THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST

the country's most powerful men to his feet and, with a few deliberately spoken words, expel
them from politics and end the bloody fighting on the streets of his kingdom. Amid established
institutions of law, a parliament, courts, and influential religious, social and business leaders, only
Bhumibol had the prestige and command required to rise above explosive chaos and restore peace
and unity...
Among his people, King Bhumibol had become a sovereign of unmatched virtue and sagacity,
alone able to resolve the most intractable problems and disputes. For many worldwide he
represented the enduring utility of sovereign monarchy amid the uncertainty of liberal democracy
and capitalism. For some of his Thai subjects he was much more: a bodhisattva, an earthbound
incipient Buddha, like a living deity. [Handley, The King Never Smiles]
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By the start of the 21st century, Bhumibol’s moral authority towered over Thailand, far outshining elected
politicians or anybody else in the kingdom. His image was everywhere; writing about Bhumibol in New
York Review of Books in 2007, Ian Buruma described the astonishing ubiquity of Rama IX throughout
the country:
Everywhere you look, especially during the sixtieth anniversary year of his reign, you see His
Majesty's face, on posters and billboards, on the walls of every store and restaurant, in all public
buildings and many private ones, on streamers and banners strung across major thoroughfares,
in hotels, airports, schools, and shopping malls, and at the beginning of every movie screening:
Bhumibol receiving foreign monarchs; Bhumibol visiting the rural areas, a notebook and camera
readily at hand; Bhumibol surveying his kingdom from above the clouds, a golden halo playing
around his bespectacled face; Bhumibol the family man, with Queen Sirikit and their loving
children; Bhumibol the warrior king in uniform; Bhumibol the jazz player, his trumpet to the fore;
Bhumibol the priest-king, in a gold coat, waving a kind of papal blessing; and so on.
A typical Thai description of Bhumibol’s unique role is this passage from By the Light of Your Wisdom:
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, A Wise and Righteous King by Danai Chanchaochai, one of the many books
on sale in Thailand expressing heartfelt reverence for the king:
His Majesty is a constitutional monarch in a democratic country. He appears neither to seek nor
want a political role. But sometimes the government and the people are truly in difficulties and
do not know where to turn. That is when they turn to His Majesty. He is the most respected and
trusted in the land. He is their Lord of Life.
Bhumibol played this role by appearing only to explicitly intervene exceptionally rarely, at times of crisis.
But through his speeches, in which he addressed Thailand’s people - and politicians - in oracular, sagelike
language, he was seen as a moral guardian overseeing the government and ensuring it did not stray
too far from the right path:
The highest moral authority with legitimacy equal to or surpassing that of an elected government