Reading Bangkok

Notes

Notes Prologue 1. Popular Thai saying. 2. The identity of the killers here, as elsewhere in this and earlier uprisings, is always contested and never resolved. Was the fire from military or rebel guns? 3. Craig Reynolds additionally notes that Siam (sayam) is itself “modern”, probably coined by Mongkut (Rama IV) for considerations no less political than the invention of 1939. The early treaties referred only to krungthep or muang thai (Reynolds, 2006: 274–5n2). 4. Bangkok Post, 27 August 2008, pp. 1, 3–4. 5. The Age (Melbourne), 3 December 2008. Much of the following is based on personal observation as the author witnessed the events in Bangkok. A useful source of commentary are various papers in Funston (2009). 6. The general comment from the media was that the army Commanderin -Chief, General Anupong Paojinda, simply “rejected [Prime Minister] Samak’s orders in a most discreet manner”. Nattaya Chetchotiros, “Seeking a new political order post-Samak”, Bangkok Post, 4 September 2008, p. 11. 7. The Age (Melbourne), 6 December 2008, p. 16. 8. Blogger Laoism, 29 December 2008, at [accessed 6 January 2009]. The removal of Queen Sirikit images occurred, not surprisingly, in Chiang Mai, other parts of the north and in the northeast, strongholds of Thaksin support. 9. In an open vote, Abhisit defeated Police General Pracha Phromnok from Pheu Thai party, successor to the successive Thaksin parties. 10. [accessed 6 January 2009]. The date of this banner is in some dispute, with other sources referring to 31 December; see [accessed 13 August 2009]. UDD core member Jatuporn Prompan subsequently asserted that there was no intention to insult the monarchy and that the “privileged thieves” referred to Abhisit. The words on the banner were “Abhisit-chon-jora”, referring to a privileged group or privileged “thieves”. 11. While the newspapers remain the best source of information on the rift, there are also summaries and discussion in Nostitz (2009) and Funston (2009). 213 12. Most notorious (in Thailand) was a series of articles in The Economist in December 2008 and January 2009. The 4 December issue specifically quoted from The King Never Smiles (Handley, 2006), an unauthorised biography of King Bhumibol that is banned in Thailand. Other European media joined the discussion, for example, International Herald Tribune, 31 January 2009. Chapter 1 1. Both the airport expressway and the very-fast train traverse a landscape of Islamic mosques but no wat (Buddhist temples). 2. Melford has noted that, in addition to mirroring Ayutthaya architecturally, Rama I had taken a range of other actions to replicate the traditions and ceremonies of the former capital. He ordered newly discovered white elephants to be brought to Rattanakosin as a visible sign of the kingdom’s prospering; ancient royal ceremonies were restored and their religious nature emphasised (Melford, 1970: 171–87). 3. On the monarchy generally, see Chaiyan (1994) and Mead (2004). 4. Buddhist mythology holds that when a great Chakkavatti king or Universal Monarch appears in the world, this gem which normally resides on Mount Vibula will come to him together with six other gems and will remain with him until the end of his reign (Coedès, 1915: 9). On its fabled Ceylon, Pagan and Angkor derivation, see Lingat (1934) and Briggs (1951: 151). 5. On this rivalry between dynasties expressed as a rivalry between images (Emerald Buddha versus Phra Bang, Vientiane versus Luang Prabang), see Reynolds (1969). 6. It is important to note that Rama III himself had a legitimacy problem: his succession to the throne was controversial as he was the son of a concubine ; the more legitimate heir was his half-brother Mongkut. On the third reign, see Vella (1957). 7. Some accounts give late 1828 as the date for this event. The war and its aftermath in Anuvong’s humiliation is central to both Siamese and Lao imaginings of “nation” and, accordingly, Thai and Lao historiographies give radically different treatments. Suwaphat Sregongsang has drawn my attention to this quite extensive literature where, from the Thai side (demonising Anuvong), one can refer to Thongsohphit (1971) and Pongpipat (1972); from the Lao (elevating Anuvong to national hero), there is Sawang Veeravong (1969), Duangsai Luangpasee (2001), and Sunate Bhotisan (2002). English translations of titles are used. 8. There is a Phra Racha Wang Derm Restoration Foundation concerned with restoring the Phra Racha Wang Derm palace in the Royal Navy headquarters compound. It is a useful source on both King Taksin and King 214 Notes to pp. xxii–15 [13.58...