The royal face that is worth more than millions of subject feet

Press, 26 February 1983, Page 15

The royal face that is worth more than millions of subject feet

By

ELIZABETH RAIZIS

The slight Thai waitress held out change for the customer. a French tourist. Believing himself to have been short-changed, he would have nothing of it. In the ensuing argument he grew so angry he grabbed the notes, screwed them up. threw 1 them to the floor, and stamped on them. Before you could say "Down the Revolution." a Thai from a nearby table leapt to his feet, planted several punches in the Continental's stunned face, and backed them up with a flying kick to the stomach. The tourist's transgression was not that he had flared up in public, though that was bad enough in a country which prides itself on coolheartedness. He had ground underfoot a Thai banknote which, along with every coin, bears an image of the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej. The foot is the lowest part of the anatomy; the head — inhabited by the kwan or spirit-essence — is the highest. When Thais want to say “Your Majesty” they address the "under soles, coarse visible dust, fine invisible dust, gracious feet” of the Monarch. To reverse the roles by placing a picture of the King under a lowly commoner's feet calls for instant action. To his 48 million subjects Rama IX is the ultimate terrestrial. The constitutional monarch is not the kind of demi-god to sit cloistered in Chitralada Palace surveying his court through bespectacled eyes. Instead, he has spearheaded his country's metamorphosis into a modern nation. He and his queen Sirikit. spend eight months a year on the road, visiting the 72 provinces of the realm spanning Himalayan foothills in the north, central fertile valleys and plains in the north-east and rain forests in the south. Strict “lese majeste” laws , make it difficult to assess any anti-royalist feeling in ; Thailand, but judging from such reactions as that against the French tourist • and by the number of royal i portraits hung in every build- | ing - from up-country teak ; houses and shops to the most j miserable fisher hovels and gleaming office blocks — the ] throne has many more sup- i porters than detractors. 1 One reason for the King's « popularity has been his prac- f tical service to his people by 1 establishing numerous pro- j jects in the grounds of Chi- r tralada Palace. An experi- r mental farm breeds dairy cattle for local use, milk I preservation methods are de- j veloped, and farmers are I

shown how best to produce dairy products. To encourage fish farming in rice paddies and fisherystations he has established experimental Japanese fish ponds in the villa grounds. Other projects include forestry, rice, and silo building. He and his queen have taken a special interest in the northern hilltribes and have gently but firmly encouraged them to substitute slash-and-burn opium poppy farming with the cultivation of coffee, soya and kidney beans, upland fruits, flowers, and vegetables. With United Nations marketing and guaranteed prices they earn as much, or more, from these products as they did from the red poppy. King Bhumibol (said "poom-ee-pone”) was born in Cambridge. Massachusetts, in 1927 while his father. Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, was studying medicine at Harvard University. His father died while still a student, and he, his mother, an elder brother, Ananda, and sister went to live in Lausanne. Switzerland. In 1932, the military People’s Party in Siam, fired by depression hardships, abolished the absolute monarchy and proclaimed a constitutional one in its place. Three years later another revolution demanded that King Prajadhipok give up more of his prerogatives. The king countered, saying further limitations should be sanctioned by a referendum or a general election. The government did not agree, and in March, 1935, Prajadhipok abdicated after 10 years on the throne. He said that the government had rejected his demands for popular reforms; such as the abolition of secret trials of political offenders. His nephew, Prince Anada Mahidol. ascended to the throne but in 1946 the then 20-year-old student was assassinated in bed. Although four members of his household were executed some years later for complicity in regicide, the death remains a mystery. The new king, 18-year-old Bhumibol, returned to Bangkok, made obeisance to the Emerald Buddha, and at-

tended to his brother's funeral rites before resuming his university studies. He switched his subjects from science to law and political science to better prepare him for kingship. With his brother he had shared a passion for jazz, and he also loved fast cars — he injured an eye in a car accident two years later. During his convalescence in Fontainbleau he fell in love with Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakra. the daugh-. ter of Thailand's titled ambassador to France. After their marriage in 1950 the grave monarch crowned himself and his queen, taking on such insignia as the Girdle of the Nine Gems, the Whisk of a White Elephant's Tail, and the Diamond Spear. In those days the youthful king was both master and slave of tradition; today he sees himself at the head and at the feet of his people. The aloof, stiff monarch once told a photographer: "The Queen smiles for me." Then, there seemed to be two Bhumibols — the tradi-tion-bound regent and the Renaissance man. His Serene Highness, descendant of the Great Buddha. Supreme Arbiter of the Ebb and Flow of

the Tides. Brother of the Moon. Half-Brother of the Sun. and Possessor of the Four and Twenty Umbrellas, is also a dab hand at a myriad of disciplines. In 1967. he won the Southeast Asia Peninsula Games gold medal for his yachting prowess. Two years before he had left the Duke of Edinburgh in 21st place in a 13ft boat Bhumibol built himself. His inventions include an electric machinegun for military and police helicopters: he has turned his flair for engineering to more than 500 irrigation projects and dams; and he is a polyglot of several European languages. His dozens of popular and jazz compositions, many of which are available on record, include "Blue Night" which ■ was used in Mike Todd's Broadway production of "Peep Show" and he once guest starred with his saxophone on Bob Hope's Christmas show. Also a clarinetist, he loves Bach, but he cannot

abide the musical “The King and I." It is banned in Thailand for its slur on his ancestor. King Mongkut, Rama IV. Bhumibol's compositions extend to traditionalstyle dance pieces and to the "March for the King's Guards." The monarch also has a penchant for the paint brush, and his paintings, and photographs, often including images of his bewitchingly beautiful queen, are regularly exhibited in public. He has turned his multifarious talents to making movies: mathematics; ham radio; keeping an extensive vintage car collection; and designing the King’s shirt — a classic tropical shirt available in shops throughout the country. In 1960. he and his consort made a six-month tour of 14 countries, his movie and still cameras accompanying them. Two years later they were in Australasia, but since then the King has concentrated on the tasks of home, making only occasional visits away. Just as he was the first monarch to

have been born on United States soil. King Bhumibol was the first foreign regent to visit New Zealand. The tour coincided with Tauranga's Orange Festival. The recently demolished Star Hotel in Auckland was redecorated — the King's room in bown and gold with mahogany furniture and the Queen’s in white and gold with a blue carpet and white Louis XV style furniture. The Auckland City Council presented the couple with greenstone bookends embellished with the city crest, and menus were planned to include baby Persian melon flown in from America, kaeng chud (Thai coconut soup), grilled seaks of fresh Canadian salmon Cingalese. Pla Tu (“A Thai fish like John Dory best served with limes and tabasco" pronounced a report at the time), gang phat entree (curried meat), fillets of flounder Veronique (rolled round seedless muscatels), beef, pork, casserole of duckling with orange salad, cold buffet and vegetables (cauliflower with curry- sauce), then spicy American apple tart, trifle Amontillado, jasmine or sou mee tea. A purple airway was cleared between Auckland and Christchurch for the seven aircraft bearing the couple and their entourage. Bad weather in Christchurch meant their Royal Highnesses had to stop at Wellington and sail from there, in the process dislodging the then Minister of . Railways from his de luxe suite on the Rangitira. Police stopped soldiers from holding a rock and roll party on board, but teen-agers were not deterred by the presence of royalty from singing on deck. Although it often poured during their eight-day tour, tens of thousands of people flocked to the streets lined with “flags, bunting, and the fearsome Thai emblem" (the half-bird, half-man Garuda) to beam at the visitors and offer up posies. At one point outside Huntly the royal Rolls braked, its left rear wheel punctured. As the couple alighted a nine-year-old girl bobbed a quick curtsy and was rewarded by an arrest-

ing Sirikit smile. "It was lovely" was all the beguiled Janet could stammer as the reserve limousine glided away. Outside his Christchurch hotel the King snapped at the crowd with his 35mm. leather-encased camera while the Queen shimmered in her Balmain-styled Thai silks and jewels. During speeches made without notes and liberally sprinkled with quips the King thanked NewZealand for economic and military aid to his country. All too soon their majesties left for Australia, where Bhumibol was made a Melbourne Unversity honorary doctor of laws. Although denied a similar degree from the Australian National University because he lacked acadmeic qualifications (kingly duties had called him away from his study desk) an Asian fellowship was established. The Queen was reported to have brushed aside tears s she fafewelled the Victorian capital, saying "I love Melbourne." But the secretary of the New South Wales Labour Council remained unimpressed. accusing her of vulgarity for ostentatiously displaying her wealth while her people lived under deplorable conditions. While the New Zealand frigate Otago was berthed in Bangkok in 1963 Sirikit asked to see the ship's engine room, undettered by warnings that it was hot, noisy, and served by steep and slippery ladders. The King and Queen were accorded a Maori challenge before their three-hour visit, their first to a foreign warship in Thailand. The next year. Bhumibol ordered a 720 square foot carpet and runner from New Zealand in preparation for a Japanese royal visit. Since his early days of kingship Bhumibol has remained a dignified and sober monarch overseeing ritual at the Grand Palace and the Pramain Ground, but he has mellowed into very much a father of his people. His consort is ever at his side - taking over royal duties when her husand temporarily wore the curry-yel-low robes of a Buddhist monk in 1956, fostering cottage industries, helping to

organise ihe aid activities of the Thai Red Cross Society to help-such as the 580.000 refugees in the country, popularising traditional styles of silk and cotton weaving by wearing them herself (she was declared best dressed woman of 1965). and raising the couples son and three daughters who were educated at a school set up in Chitralada Villa, considered by the King as striking a balance between private and public schooling. Along with portraits of the regent and his consort, many Thais, rual and urban, have added that of 27-year-old Princess Sirindhorn. Although her older brother. Vajiralongkorn. was invested as Crown Prince 10 years ago. the country's National Assembly has revised royal law to permit a woman to become monarch. If the por- > taits are any gauge, the intelligent (she did postgraduate studies in archeaology) and diplomatic Sirindhorn seems to be the people's choice. In 1978. she was raised to the rank of Maha Chakri. similar to Princess Royal. the King's eldest child. Princess Übol Ratana. known as Julie Mahidol during her studies in the United States, renounced her title when she married a businessman. Peter Jensen, and now lives in California. In spite of his subject's anxiety for their king when he was in hospital last year, the sacred ruler, whose reign has spanned eight coups d’etat and 11 constitutions, continues to serve them with due reverence to tradition regardless of his uncle's remarks when he abdicated: "Please do not refer to me as Possesor of Twenty Umbrellas or Brother of the Moon. It is all bunkum " Belief holds that the Buddha was a white elephant during one of his incarnations and the animals are considered honorary human beings. Among the many reasons for his survival must be that Rama IX has had 12 white elephants presented to him during his reign — the most any Thai king has owned. It is seen as an extremely auspicious sign for the continuing success of his kingship.