I can't even start to describe how deeply and profoundly Thai people have placed respect in the king. Wanna see some example? My friend's status on Facebook read:
"With my heart and my head, I bow to the ground in greeting Your Majesty - the Supreme Protector of the Land, the Great Sovereign of Siam who exalts in highest and lasting honor. Safe and secure under Your protection, Your boundless generosity in safeguarding the happiness and peace of all subjects, I beg the divine power to bless Your Majesty with all that Your heart desires, for this is also what my heart desires."
Wow. Just WOW, isn't it? But it was just a minuscule part of how much Thai people have the highest faith and respect toward the king. He's like our God.
I'm a Thai person and I've been taught and acknowledged since childhood that "everyone loves the king. We MUST love the king. The king is the best. We Thai people are lucky to have the greatest king like him, etc, etc" I didn't think much when I was young, because it really makes sense. It's what everyone around me does and highly believes in. It's the FACT that Thai people MUST LOVE THE KING.
Until recently, being a skeptic as I am, I myself started to wonder. WHY can Thai people, love the king THIS much? How can a single person hold all the respects from everyone in the country? How would we be able to know his flaws when we (possibly) have the strongest Lèse majesté law in the world?
Let me state my point of view here that I am NOT against the king, nor I have any special "political colors" in mind. It's my own doubt, that's all.
I made a BIG mistake once by slipping these questions and ideas to a friend of mine. She all of a sudden fell to an eery silence and started CRYING over the phone. She couldn't take it and said she felt extremely terribly horrible for the king that I have my doubts against him.
Even worse, she added with such a strong reassurance that a Thai person who doesn't realize how lucky and grateful to have the best of the best (I'm getting stuck trying to find the superlative adjectives here!) king of all time shouldn't have been born as a Thai person.
Ouch.
Just because I hold different opinions, it means I shouldn't be a Thai person?
What the hell?
Humongous mistake indeed. I swear I'll never mention this thing to anyone until I make sure they're open-minded enough to listen to me. Never again will I underestimate Thai people's faith toward the king.
But here's another thing. Though I feel neutral toward him, I strongly believe that Thai people need to have the king.
Since he's the utmost respect, faith, and reverence of all Thai people, he's the "pride" of our nation, he's the excellent portrayal of "goodness", I believe the king is really a great inspiration and hope for Thai people. Let him forever be. I just can't see anyone substitute him in this position. The society nowadays are so screwed up that I don't see anything wrong to have one strong "image" of pure goodness and morality.
I don't personally know the king, so I can't tell what he's like, though I've heard nothing but the praise of his goodness. But all I know is it's impossible to build such a strong foundation accumulating total faith from all Thai people like he is able to.
I remembered telling my Ecuadorian friend about the king because he's really interested in the concept and idea of monarchy. He mumbled something like "Too scary. Too much power in one person." Then I told him how I feel about the king but insisted that Thai people need to have the king no matter what.
He said if he were a king, he would be very happy to hear that, because it comes from someone who's neutral about him, yet I feel we need to have him.
No. He's wrong. Apparently, from my Thai friend's point of view, I shouldn't have been born as a Thai person if I don't believe in the king wholeheartedly...
Hopefully, this entry (and blog of mine) won't get shut down due to the discussion of a touchy topic (Lèse majesté law in Thailand, remember?)
I don't think I am the only Thai person in Thailand who thinks this way, either.
But anyway,
Long live the king.
[Edit] After I published this entry, my twitter timeline is flooded with We Love the King comments such as
"I'm glad that I was born and live in Thailand under the greatest King Rama IX."
"H.M. dedicated his whole life to Thai people and to Thailand. Thai people wholehearedly repect and love our king."
"Thai Royal Anthem. I have tears in my eyes every time I see this."
"Our love to the king is unconditioned, and so is his! HM the King of Thailand"
ฝรั่งอาจจะเข้าใจว่าเราถูกสอนให้รักในหลวง แต่สำหรับคนไทย เราไม่ได้ถูกสอน แต่เรารู้สึกจากก้นบึ้งของหัวใจ
(Translation: Foreigners might understand that we are taught to love the king, but as for Thais, we aren't taught to, we feel it from the depth of our hearts.)
(Tell me, am I abnormal or something, people?)
And the list goes on forever...
In addition, Thai twitterers just made We Love the King as the #1 world's trending topics!!!!! Unbelievable. It left me speechless (and still puzzled: why? how?)
Long live the king.
[Edit] After I published this entry, my twitter timeline is flooded with We Love the King comments such as
"I'm glad that I was born and live in Thailand under the greatest King Rama IX."
"H.M. dedicated his whole life to Thai people and to Thailand. Thai people wholehearedly repect and love our king."
"Thai Royal Anthem. I have tears in my eyes every time I see this."
"Our love to the king is unconditioned, and so is his! HM the King of Thailand"
ฝรั่งอาจจะเข้าใจว่าเราถูกสอนให้รักในหลวง แต่สำหรับคนไทย เราไม่ได้ถูกสอน แต่เรารู้สึกจากก้นบึ้งของหัวใจ
(Translation: Foreigners might understand that we are taught to love the king, but as for Thais, we aren't taught to, we feel it from the depth of our hearts.)
(Tell me, am I abnormal or something, people?)
And the list goes on forever...
In addition, Thai twitterers just made We Love the King as the #1 world's trending topics!!!!! Unbelievable. It left me speechless (and still puzzled: why? how?)
3 comments:
I kind of view Thai people and the King as I view Thai people and religion. I think religion is fine and all, but people tend to take it out of context and blow it out of proportion; wanting it, needing it too much, to the point that they rely too heavily on it. Same goes for the King.
They think religion will get them out of anything and if they pray hard enough, it will get them out of shit. They also do so with the King.
They either don't understand or don't care that, scientifically and logically, religion actually can't help, but they need that moral support. In the same vein, Thai people all know that the King is great, but they often forget he is human and not a God, and they blindly revere and defend him in every instance. Simply because he is the King.
Yes, he has done a lot for our country. But I'm sure that hordes of people glorify and idolise him so profusely only because they were brought up to do so without a true understanding of it all. Just like how they were brought up praying to Buddha in schools up until they were 18.
This is an amazing post, don't worry you are not the only Thai holding this position I know others - no naming names.
You're spot on, Thailand needs the king, if not for what he does, then what he stands for - neutrality & truth.
But therein lies the danger that people with interest - such as political parties, red and yellow shirts - try to hijack his name and cause.
It's a truly interesting paradigm, far far removed from the royal family in my native UK.
Great post as always. You're fortunate enough to be well educated to the point where you can hold your own (political) opinions, including the ability to appreciate that others may not hold the same opinion. This seems to be a rarity in Thailand, where opinions are not openly expressed. When they are, they are often borrowed (or just copied) from two extremes.
I agree with Chariya in the sense that there is an inordinate amount of (superficial) trust and faith placed in things that don't exist, and these things are used to evade personal responsibility. For example, the invasion of the airport last year on the grounds of "protecting national security" or the use of sanitary pads to ward off evil spirits and topple the government.
I feel sorry that there has been so much expectation and pressure on HM to remain in the public eye at a time when others should be taking personal responsibility to provide Thailand with moral and spiritual guidance. I'm afraid that with the inevitable vacuum that's left behind will result in more instability.
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