Asia Sentinel on the king’s failures

Often blocked in Thailand, Asia Sentinel has a summary of the recent travails of King Vajiralongkorn.

It begins with a note that the king “has come under unprecedented attack by young Thais who have taken to Twitter and Facebook to denounce him for his apparent disregard of his subjects during the Covid-19 crisis.”

In a sense, the king is caught in the backwash of palace propaganda. That disinformation has spent decades promoting the monarch and royal family as being concerned about “its people.” Critical analysis has shown that they have been more interested in increasing their wealth and political influence. When it comes to Vajiralongkorn, his penchants are naked women, property, money and power.

Being in Germany -where he’s spent most of his time over the past decade – Vajiralongkorn is being “heavily criticized for not caring about his subjects at home, for continuing to enjoy an indulgent life with a harem in a German hotel…”.

This criticism led to the “Why do we need a king?’ hashtag. As one critic puts it: “Today, cursing at the king seems normal.”

It has also led to some ham-fisted counter claims from mad royalists (probably prompted by the military) claiming the king is actually spending his nights in Bangkok swabbing the streets. Such laughable claims merely deepen the hatred of the king.

While the report states that an expatriate source says “[t]hese are new revelations [about the king] to millions of Thais,” that suggests the “expatriate” is disconnected from Thais; in fact, most Thais are aware that the king is erratic, obsessive-compulsive, lecherous and grasping. The recent revelations merely remind and reinforce that perspective.

The report is correct to observe that recent revelations and social media criticism “debunk the myths of divinity and sacredness of the [royal] family…”.

None of this stops the regime (along with its military and tycoon backers) – which depends on the monarch for whatever legitimacy it has – forking out a billion dollars a year on “protecting” and lauding the king and his strange family.