King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, 1927-2016

October 13, 2016 5:47 AM

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has passed away at the age of 88.

At the time of his death, he was the world's longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history, serving for more than 70 years. Highly revered by the people of Thailand, Bhumibol was often portrayed as the "development King" due to his involvement in many social and economic development projects.

Although not sharing the widespread admiration of his father, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn is expected to ascend to the throne.

posted by bluecore (51 comments total)

Bear in mind he was NOT a constitutional monarch. This succession is just one more dollop of Interesting Times for 2016.
posted by ocschwar at 5:57 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

De mortuis nihil nisi bonum, not least because of Thailand's incredibly harsh lese majeste laws.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:09 AM on October 13, 2016 [11 favorites]

The BBC writes that even discussion about the succession violates lese mageste. There was some extremely interesting stuff in a wiki leaks dump a couple years ago, I'll see if I can find it.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:12 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Bear in mind he was NOT a constitutional monarch.

Source? Both the BBC article linked above and The Telegraph say otherwise.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:16 AM on October 13, 2016

Things have been calm over here. We've been waiting for the announcement on and off for a few days. So far no official announcements about closing businesses. I assume we'll be wearing black. When the queen mother died a few years back many people wore black for over a month. There was talk of 999 days of mourning as 9 is a lucky number in Thai culture.
posted by Telf at 6:18 AM on October 13, 2016 [15 favorites]

I hope Thailand finds a way though this. Dangerous times.
posted by hawthorne at 6:21 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Oh man, good luck, Thailand. 2016 has been one hell of a year when it comes to high-profile deaths, hasn't it.
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:27 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh, I hope this doesn't turn ugly. Pretty much all Thai politics seems to boil down to who is going to be next.
posted by Bee'sWing at 6:29 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

.
posted by josher71 at 6:38 AM on October 13, 2016

The king was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA, the son of Prince Mahidol of Songkla, who was a student at Harvard Medical School at the time.
posted by adamg at 6:39 AM on October 13, 2016 [7 favorites]

Thai Cinema Tribute to His Majesty King Bumpiphol Adulyadej of Thailand - filmed live in the cinema
posted by josher71 at 6:44 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

The king was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA,

Making him the only (non-consort) monarch born in the U.S.
posted by Etrigan at 6:48 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

.
I spent 5 years of my childhood in Thailand, and feel this oddly strongly. It's difficult to overstate how important a moment this is for modern Thailand - there's been transition for a while, but while he was still alive things hung in the balance. For the sake of the people of Thailand, and the sake of SE Asia, here's hoping the strong, internationalist and people centered vision of the king (and his daughter) comes through.

The NY Times has an obituary
posted by sarcas at 6:54 AM on October 13, 2016 [4 favorites]

Thailand's incredibly harsh lese majeste laws.

When visiting there I was told that stepping on a piece of currency (all of which features the king's image) to stop it from blowing away was an arrestable offense.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:59 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Any ideas on how to approach this with actual Thai people? I have Thai relatives and would like to know how to support them.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:07 AM on October 13, 2016

When visiting there I was told that stepping on a piece of currency (all of which features the king's image) to stop it from blowing away was an arrestable offense.

You're not far wrong but I would hope arrest is unlikely, when there I missed a dart train and took the opportunity to sit on the steps and do the newspapers crossword. A few seconds later I was cuffed around the back of the head by a police officer who pointed to my foot. I lifted it and saw the coin I had unwittingly stepped on. I knew the gravity of it in his eyes and apologised profusely. He thankfully left it at that.

On topic, I hope any transitional period is smooth. I know people there who greatly admired the king. In this instance my thoughts and prayers really are with the people of Thailand.
posted by diziet at 7:08 AM on October 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

Interestingly, though the king was born in the United States, a very little known Supreme Court ruling from 1898 prevented him from automatically becoming a US citizen.

The 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War in 1868, created primarily to ensure that former slaves were legally considered citizens, states at the very beginning that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States".

However, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, decided in 1898, states that "The foregoing considerations and authorities irresistibly lead us to these conclusions: the Fourteenth Amendment affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory, in the allegiance and under the protection of the country, including all children here born of resident aliens, with the exceptions or qualifications (as old as the rule itself) of children of foreign sovereigns or their ministers, or born on foreign public ships, or of enemies within and during a hostile occupation of part of our territory, and with the single additional exception of children of members of the Indian tribes owing direct allegiance to their several tribes."
posted by SeanOfTheHillPeople at 7:28 AM on October 13, 2016 [20 favorites]

I'm seeing that Vajiralongkorn is being proclaimed King Rama X. I've heard nothing good about the man, which says quite a lot given that the lese-majeste laws affect him as well. Bhumibol legitimized a number of the coups, so I'd take anything about him as a constitutional monarch with your RDA of salt. The Thai crown is not a friend of democracy. There is little reason to think that Rama will be better than his father - and serious reason to think he will be worse.
posted by graymouser at 7:34 AM on October 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

I had a hard time understanding the Thai monarchy. But I could totally relate to how the King loved his cameras.
posted by Nelson at 7:34 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

From some friends working in Bangkok:

- Many events have been cancelled. One friend realised the king must have died when he checked his phone and saw a dozen Facebook "cancelled event" notifications.

- The Bangkok Post reported this evening that there will be a year of mourning.

- Schools are on a semester break right now and a teacher friend there has told me he expects to be wearing black shirts to the office when he returns. The colour of what you wear on certain days of the week is quite important in Thai culture.

- The Thai Airways Thailand page is all in black and white.

- It's an open secret that people really, really don't like the heir, but also an open secret that one of the reasons for the coup back in 2014 was to act as a placeholder government that ensured the continuity of power until the king died and his heir could become situated in the role.
posted by mdonley at 7:34 AM on October 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

Graymouser: I think the Thai crown's relationship to democracy is a bit more complex than you let on. Look at the last absolute monarch Prajadhipok (Rama VII) abdicating the throne unless the constitution was amended to make the Assembly an entirely elected body and saying in his abdication statement that "I am willing to surrender the powers I formerly exercised to the people as a whole, but I am not willing to turn them over to any individual or any group to use in an autocratic manner without heeding the voice of the people." He had other concerns, like threats to himself by the revolutionary party, but he really wasn't on board with letting this revolutionary party be the judge and executioner in carrying out death sentences.

You could also argue quite persuasively that King Bhumibol worked to help guide Thailand towards a functional democracy when things would start to go off the rails, such as in 1992 when he had the General that had just lead a coup the year before sit at his feet on the floor on TV while he told him to find a peaceful solution by working with the pro-democracy movement. A general election was held after that. Obviously, there are real counterarguments and examples that would support your statement, but I do think it is fair to say that the Thai monarchy has a complex and overall generally supportive view of devolving power to the people.
posted by SeanOfTheHillPeople at 7:42 AM on October 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

The king was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA

As was my son. They have a plaque there, and I'd have to sidestep tourists/students taking pictures in front of it to get to the elevators.
posted by waitingtoderail at 7:42 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've heard so many rumors about the royal family that I've no idea how many are fact, and how many fiction. Just some of them: The King was in a major motorcycle accident when he was young, almost died, and only has one eye; his elder brother who was meant to take the throne died under very suspicious circumstances, possible due to supporting the wrong side in a war; the royal family has a magic mirror that they look at once a year, and keeps them young; the eldest daughter took herself out of line for the throne by marrying a foreigner; the crown prince had to sell a palace to pay off his gambling debts to an organized crime ring; and that he threw a lavish and huge party for his dog's birthday, complete with topless women.
posted by themadthinker at 7:56 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Themadthinker: The story about the party is true, as shown here (NSFW). The topless woman in the G-string was the prince's wife at the time. The dog that the party was held in honor of had been made an Air Chief Marshall in the Royal Thai Airforce.
posted by SeanOfTheHillPeople at 8:06 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

his elder brother who was meant to take the throne died under very suspicious circumstances, possible due to supporting the wrong side in a war

His elder brother did take the throne and died under very suspicious circumstances.
posted by Etrigan at 8:18 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

SeanOfTheHillPeople: you could've made that argument before 2006, but the truth is that the last decade has been marred by repeated incidents where the king gave nodding approval to the coups. It's complicated, because the red shirts are very tied up with Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck Shinawatra who tend toward their own brand of populism, but when the PAD wears yellow shirts and forces royalist coups, it's clear that there is more than just a gentle encouragement going on here. (Yellow is highly symbolic of the Thai monarchy, so remember that when you hear that there were red shirts vs yellow shirts in Thai politics over the last decade.)

I don't see how that situation is going to get better with Vajiralongkorn on the throne. It's likely that there will be a renewal of the tensions and possibly even new street fighting, and it's pretty transparently to the new king's advantage to pull off some kind of manipulation to get the PAD in over the pro-Thaksin forces when the current junta has to go. So this is very bad for the case of democracy in Thailand, and ultimately that will be Bhumibol's legacy.
posted by graymouser at 8:19 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

As I understand it, the new king is a piece of work and is beloved by none. I wish my Thai friends peace and comfort at this difficult time, and I hope that the fears many have about the future do not come to pass.
posted by Midnight Skulker at 8:28 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

I wish the crown could pass to the princess, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, beloved by many Thais and by all accounts a much better person than her brother.
posted by mkuhnell at 8:29 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

The Economist obituary. It's fairly negative, in keeping with that newspaper's general editorial bent. See also this current events analysis and this critique of lèse-majesté from last year.
posted by Nelson at 8:32 AM on October 13, 2016

Graymouser: Regarding things since 2006, I won't dispute any of your points, as they're correct. I always sort of viewed the king as like an external governance check, where he could and would selectively step in when the Thai government was veering off in a direction that was outside his comfort zone. Since 2006, things have been veering off more forcefully and often than normal, and I don't think he navigated it as well.

As an aside, I think there's quite a bit in common between the yellow shirts (ostensibly for the king, but really more focused on conservative/status quo rule by the traditional power structure elites) versus red shirts (rich populist leading a rural/non-elite anti-status quo group) happening all over the globe.

I do agree with you that things are going to get bad due to the king's death and the power plays that will now happen. What will be interesting to watch is how China does or does not interject itself into this traditional US ally that will now be in flux. There are strong connections between China and Thailand on the business side of things, intermediates by ethnic Thai-Chinese who are very well integrated into Thai society (exclusively speaking Thai, several generations having been born in Thailand, etc.). I haven't seen or heard much about China's attempts to influence Thailand at this juncture and would be interested what you and others think.
posted by SeanOfTheHillPeople at 8:33 AM on October 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yeah, even reading between the lines on his wiki entry before I saw greymouser's comments, the Crown Prince sounds like more than a bit of a lout. Also, he's in his mid 60s himself, and has 6 or so kids by three wives? Including 3 estranged adult sons currently in exile an one legit son who's like 10? That doesn't seem ideal.
posted by Diablevert at 8:35 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

> I spent 5 years of my childhood in Thailand, and feel this oddly strongly.

Same here! My family moved there in 1958, when he was a young and vigorous monarch, and I still think of him that way. I really hope Thailand manages to get through this without too much agony, but things haven't been looking good there for a while now.

.
posted by languagehat at 8:35 AM on October 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

Yes, the lèse-majesté laws are awful (even the king spoke out against them). But let's not forget that this man was dearly loved by most Thais as a near-divine father figure. He will be deeply and genuinely mourned. My thoughts and hopes are with the Thai people now and in difficult transition.
posted by mkuhnell at 8:36 AM on October 13, 2016 [8 favorites]

But let's not forget that this man was dearly loved by most Thais as a near-divine father figure.

I don't think his importance and high regard he had among the Thai people can be emphasized enough.
posted by josher71 at 8:38 AM on October 13, 2016 [5 favorites]

I think there's quite a bit in common between the yellow shirts (ostensibly for the king, but really more focused on conservative/status quo rule by the traditional power structure elites) versus red shirts (rich populist leading a rural/non-elite anti-status quo group) happening all over the globe.

Turkey is maybe the closest analogy, where the military has played a caretaker role but was just usurped by a right-wing populist... although the context is quite different, and it doesn't seem like the relationship between the Thai military and the monarchy is about to change.
posted by ennui.bz at 8:39 AM on October 13, 2016

I haven't found the link to the original wikileaks dump (which was some US diplomatic cables) but there is this article (four parts) on a blog by Andrew MacGregor Marshall, formerly of Reuters, from 2011. He does have a link to the cables. It's extremely interesting.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:40 AM on October 13, 2016 [10 favorites]

.

For Thailand, and especially for her people.

My best friend is Thai and I've been back a couple of times, including right after the most recent coup kicked off. I'll limit my comments--since I'd like to go back again--to saying that, although this day has been long in coming, there will be a great deal of mourning for the king and everyone will be watching the succession carefully.
posted by librarylis at 9:18 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

this is the funniest part of his wiki entry:

During his 2005 birthday speech, Bhumibol invited criticism: "Actually, I must also be criticised. I am not afraid if the criticism concerns what I do wrong, because then I know. Because if you say the king cannot be criticised, it means that the king is not human", he claimed. "If the king can do no wrong, it is akin to looking down upon him because the king is not being treated as a human being. But the king can do wrong."[7] A widespread barrage of criticisms resulted, followed by a sharp rise in lèse majesté prosecutions. Lèse majesté cases rose from five or six a year pre-2005 to 478 in 2010.

posted by automatizing nihilist vortex at 10:09 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've always wondered if there's something wrong with me, or with many other people. They talk about patriotism, or love of a leader, or what have you and I have no emotion at all that reflects that even to a lesser degree than the excesses we see here. The easy, lazy, explanation is that they're faking it and the displays of grief are simply status and in group signaling mechanisms. But I don't think that's true. The grief they're expressing over a man they never met seems perfectly real, and baffles me as much as religious faith does. I wonder if the two are related?

My condolences to them. Though I can't share their grief or even comprehend how they could come to feel it, I hope their pain passes quickly and they can make peace with what has happened.

SeanOfTheHillPeople The dog that the party was held in honor of had been made an Air Chief Marshall in the Royal Thai Airforce.

I can't help but think that any time a person in power grants a pet titles, military honors, etc that you're looking at very bad times ahead.

Hope things in Thailand end without too much bloodshed.
posted by sotonohito at 10:17 AM on October 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

A widespread barrage of criticisms resulted, followed by a sharp rise in lèse majesté prosecutions. Lèse majesté cases rose from five or six a year pre-2005 to 478 in 2010.

One possible non-funny interpretation: the king actually tried to open things up, and the state machinery and assorted middle functionaries that depend on the image of the king for power refused to play along - it's not like the king personally litigates every case.
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:37 AM on October 13, 2016 [7 favorites]

that's more or less what i assumed was happening, which is pretty funny from a distance
posted by automatizing nihilist vortex at 11:07 AM on October 13, 2016

Scathing obituary from this Thai exile:

[King Bhumibol] of Thailand was a weak and characterless monarch who spent his useless and privileged life in a bubble, surrounded by fawning, grovelling, toadies who claimed that he was a “god”. He was a pathetic creature who should not in any way be pitied. His life’s work was in self-enrichment, support for military regimes and the defence of inequality. He played a significant role in preventing democratic rights, the development of social justice and the fair and unbiased use of the law...

posted by Abiezer at 11:16 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

My Thai landlady (here in the US, years ago) liked him very much and, IIRC, had an old picture of him on the wall in a fancy frame.

She was also very excited that I knew what the muay thai martial art was, although I only knew it because I had seen Jean-Claude Van Damme movies.
posted by XMLicious at 11:26 AM on October 13, 2016 [2 favorites]

Holy shit, TWinbrook8, that MacGregor Marshall article is fascinating. Check it out, rest of the thread.
posted by Diablevert at 11:27 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

TWinbrook8: I've spent the last hour going through that article and it is extremely fascinating and filling in lots of blanks. Thank you for the outstanding link. For everyone that's interested in modern Thailand, read this article and here's the link to part two of four of what TWinbrook8 posted.

From the first part, it is really interesting how much Queen Sirikit is pulling levers, which means she'll be much more significant in the next year as she deploys her proxies.
posted by SeanOfTheHillPeople at 12:02 PM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

The king was born at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA, the son of Prince Mahidol of Songkla, who was a student at Harvard Medical School at the time.

And in wonderful fashion, the headline at Universal Hub is Cambridge Native Dies in Thailand. While I'm sure that Mefi's Own™ adamg meant it as a fond joke, I'll bet you dinner that the joke went over the heads of many Cantabridgians...

.
posted by Melismata at 1:12 PM on October 13, 2016 [6 favorites]

(Hoping that the cover of my sock will allow me to return to Thailand in the future.)

My thoughts are with the people of my adopted country, most of whom revere King Bhumibol as a benevolent grandfather. They deserve better than Vajiralongkorn, who is a sleazebag on the Trump model and I have personally been on the other end of his sleaze. There's a prophecy that there will be no Rama X, that this king was the last king. I pray there isn't more blood shed in the streets of beautiful Bangkok ... but fear there will be.
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 8:56 PM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

During his 2005 birthday speech, Bhumibol invited criticism: "Actually, I must also be criticised. I am not afraid if the criticism concerns what I do wrong, because then I know. Because if you say the king cannot be criticised, it means that the king is not human", he claimed. "If the king can do no wrong, it is akin to looking down upon him because the king is not being treated as a human being. But the king can do wrong."[7] A widespread barrage of criticisms resulted, followed by a sharp rise in lèse majesté prosecutions. Lèse majesté cases rose from five or six a year pre-2005 to 478 in 2010.

“Let a thousand flowers bloom”
posted by acb at 8:09 AM on October 14, 2016

So, you know, just noodling along reading that massive pdf report and suddenly

One may find it difficult to believe today, but barbershops were closed on Wednesdays not Sundays, as Wednesday, under Brahmanic restrictions, was deemed to be off limits for haircutting.

As opposed to closing on Sundays because Sunday, under Christian restrictions, is deemed to be off limits for work. Astonishing. Whatever will those superstitious barbarians think of next.
posted by inconstant at 8:40 AM on October 14, 2016 [2 favorites]

Late Thai king’s [96-year-old] confidant confirmed as temporary regent
- The Washington Post, October 16th, 2016
posted by blueberry at 3:33 AM on October 17, 2016

In other royal mortality news, the (deposed) last king of Rwanda, also the "last anointed African Roman Catholic king to reign over a full country" evidently died on the 16th a few days after the king of Thailand. 2013 profile.
posted by XMLicious at 11:02 AM on October 22, 2016