A King or A Puppet
Socially isolated, and often seemingly adrift from reality, the king has been a puppet for much of
his reign. The Thai elite are the ones pulling the strings that moves the Puppet “King”.
Thai elite needed the king’s sacred aura to legitimize their supremacy, and the leading members
of the establi shment had to make a constant effort to make Bhumibol believe they worshiped
him, and to convince their inferiors in the network that their instructions were imbued with royal
authority.
Many figures in the various circles attempt to appropriate the charisma of the King and prestige
of the royal institution for their own purposes without any official remit, a process known in Thai
as“ang barami.” … Even Thai relatively close to royal principals treat purported
wishes conveyed by other royal associates with caution,given the tradition of self-serving
“ang barami.”