An independent Asian Kingdom tries to modernize, but too fast, or is it too slow. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This is a great stamp. The printing and colors are exceptional. It is a monument to democracy designed locally and commissioned by a military that ruled undemocratically. Two years before this stamp in 1975 there were deadly protests at the monument to protest another military government. I think that this history on makes the monument more poignant. While falling short, whether the military or the student protesters, the two groups shared the ideal of democracy.
The stamp today is issue A183, a 75 Satangs stamp issued by the Kingdom of Thailand on January 26th, 1975. It was part of a four stamp issue showing different views of the Democracy Monument in Bangkok. The stamp celebrates the reforms enacted after the 1973 protests. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.
The monarchy in Siam had struggled to keep the country independent in the face of French and British territorial ambitions. The colonial powers often cloaked their desires in moral duties to civilize the natives. The monarchy in Siam tried to play off this by stating as an aim the modernization of Siam. They opened up trade and the noble classes began to be western educated. The result was a large class of westernized elites who began to resent the absolute power of the King. The crash of 1929 caused a revenue shortfall and failing to secure a widely based income tax, the King slashed military and civil service pay. This further angered the elites.
In 1932, a military coup occurred while the King was out of Bangkok. They promoted themselves as democratic and enacted a new constitution that took power from the King. One of the coup generals commissioned the monument on the stamp which was completed in 1939. Not visible on the stamp are four wing like structures representing the army, navy, air force, and police. The four protectors of democracy as they saw it. Notice the lack of reference to the King, who was still Head of State. It was designed by a Siamese architect and carved by an Italian who took on local citizenship and even a Thai name. Ironically by the time the monument was done in 1939, the military had fallen out with the civilians and was ruling as a de facto military dictatorship.
Despite the monument’s iffy beginnings, the 75 years since have seen the monument being a center of anti government protests. Notable among these were the 1973 troubles and the 2012 troubles. The fact that it is still around, shows the government and the demonstrators recognize democracy as the ideal. An ideal that often is fallen short of, but isn’t that what a monument is for. To remind us of our best selves.
Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the discussion in the below comment section. Some have compared the monument to the Arc de Triumph in Paris. I agree that it is a triumph. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.