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Article Excerpt
The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumipol Adulyadej. By Paul M. Handley. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006. Hardcover: 499pp.
The King Never Smiles is the third book (to be banned) on the life of Thailand's King Bhumipol Adulyadej published by a non-Thai. The others are Rayne Kruger's The Devil's Discus and William Stevenson's The Revolutionary King. Written by a journalist who resided in the Kingdom for thirteen years, it is exceptionally well written and reflects a deep knowledge of Thai politics and history. Handley begins the story impressively by detailing the sacral ideology of Buddhist kingship, juxtaposed between the traditions of dhammaraja (king by virtue of the ten principles of a virtuous Buddhist king) and devaraja (a Brahmanic-oriented god-king). The setting commences with a coup against absolute monarchy in 1932, the abdication of King Rama VII, the attempted annihilation of Thai royalism, the suspicious death of his successor King Rama VIII and the accession to power of 18-year-old Bhumipol (Rama VIII's brother) in 1946. The monarchy was then at its lowest ebb and Thai democracy was finally beginning to flower.
Handley argues that amidst this situation, resolute royalists began a campaign to restore a strong Thai monarchy, an endeavour Bhumipol totally supported. The strategy involved promoting a King-centred ideology, as well as allying with military factions supportive...
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