It has been a week since the main celebrations of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty King Bhumibol’s coronation and the streets of Bangkok remain dominated by the yellow t-shirts of a grateful and loyal citizenry. Yellow, because the King was born on a Monday, which is traditionally marked by the colour. A sea of yellow is the common image of these celebrations. It is a good look.
The shirts, which are not cheap, are still being sold all over the city. Some of the most popular designs prominently display the common refrain “We love the King”, with a heart-shaped graphic in the middle. Others are classy polo-shirts, with “Long Live the King” embroidered on the sleeves.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the city are decked out in yellow, every day. The celebratory lights and posters are all still up. On TV, the majority of presenters—whether on day-time slapstick comedy programs or serious news shows—are wearing their own yellow shirts. Everybody is part of this story—it is a joyous, optimistic and unifying narrative of achievement, innovation and strength. It is hard not to feel awed.
On TV and in the newspapers, everybody is talking about the King’s leadership and the people’s gratitude. A big part of the story is his “New Theory”, and ideas about “self-sufficient economy” and “sustainability”. These are three inter-locking rhetorical and practical devices that have helped to cement the King as the country’s most prominent environmentalist and champion of moral livelihood.
The t-shirts, the rhetoric, the pride: just now I saw a television program promoting the King’s theories under the rubric of “self-sufficient Bangkok, self-sufficient livelihoods”. The stated goal of the program was to make Bangkok a place that is “liveable”. For most Thais, this is an admirable, and uncontroversial, goal.
The celebrations will, I imagine, be wrapped up over the next week or so and many of the banners, posters and lights will be put away. The apolitical practical and moral role of the King will remain. As will the united voice with which he is praised.
Then, the politics of “acting” Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will inevitably come back to the front-page. His polarising figure, and those of the men who seek to depose him, will again loom large.
Today’s unity will not remove their disagreements or unduly change the character of their fight. Nor will it dampen the intensity with which some hatreds or ambitions burn. We are not even half way through this momentous and testing year. The crowds, the passion, the T-shirts, the rhetoric. The politics of 2006, of Thaksin and his opponents, will not be fought in the spirit of harmony demonstrated in this most remarkable Royal anniversary.
I do wonder what colour t-shirts everybody will be wearing in three months time.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Jakkrit // Jun 22, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Post-Yellow Fever!!
Now the color of yellow is fading a bit while letting the newly popular Prince from Bhutan to be another hit of fever after the King celebration in Thailand. Country’ most popular website Pantip.com showed the most searched word by the on-line surfers at the moment is ‘Bhutan’ This is one of the impact to the Thai right now reported in Bangkok Post today:
Bhutan crown prince tempts Thai visitors
SUJINTANA HEMTASILPA
Thai demand for tour packages to Bhutan has doubled over the past two weeks, thanks in part to the popularity of the country’s charismatic crown prince, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.
Visiting the Himalayan country is relatively difficult, due to complicated immigration procedures and high prices set by the Bhutanese government aimed at limiting the number of foreign tourists.
John Watson, the chief executive of Diethelm Travel Asia, one of the few travel agents offering tours to Bhutan, said interest had jumped sharply among Thais to visit Bhutan.
”Before the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King’s accession to the throne, no Thai had ever inquired for information about tour packages to Bhutan,” he said.
But the visit by the Crown Prince has attracted a huge following among Thai women, and has helped generate travellers’ interest in Bhutan.
”[The prince's] warm personality seems to have inspired many to head to Bhutan,” Mr Watson said.
”Inquiries about our Bhutan trips have doubled from about 75 a month earlier.”
Among all inquiries, half are from Thai customers, with the rest from international travellers, according to Mr Watson.
Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, agreed that Thais’ interest in travelling to Bhutan had increased over recent weeks.
But he noted that Bhutan limited the number of international tourists to 5,000 a year, making it difficult for many people to visit.
”Bhutan tourism may not benefit much from the prince’s popularity in Thailand,” Mr Anake said. ”The reality is that it is very expensive to visit Bhutan, and the high expenses may discourage many Thais from travelling there.”
Air tickets from Bangkok to Bhutan cost at least US$464. In Bhutan, an international visitor is required to pay US$200 a day as a visiting fee. It also takes several weeks to get permission to visit the country from the Bhutanese government.
With these complicated conditions, most Thai travel agents do not consider it economically worthwhile to offer tour packages to the Himalayan kingdom.
2 Nicholas Farrelly // Jun 22, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Ahh, yes, Jakkrit, the Bhutanese prince does seem to have made quite an impact. He appears to be a crown prince with the charisma, and warmth, and the talents, to serve his people.
This story is one to watch, for many reasons. Thanks for bringing it to the blog.
3 New Mandala » A yellow revolution? // Sep 3, 2006 at 9:29 pm
[...] Todays Nation reports that an “academic coalition calls on Thaksin to quit.” These are clearly academics with their finger on the pulse of public opinion and fashion: Anti-Thaksin campaigner Sangsit Piriyarangsan urged government opponents around the country to put on yellow shirts on September 9 to coincide with an opposition rally in Bangkok. “Yellow is the colour of the anti-Thaksin campaign,” he said. [...]
4 New Mandala » 19/9, a Tuesday // Sep 20, 2006 at 5:04 am
[...] This coup could never have been called on a Monday. Monday is, as we have remarked many times on New Mandala, the King’s day. This year it has been marked as the day of yellow shirts and public ritual. [...]
5 New Mandala » The coup and self-sufficiency // Sep 24, 2006 at 10:06 am
[...] Specifying ministerial familiarity with the King’s ideas on economic development is a different matter altogether. To my eye, it is much more problematic. Here at New Mandala we have often written about “self-sufficiency”. In the context of Andrew’s earlier comments on future strategies for left(ish) activist-academics in the post-coup environment, Sophon’s proclamation (however fanciful it may actually be) is a sign that “self-sufficiency” could become a new battleground. [...]
6 Isla Fisher // Oct 9, 2006 at 1:01 am
air nui…
Interesting post. I came across this blog by accident, but it was a good accident. I have now bookmarked your blog for future use. Best wishes. Isla Fisher….
7 New Mandala » From the New Mandala archives // Nov 9, 2006 at 9:40 am
[...] Back in June - when a coup was almost unthinkable and when the afterglow of the royal celebrations was still fresh - I wrote my very first piece for New Mandala. It was published on 20 June 2006. I was in Bangkok at the time. [...]
8 New Mandala » National jaundice // Jul 8, 2007 at 5:28 pm
[...] Mandala has taken a long-term interest in Thailand’s royalist yellow fever. In one of our earliest posts (from 20 June last year) Nich Farrelly highlighted the phenomenon and asked: I do wonder what [...]
9 thailand folitics, food and fiction // Nov 18, 2007 at 11:46 am
Yellow is Good, Pink is Benign but Red is usually DANGER.
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