Free Thailand July 2014 | Page 57

The King that never Smiles  The King grew in stature under the corrupt military dictators: Sarit,Tanom and Prapass.  Allowed innocent people to be executed after they were falsely accused of killing his older brother.  Supported the blood bath at Thammasart University on 6th October 1976 because he felt that Thailand had ‘too much democracy’.  He was also the patron of the violent gang that were called the ‘village scouts’.  Allowed the army to stage a coup in September 2006. Furthermore he allowed his name to be used by the army, the PAD protesters and the Democrat Party, in the destruction of democracy.  He has been an advocate of economic views which reveal his opposition to state social welfare for the poor. But what is worse, as one of the richest men in the world, the king has the arrogance to lecture the poor to be sufficient in their poverty (through the notion of the Sufficiency Economy).  Finally, this king allows his supporters to proclaim that he is ‘the father of the nation’, and yet his own son is not respected by anyone in Thai society! The elites in Thailand, who claim legitimacy from the king, are exploiters and blood-suckers. They are not the real owners of society. They should remember that their wealth and status is as a result of the hard work of those ordinary Thai citizens whom they despise and call them “water buffalo” and treat them like second class citizens. For the millions of Thais who know all this to be true, it is only fear and intimidation that stops all from speaking this truth out loud.