APSN | The farce of the Pitak Siam protests Red and Yellow both use the monarchy

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The farce of the Pitak Siam protests Red and Yellow both use the monarchy

Red Thai Socialist - November 23, 2012

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The Thai truth for reconciliation commission sides with the royalist elites - Red Thai Socialist. September 18, 2012

Giles Ji Ungpakorn – Karl Marx once wrote that "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce". The tragedy was the 2006 military coup and the cold-blooded murder of unarmed red shirt protestors who were calling for democratic elections in 2010. The farce is the current protests by a motley collection of "dad's army" generals, yellow shirt PAD supporters and other conservatives, whose declared aim is to "put Thai society into a deep freeze".

While the usual rumours of coups circulate among many Thais, we have to ask some simple questions. Why would the generals, who have real power in the military and in society want to overthrow the democratically elected Yingluk government? After all, Yingluk, Taksin and Pua Thai have made an agreement with the military to maintain the status quo. They are not going to scrap or amend Lese Majeste, they are not going to release the red shirt political prisoners and they are not going to prosecute those who gunned down red shirts in cold blood. Military officers who have blood on their hands have been promoted and the military budget has not been cut. The government has also spent large sums of money on combating websites which they deem to be "Lese Majeste". What is more, the red shirt UDD leadership is managing to control most red shirts and turn the movement into passive supporters of the Yingluk government. No military-backed government could do this.

In the current situation it is worth considering the role of king Pumipon. While Pumipon sits in his hospital wheel chair, dribbling, most red shirts believe that he is busy planning the overthrow of the Yingluk government. On the other side of the spectrum, the crazy "deep freeze" conservatives believe that Pumipon is busy looking after the happiness of his people. But even when he was not half dead, Pumipon never took any initiatives. He spent his whole life being used by political factions.

It serves the interests of the military to propagate the myth that the king has power. This means that the army boys can stage coups and do what they want while claiming to follow Pumipon's orders. To get to this stage the military, under the dictatorship of Sarit in the 1960s, had to promote the monarchy, which was on the brink of extinction after the 1932 revolution.

Naturally the anti-democratic "Pitak Siam" claim that they are defending the monarchy. But what of the red shirts? Among those redshirts who are staunch supporters of Taksin and Yingluk, there is a wide spread belief that Pumipon controls power in Thai society. They insult the king in private. But this is a very convenient justification for the Pua Thai government to do absolutely nothing to further the state of Thai democracy. Taksin, Yingluk and Pua Thai want to see the continued use of Lese Majeste and do not want any section of the elites punished for human rights abuses. So it serves the interests of the government to talk up the threat of another coup and to whisper to red shirts that "hidden royal powers" wish to overthrow the government.

Both red shirts and yellow shirts believe that the king is the power behind the scenes. It benefits both sections of the elites who have more in common with each other than with ordinary people. And this myth is repeated by foreign academics, who faithfully trot out Duncan McCargo's "network monarchy" nonsense.

Many religious extremists, who hold opposing views, have sought to justify their positions by claiming legitimacy from God. But God is a human invention and doesn't exist. Nor do the powers of king Pumipon.