Thailand’s King Moves to Bolster Image After Protests

After months of protests saw unprecedented demands for reform of the Thai monarchy, King Maha Vajiralongkorn is seeking to burnish his image in what is shaping up as another year of tension in the country.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha oversees an economy with tourism decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, factories shedding workers and exporters slammed. Farmers have struggled under the worst drought in four decades. Gross domestic product contracted an estimated 6.6% last year.

While some recovery is forecast for 2021, it’s set to be relatively anemic for an economy that’s been sluggish for years. A new wave of coronavirus infections has seen an extension of a state of emergency until the end of February. Meanwhile, Thailand’s biggest opposition party plans to pursue a no-confidence vote against the government for its alleged “mismanagement” of the country, including the Covid-19 response.

Looming over everything is the months of rallies where protesters have openly criticized the monarchy, Thailand’s most powerful institution. Right now the streets are relatively quiet -- with small protests over the weekend -- but student leaders have vowed to return until their demands are addressed: Less royal power, a more democratic constitution and the resignation of Prayuth, a former army chief who staged a coup in 2014.

Vajiralongkorn has boosted his presence in Thailand since the unrest broke out. He returned in October from Germany, where he had spent much of his reign. The king and his entourage have since attended religious ceremonies, handed out diplomas to graduates, greeted kneeling supporters clad in yellow shirts, and even swept the floor at one of his charity projects.

While Vajiralongkorn automatically inherited vast power and wealth when he ascended the throne in 2016, many Thais also subscribe to a concept of informal authority -- what Buddhists term “barami,” or virtue -- that must be earned rather than bequeathed.

Unlike past tumult -- Thailand has had about a dozen coups in the last century -- the protesters aren’t seeking power for themselves: They want the military and monarchy to become more accountable to the country’s 70 million citizens.

The government has so far avoided a bloody crackdown like those during some past demonstrations, although at least a dozen protest leaders face charges of insulting the monarch, which carry prison terms of as many as 15 years. A Thai court sentenced a former civil servant who was arrested in 2015 to 43 and a half years in prison for sharing clips on social media of an online talk show that allegedly defamed the monarchy, which human-rights group Amnesty International called the harshest conviction under the statute to date.

A day after, the Thai government filed a royal defamation charge against former prime ministerial candidate Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, one of its most high-profile critics, after he questioned the involvement of a company with links to the monarchy in the nation’s vaccine production.

Prayuth’s administration is enforcing existing laws and hasn’t focused on using one particular statute to target protesters, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said when asked earlier about use of the lese majeste law.

Sulak Sivaraksa, a Buddhist activist who has studied the monarchy for decades, said Vajiralongkorn already has moral authority among royalists and is attempting to now burnish his image with the rest of society.

“A lot of people criticize the king because he spent too much time abroad and too little time within the kingdom -- I think he realizes that now,” Sulak, 87, said. “People used to be afraid of him you know, but now he walks around and talks to people, allowing people to photograph him and his royal family and having a good chat with them. I think that earned him a very good reputation.”

Traditionally the level of esteem of a Thai monarch has depended on adherence to ten virtues of kingship, including generosity, self-sacrifice, honesty and integrity.

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