Talking about a Thai King is difficult. It is illegal to criticize a Royal in Thailand. It is the Thais who know him best so it makes an outsider piecing together his story iffy. Yet Rama IX was one of the worlds longest serving monarchs and appears on many stamps. Sounds like a job for The Philatelist. 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.
The King looks a little out of sorts on this stamp. He is short and bespectacled and so a tall old style Army had looks a little out of place. It does reflect the relationship with the Army from whom the King demands deference. Since the Army is not shy about sticking it’s nose into politics, there have been more than 10 coups during the King’s long reign, it is probably useful to remind them who is in charge.
Todays stamp is issue A372, a 10 Baht stamp issued by the Kingdom of Thailand on July 1st, 1989. It was part of a twelve stamp issue over several years in ever higher denominations as Thailand was experiencing inflation. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.
By the 1920s when the King was born, it was the tradition of a young male Royal to spend an extended period overseas studying. A cadre of appropriate and attractive young Thai ladies were dispatched in the hope of the Royal finding an appropriate match. It was considered a Royal duty to host weekly meals for local Thai students. This happened and future King Rama IX was born just off campus of Harvard University in the USA in 1928. Upon return to then Siam, the young King died of a pendesites and the still young Queen Mother and the children departed for Switzerland, where Rama was raised. An uncle Regent represented Royal interest in Siam but it was a time of much debate as to the future of the Royalty as the conservative military clashed with a left wing urban elite and always lefty students.
After World War II, Rama IX’s older brother reached majority and was scheduled to return to now Thailand after 15 years in Switzerland and rule. In 1946 he was fatally shot. There are three theories of this, that he was killed by accidental discharge, that he was shot by members of his court(two members were hung for it), or that Rama IX accidently shot Rama VIII while the two played with their pistols. There is little evidence that Rama IX was anxious for the Throne, he spent another 3 years in Switzerland. The Queen Mother indeed lived in Switzerland for the rest of her life.
Rama IX eventually made it back to Thailand in the early 1950s with his new bride Sirkit a Thai student studying in Switzerland. At the time there was a military dictatorship and his only role was ceremonial. He did host a radio show and play the saxophone. In 1957 there was a counter coup with a new field marshal that gave him a lot more to do around the country. Military rule was not popular among students and the foreign educated middle class. This old rivalry flared up in the early seventies with large student protests, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/15/thailand-an-elite-demand-power-from-the-king-and-call-it-democracy/ . The King ordered the protestors to disperse and when they didn’t the military harshly cleared Freedom Square. This type of thing had been going on forever in Siam see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/01/siam-1917-a-young-king-modernizes-the-royal-court-and-adds-gay-drama-and-a-wild-tiger-corps/ . In the early 1990s the King took a new tack to the old rivalry. There was a televised audience with the King with the military leader and the leftist leader made their cases to him and the King questioned each of them harshly. As with formal Thai protocol, the King was seated on the Throne and the two politicians were on their knees. At the end, The King told the General to resign. The country had never seen anything like that and Rama’s popularity increased, especially among peasants who were not being represented much by either side of the haves.
The King worked hard on countryside projects especially involving irrigation. As his rule extended into the 21st century, he was revered as a link to the past where Kings of Siam avoided the colonial domination faced by most neighbors. In his last years his health declined and Rama IX died at age 88 in 2016 have ruled as an adult for 70 years, a record that has not yet been surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Sirkit had a stroke during the King’s last days and hasn’t been seen in public as her son Rama X took over. Thai Kings are often refered to by their given names instead of their ceremonial name Rama, but it is too much to ask of this simple philatelist to spell them. Rama IX is Bhumibol Adulyadej. Easy for them to say?
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast long serving King Rama IX. It must have been a leap of faith to go back to Thailand to serve from the comfortable safety of Switzerland. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.