Font size: 
Ungpakorn is the latest victim of a crackdown on people and publications, especially on the Internet, critical of the monarchy. The assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University and son of a former university rector and a British mother, included several less-than-glowing references in his book, among them a reference to a 2002 Far Eastern Economic Review article that intimated that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was meddling in royal affairs and had business links with Thailand’s crown prince.
The article resulted in government pressure on the magazine and the two writers who authored the article, forcing them to humbly apologize for an act they never committed – the crime of lèse majesté, or defaming the royal family.
In his book Ungpakorn contrasts the attitudes of the Thai king and queen. He cites His Majesty’s efforts to be seen as king of all Thais and ethnic backgrounds, especially when it comes to southern unrest, then highlights a highly nationalistic speech by the queen.
“Recently the queen spoke of her concern for Thai Buddhists in the South. No mention was made of our Muslim brothers or sisters. No mention was made of Takbai, (where dozens of young men suffocated in army detention in 2004) and worse still, the queen called on the Village Scout movement to mobilize once again to save the country. Luckily most Village Scouts are middle-aged and unlikely to commit violent acts anymore,” he said. The Village Scouts were citizens recruited in the 1970s to protect the nation, religion and the monarchy.
Ungapakorn’s comments are fair enough and academic in nature. But they may cause people with open minds to think differently than they are trained to think by the government and its sympathetic media. Thailand’s elite coalitions remain constantly on guard against such wandering minds.
Such a stand-off should be embarrassing for a country that claims to be based on democracy. But Thai officials shrug off even mass antipathy and ask everyone to fall back on the monarchy for guidance and salvation, as a role model that will make Thais and Thailand prosperous, happy and stable. With this fairy tale refrain, one may ask what the ongoing series of coups been about, and the country’s 18 constitutions? What is going on in Thailand, where glowing examples of stability, happiness and merit are paraded – but still the country experiences one dreary political failure after another.
Ungpakorn’s book also includes citations to “The King Never Smiles,” a highly informative biography – banned in Thailand – about the country’s current monarch. Its author, Paul Handley, does not even attempt to hide his view that the king is more of an impediment to the development of democracy in Thailand than an aid to it. Such a view flies directly in the face of Thailand’s long-constructed version of reality.
Foreign media and Thailand-based sources – most of these online – are daring to come out of the darkness and cite anecdotes, confidential interviews and day-to-day observations that can only result in a critical analysis of the Thai monarchy. It is no wonder that Thai authorities have renewed their efforts to keep Pandora’s Box from being opened.
--
(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
