THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST

eing dependent on the rural focused bamboo radio or rice harp. They have become connected
and conversant with urban worlds via television, newspapers, radios, computers/internet, DVDs,
mobile and land line phones.
But despite the rapid and often disorientating evolution of the country, Thai society remains deeply
spiritual, at all levels. In Bangkok and in remote rural villages, in the corridors of power and among the
dispossessed, most Thais still inhabit a cosmos in which there is a constant interplay between the material
and supernatural realms, and in which the temple plays an essential role. As Christine Gray has written,
when Thais speak to foreigners, they often self-censor themselves, leaving out references to spirits, stars,
omens, offerings and rituals that they feel will not be understood or will be regarded as irrational. But
the spiritual dimension of life in Thailand is very real, and it is an essential source of reverence for the
monarchy.
The royalist effort to recapture the political power of the palace in the decades since Bhumibol’s
coronation was an explicit attempt to achieve what Malinowski had described, and put a halo of
sanctity around tradition. Far from continuing a trend begun by previous Thai kings to deemphasize
ancient ceremony and ritual, Bhumibol and the princes around him made a determined effort over
succeeding decades to resacralize the monarchy. The practice of prostration - officially abolished by King
Chulalongkorn, Rama V, in 1873 - was encouraged: the behaviour of talkshow host Woody Milintachinda
in his April 2011 interview with Princess Chulabhorn is just one example of how successful this effort
has been. The arcane court language of rajasap, which emphasizes the immense moral superiority of the
monarch in comparison with the ordinary mortals who address him, was reintroduced. And from their
earliest years, Thais were taught to revere the king:
To restore the strong monarchy, the princes seized tight administrative control over education,
religion, and how history is recorded and interpreted, and they injected the idea of an indivisible
trinity underpinning Thai society - known as chart, sasana, phra mahakasat, or nation, religion,
and king - throughout everyday life. Monarchy was the central pillar of this trinity.
Meanwhile, in schools, in history lessons and books, and throughout the broadcast media,
competitors to royal prestige were excised. There were no politicians, prime ministers, or
statesmen to remember for their accomplishments, only Chakri kings and princes. In society
there were no selfless do-gooders, save the royals; all holidays were constructed to honor the
monarchy, and social institutions, schools and hospitals especially were named calculatedly to
commemorate royals.
This was exceptionally effective in the Thai milieu. At the time Bhumibol acceded to the throne,
the country was edging towards democracy. But some four-fifths of the 18 million Thais lived
on meager farms or in forests, their lives centered on the village wat, or temple, and planned
around seasonal Buddhist ritual and farm schedules. With little education or sense of the modern
state, the people readily accepted the idea that their well-being rested on the figure of the virtuous
and inviolate Buddhist king. From him came all good, from seasonal rainfall to disaster relief
to scientific innovation and above all justice, rather than from the bureaucratic government or
elected representatives or constitutional laws. These were only sources of misery.