Thailand Takes Small Steps Forward After Longtime King’s Death
BANGKOK — More than two months after the death of Thailand’s long-serving king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, the country is still in mourning for him, with most people wearing black, and black billboards carrying tributes in the place of advertising.
Black and white bunting festoons many buildings, and portraits of the widely beloved king still hang in the homes of many people who are loath to part with him.
But in small ways, Thais are beginning to accept his disappearance from their lives and the succession of his son, Maha Vajiralongkorn, to the throne.
The mourning period will continue for many months. King Bhumibol’s funeral pyre, devised as an ornate tower with the flourishes of a Thai temple, is still in the early stages of planning. It is to be completed in September, and a formal cremation will follow.
Only when that ritual is complete will Thailand hold a full-scale coronation for his son, who formally ascended to the throne this month and whose designation in the Chakri dynasty will be Rama X.
King Bhumibol, one of the longest-reigning monarchs in history, stayed on the throne for more than 70 years. For many Thais, he embodied their national identity and was a major unifying force for the country. Most have never known another king.
But people who attended a ceremony this month at the palace on the 50th day of mourning since the king died said they were ready to accept his death and to give his successor the devotion a monarch deserved.
“I am sad that the late king has passed,” said Thirakarn Ardharn, 20, a university student from Bangkok. “But we have to feel happy for the new king, too. Thailand must move forward. Even though this is not the same king we had before, I am happy for him.”
She said many people had been dreading the death of King Bhumibol. But she said, “Our life hasn’t changed after all. Things are still the same.”
Suntikarn Jitpootarojna, 47, a coconut farmer from Ratchaburi Province, also attended the ceremony.
“It doesn’t matter who is the new king,” he said. “Thai people have to respect the monarchy.”
In any case, he said, “The things that really affect the people are the government’s policy, not the monarchy.”
Thailand’s king is a constitutional monarch with little real power. But in demonstrating a strong commitment to the well-being of his people, King Bhumibol won their devotion and used his moral force to influence the government.
Illness forced him from the public eye in his later years, though, and he was no longer able to ease the turmoil that gripped a country long divided by political factions.
In a sign of continuity, King Vajiralongkorn reappointed Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda to oversee the Privy Council, a royal advisory group. The general, a former prime minister, was known to have been very close to King Bhumibol and is a supporter of the military junta that governs Thailand.
Signs of change have begun to emerge in recent weeks.
Gold pages celebrating the new king have replaced the black pages of mourning published in all newspapers.
When the royal anthem is played in movie theaters and the audience stands, a short video celebrating King Bhumibol has been replaced by a portrait of his son.
Government offices are buying images of the new king in bulk for their walls, and the orders are coming in faster than they can be filled, said Charlie Wangthamrongwit, the owner of a shop that specializes in royal portraits.
Some people, facing less urgency to adjust, he said, continued to buy portraits of King Bhumibol.
With the transition, the education ministry has begun ordering revised textbooks to be distributed to schools next year.
The government has been amending the dates of celebrations to conform to the succession, and calendar makers have been asked to wait until the new ones have been confirmed.
In a mass amnesty to mark the start of a new reign, 30,000 prisoners were set to be released, including Chuwit Kamolvisit, a massage parlor magnate and a former lawmaker who was imprisoned in connection with the bulldozing of an adult amusement park in a dispute with a rival.
Also this month, an activist who opposes the junta, Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, was arrested under a harsh law banning criticism of the monarchy, the first under the new king.
P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/world/asia/thailand-king-mourning.html
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