Cover
story: 25
Oct 06 /
Vol. 23 No. 14 |
The
Ultimate Source of King Bhumibol's Great Prestige and
Moral Authority |
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By
Rachawadi
Photos by royal courtesy |
A
widely expected and long prepared historic event in Thailand
has come to pass. The grand celebrations of the 60th anniversary
of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej's accession to the
Throne, attended by monarchs and royal representatives from
25 countries all over the world as well as hundreds of thousands
of Thai people, took place in Bangkok in a genuinely joyful
atmosphere.
The Royal Family
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The
Diamond Jubilee was preluded by a visit from the Secretary-General
of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, to present His Majesty
with the United Nations Development Programme's First Human
Development Lifetime Achievement Award, the first of its kind,
in recognition of the King's distinguished achievements in
various aspects during his long reign of Thailand.
The five-day event began on the morning of Friday, the 9th
of June. Before dawn, throngs of people, mostly from the provinces,
began to arrive at the Royal Plaza in order to occupy vantage
points to have a clear close look at their beloved King, the
Royal Plaza being the square in front of the Ananta Samakhom
Throne Hall where His Majesty was to appear in a solemn ceremony.
Throngs of people gather throughout the spacious
square in front of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall
to express their great affection for H.M. the King.
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By the time the King arrived at the place with his Royal Family
at 10.15 a.m., his loyal subjects numbering well over a hundred
thousand had gathered throughout the spacious square, extending
along outer Ratchadamnoen Road right up to the turn into Phanfa
Bridge where the Throne Hall was out of sight. Everyone was
wearing a yellow T-shirt, holding a small yellow flag in hand,
yellow being the colour of the King.
The Royal Thai Family pose for a photograph with
royal guests from 25 countries at the Ananta Samakhom
Throne Hall.
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After the Buddhist, Brahmanical and civil ceremonies were
over, the King went inside the Throne Hall which was formerly
used as the National Assembly Hall, and then appeared with
Her Majesty the Queen, on the balcony to the thunderous applause
from the sea of people below.
Thousands of lit vessels drifting down the
Chao Phraya River, part of the celebrations
of the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty
the King's Accession to the Throne
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The crowds exultantly waved their flags and the King waved
back. Then he addressed them from the balcony, expressing
his delight at being "in the midst of this great congregation
of individuals from all institutions of the country and the
public at large", and thanking them for their complimentary
wishes and the grand celebrations which every one had joined
in arranging especially for His Majesty. He urged his people
to be compassionate to each other, to work for their mutual
well-being, to think and act with honesty, while staying true
to the rules and respecting equality.
The King is a gold medalist in sailing.
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Just
before 1 p.m. the King and his Royal Family left the Royal
Plaza in a motorcade while the military band struck up the
Royal Anthem. The crowd chanted "Long live the King"
and waved their flags incessantly until the procession was
out of sight.
H.M. the King plants vetiver grass by himself.
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On the evening, Thais from all walks of life had another
opportunity to show their reverence and love to their King,
by attending the mass meeting at Sanam Luang before the
Grand Palace, as is yearly done on the evening of His Majesty's
birthday on 5 December where candles were lit, vows of allegiance
were made, songs of loyalty were sung and shouts of "Long
live the King" were given.
The King closely monitors the
progress of his projects.
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Other highlights of the celebration included fireworks shows,
exhibitions of royal projects, the ancient colourful Royal
Barges Procession on the Chao Phraya on the evening of 12
June and the state banquet given at the Grand Palace the next
evening in honour of the visiting foreign royal guests.
For the King, his people's well-being
is a top priority regardless of the toil involved.
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At the banquet, His Majesty Sultan Bolkiah of Brunei, in his
capacity as the longest reigning guest monarch, made a speech
on behalf of the royal guests, extolling His Majesty King
Bhumibol as a source of inspiration for other monarchs around
the world and of confidence for the Thai people.
Soon after this historic event was over, an article appeared
in Time magazine (19 June 2006) entitled The
Mystique of Monarchy.
H.M. King Bhumibol always bring along a
camera with him whenever he goes to
visit his subjects in remote areas.
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Like many foreigners who witnessed the celebrations, the
writer seemed to marvel at the Thai King's ability to enjoy
such high prestige and command such deep-rooted loyalty
among his subjects in this world of the rapid decline of
monarchies, as has been proved by the celebrations and the
King's successful interventions in his country's political
crises.
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The writer tried to explain this phenomenon by pointing out
that "King Bhumibol happens to be hugely admired across
Thailand, acclaimed as a musician, painter, patent-holding inventor
and, most of all, philanthropist, who constantly goes around
his kingdom offering development projects to help his people".
A scene of the Coronation
on 5 May 1950.
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It is true that
the Thais admire their King as a man of many talents. But that
is not what make them hold their King in reverence. It is true
that the Thais love their King because of his great compassion,
but they would consider the use of the term "philanthropist"
to describe their King as inappropriate. To the Thais, a philanthropist
is a wealthy person who is generous in donating money to charities.
But the King of Thailand is not wealthy enough to carry out
his numerous development projects with his own money.
H.M. the King during his monkhood walks
around early every morning to
receive alms from Buddhist devotees as
part of a monk's daily activities.
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Very often, he merely provides an initial fund for trial. If
the project proves feasible, it will be transferred to the government
for implementation. What is more important, the King travels
everywhere to find out the problem and then try to devise a
solution, which a philanthropist seldom does. Apart from this,
a philanthropist is usually busy making money while our King
is busy with helping people. This is the basic difference.
What really wins the Thai people's hearts is the King's perfect
moral quality as a king. They have found that throughout his
long reign the King has lived up to the oath he took when he
was crowned on 5 May 1950*, which reads as follows:
*King Bhumibol was proclaimed king immediately after the
death of his brother King Ananda Mahidol on 9 June 1946, but
was not officially crowned until this date because he had to
go back to Switzerland to resume his study.
"I shall reign with Dhamma for the benefit and happiness
of all the Thai people."
The word dhamma in the oath refers to Dasarajadhamma or
the tenfold virtue of the king, which is based on the ancient
teaching of Theravada Buddhism intended to restrain a king's
absolute power in former times. Dasarajadhamma is a
Pali word composed of three elements -- dasa meaning
ten, raja meaning king, and dhamma meaning
virtue.
An illuminated arch to celebrate
the
60th Anniversary of His Majesty's
Accession to the Throne
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A ccording to Thai administrative tradition,
the king held the dual titles of Lord of Life and Lord of the
Land. As the former, he could take life away from any of his
subjects. As the latter, he owned all the land in the kingdom
but distributed it to his subjects to make their living.
A scene of the Royal Barge Procession during the celebrations
marking the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty's Accession
to the Throne.
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The unrestricted exercise of such powers would result in misery
for the people. Thus, it was considered necessary to keep the
powers in check. When a king exercised his powers in accordance
with rajadhamma, he was called dhamma raja,
which means a king whose virtue brings happiness to the people.
The concept of rajadhamma dates from the first Thai
kingdom of Sukhothai in the 13th century and has survived up
to now despite the revolution of 1932 which changed the political
system of Thailand into constitutional monarchy.
The tenfold virtue of the king consists of the
following:
1. Dana, which means giving in a
beneficial way: things such as daily necessities, useful knowledge
and advice, and forgiveness to those who deserve.
2. Sila, which means maintaining
good conduct, not breaching religious morals, laws or any
ethical norms, so as to be able to command love and reverence
among the people.
3. Pariccaga, which means making
selfless sacrifice for the greater good of the people and
the peace and order of the country.
4. Ajjava, which means loyalty,
truthfulness and honesty in the performance of the royal duties.
5. Maddava, which means being gentle
and open-minded to reasonable advice and admonitions and not
being arrogant or wilful.
6. Tapa, which means diligence in
performing the royal duties, leading a simple life and restraining
the mind from indulging in sensual pleasure.
7. Akkodha, which means not showing
anger, not dwelling on hatred or vindictiveness against others,
but being compassionate. Failing to observe this may lead
to unjust decisions.
8. Avihimsa, which means not afflicting
harm on others, including all living things, but adhering
to peace and tranquility for all.
9. Khanti, which means being patient
and persevering against all emotions and abrasive words, and
maintaining calmness and composure in body and speech.
10. Avirodhana, which means being
steadfast in righteousness, not allowing any misdeeds, being
just in correcting those who do wrong and rewarding those
who do right.
It
is because His Majesty is the embodiment of all these kingly
virtues that he has become the uniting force of the nation
and the centre of the affection of the people. It should be
mentioned that the King has been able to attain such supreme
moral standards chiefly due to the strict upbringing that
he received in his childhood from the Princess Mother who
was a model of kindheartedness and was held in great affection
by the whole nation. For those foreigners who have missed
the opportunity to witness the Thai people's spontaneous and
all-out manifestation of their deep love for their monarch
this time, there is another similar occasion in early December
next year, when the whole nation is due to celebrate jubilantly
the 80th birthday of His Majesty. Make sure that you will
be in Thailand at that time to see with your own eyes the
rare, joyful and splendid event.
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