne hall for his birthday morning
audience. The audience, before a select crowd of several hundred officials, was only the third
public sighting of the King in three months...
The King settled into his throne in all his royal regalia, against a spectacular backdrop. The
ceremony, normally carried live on TV, ran this year with a 15-20 minute delay, with observers
suggesting the delay was designed to avoid any potentially embarrassing moments. Sensing the
audience might well be one of the last such occasions, the normally well-behaved crowd was
unusually anxious, pushing in the back to get a better view of the King's arrival and requiring the
palace police to restore order, according to one of our contacts.
In their greeting remarks, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister Abhisit both hailed
the King's full recovery. What those in attendance and watching on TV saw was something quite
different: their beloved monarch leaning markedly to his stronger right side, barely moving his
left hand/arm - leading to speculation that he may have suffered another minor stroke while
in hospital - and speaking with a soft monotone of a voice. The King's message was a familiar
one: urging Thais to join hands to help the country return to normalcy, and to set aside personal
benefits for the sake of the national interest, stability prosperity.
At the end of the short remarks, the golden curtain separating Bhumibol from the audience closed
slowly, accompanied by a blinding flash of cameras. The moment carried with it the metaphorical
feel of a curtain closing on an era - a reaction we heard from many contacts we talked to over
the succeeding several days; many Thais cried as they watched the curtain close to the Royal
Anthem. Later that evening, hundreds of thousands of pink-clad Thai turned out in downtown
Bangkok for a candle-light tribute to the King, mixed with fireworks in his honor...
In his remarks, the Crown Prince also vowed to do his best as a Thai and as a member of the
Chakri dynasty to serve the country - with many people seeing that remark as a a reminder
that sooner rather than later Vajiralongkorn will likely succeed his father as Rama X, the tenth
member of the Chakri dynasty...
At a seminar entitled "Thailand in Transition" held elsewhere on December 8, noted Thai scholar
(at Madison-Wisconsin) Thongchai Winichakul addressed the sensitive issue of succession
and transition in this way: "Transition is not only about the institution of monarchy and royal
succession. It is much larger, and the process of transition is well under way, a train that has
left the station and cannot be reversed." Even within the narrower confines of the institution of
monarchy, the last several days have been rich with symbolism and signals about the transition
which is indeed underway. [09BANGKOK3110]