The King and His People

The King and His PeopleHis Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej is undoubtedly his people’s King; the Father of the Land. When he moved back to Thailand for good in 1951, he began his visits to his people almost straight away. He is the first Thai King, and Thai individual, to see every single corners of his kingdom. He has visited far-reaching places. Where there were no roads, he used helicopters; where there were no place for helicopters to land, he went by jeeps, horses, as well as on foot. It is said that he is the only individual in Thailand, past and present, and most probably the future, to see every single square inch of his land. With his visits, he brought medical teams as well as surveyors to plan the connection of all towns and villages, a route to prosperity. He helped with irrigation problems as the majority of the Thai people were farmers, depending solely on their crops for their income. He has also eradicated the opium growing culture of many hilltribes of the north, and proposed substitutions with valuable crops. During the time of natural crisis, the King has always been the first person to be on the scene. Only until recently that the King has not been able to travel to the affected places due to health problems, nevertheless, his team has continued to visit and help out according to the King’s instructions. In addition, he has continued to contribute personal funds quick and fast to the needy, as seen most recently with the flooding disaster around the Kingdom in late 2010,

when the King’s team was the first to act the fastest, while government team became the slowest, especially with all the bureaucracies they had to go through before help could be dispatch to the flooding victims. With the continual disputes within the political world, the Thai people are becoming more and more dependent on the King to guide them through everyday lives; a source of simple strength needed to lead a happy life in this ancient Kingdom.

His Majesty the King

"We will reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people."

And what the King has said, he has done, and continues to do..

His Majesty the King has been the guiding light during his more than 60 years as King of Thailand, making him currently the longest reigning monarch in the world. He has seen 26 Prime Ministers come and go, and is currently with the 27th Prime Minister of Thailand. These two dozens or so prime ministers represented different political parties, different thinking, different view points, so it can be said that His Majesty has seen them all, as he went through so many changes, disruptions, political turmoils and more. As a constitutional monarch, he is above politics. His main focus has thus been trying to better the livelihood of the Thai people, especially in the rural area, and far-reaching corners of the kingdom. He has also played the perfect diplomat between two warring sides of the different governments and political opponents during the many political upheavals in the recent Thai history. With all the political turmoils, the King has stood by the Thai people, and act as a strong pillar of righteousness and guiding light for the people to hold on to.

Constitutional MonarchyA constitutional monarch is above politics. He lives under the law of the kingdom, but cannot be involved in politics. In fact, all royals with the ranks of Mom Chao (Serene Highnesses) up cannot be involved in politics, nor have any voting rights, including not being able to join political parties nor become politicians. In addition, the royals should not show their slant towards any particular political parties.
His Majesty King Bhumibol has acted righteously in all of the political events of Thailand from past to present. He has only become involved during extreme situations involving bloodshed, and then only as a mediator between two or more factions, trying to get to a solution of calm and peace. Lately, many has forgotten the role of the King, and tried to drag his good name into the political mess. The King continues to stand tall, and has not involved himself. He neither denies nor accepts any misconceptions thrown out at him, as the modern Thai people continues to show their ignorance in not knowing what a constitutional king can or cannot do. Even political individuals have also forgotten this, and tries to drag the King’s good name to their sides, only with the sole intention of trying to win over the voice of the people. Many descendants of the different royal houses (rankings of Mom Rajawongse down) have also become involved in the different sides, and have since drag the King’s name with them as well. They are in fact not counted as royals, but as citizens of the kingdom, who are descendants of royalty, but now have rights to vote and make known their political views. Even they have forgotten the role of a constitutional monarch, as well as how their fathers (Mom Chaos), as royals, were expected to act in the good name of the Thai Royal Family.

The Thai Concept of Kingship

 

The Thai Concept of KingshipA King is the Father of the Land. It’s quite a simple concept, really. A father is expected to look after his children and give them the basic needs to live on, and provide good basic education for them, as foundation to make a living when they are grown up. The good children will then look after their father in old age, so that he will have a comfortable life after he retires.
His older and wiser children were to form a group that would continue their father’s work, to better the lives of the younger children and bring peace and prosperity to the family and their home. The King, though, is father to over 60 million children, and growing. He has looked after his millions of children quite well, as witnessed by his actions through his visits, his projects, and his personal funds, all for the betterment of his country. I have to say that he has been the hardest working monarch in the world, as his subjects were not as healthy as others, nor were living in good conditions. But, the Thai people were happy back then, as they had simpler lives, and had the very basic needs. The ones that were quite lost, and lived away from developed areas were looked after by the King, and they were then slowly but surely connected to the civilization that make up the Kingdom. He has tried to improve education by setting up schools in rural, unreachable areas, and provided funds for their continuations. It is so much a single person can do for the 60 million subjects. It could have been quite easy for the government, the supposedly wiser and mature children, to continue these projects, as the basic foundation have been laid. With sound education, the Thai subjects could have moved to a better life working in jobs that were provided by the government and the private sector. The subjects would have been happy, with better lives, and no quarrels in politics. The subjects, in turn, will come to look after their King as a child to a father. Unfortunately, the King does not get to retire. And, it seems no one is looking after him when he has entered old age.

A Father is also expected to be the pillar of strength for his children. Indeed, the King has certainly been a very strong pillar. With the cumbersome bickering between political parties, unending it seems, since Thailand changed from absolute monarchy to a constitutional one, with what is called the system of democracy introduced to the land. This constance bickering has not benefited the country much, though Bangkok has seen huge developments in terms of infrastructures and much else, the rural areas are still in need of catching up, where some far-reaching areas are still without electricity. So, the King travelled again and again, and tried to bring developments to these areas. Personal funds can never be enough without the government’s additional monetary help. So, with the King going it alone, the underdeveloped parts will be slow to see their light-of-day