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Generational Dynamics World View
*** 14-Oct-16 World View -- Thailand mourns as Massachusetts-born King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
  • Thailand mourns as Massachusetts-born King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies
  • As unpopular crown prince becomes King, Thailand's stability is questioned
  • Today's musical entertainment: The March of the Siamese Children

****
**** Thailand mourns as Massachusetts-born King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies
****


[Image: g161013b.jpg]
Thailand neighborhood with shrine to King Bhumibol (Reuters)

The 88 year old King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand has been in
deteriorating health for several years, so his death could hardly have
been completely unexpected. And yet, it's surprising that the news
stories coming out of Bangkok on Thursday after his death are of a
shocked nation in mourning.

King Bhumibol, also known as Rama IX, was born on December 5, 1927, in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. He's has been on the throne since 1946, for
70 years, and so for almost every resident of Thailand, he's been
ever-present as the King of Thailand. At his death, he was the
longest-ruling monarch in the world. That title now passes to Queen
Elizabeth of Britain.

The other surprising thing is that, even in death, it's illegal to say
almost anything critical of the royal family. This is the so-called
"lèse-majesté" law which says that it's treason to insult the king.
And people have been sent to jail for even minor criticisms.
Countries around the world are advising any of their citizens visiting
Thailand to avoid saying anything about the royal family or Thai
politics at this time.

Bhumibol is revered today because he led the country through numerous
crises, including several coups and military takeovers. Even today,
Thailand is governed by a military junta that overthrew the
democratically elected government in 2014, and Bhumibol's influence is
viewed by many as keeping the excesses of the military under control.
Still, the army junta has made draconian use of the lèse-majesté as a
tool for jailing dissidents.

Thailand's last generational crisis war was Cambodia's "Killing
Fields" war in 1975-79, in which Pol Pot's communist Khmer Rouge
government killed almost ten million people in a massive genocide.

The Cambodian war spilled over into Thailand in the form of a
communist rebellion that began in the 1960s. King Bhumibol became an
essential figure in the fight against the communists, although his
role became more controversial in the savage anti-leftist coup of
1976, in which dozens of students were brutally killed by the security
forces and royal-backed militias, and thousands forced to flee to seek
sanctuary with the Communist Party. Despite his brutality, most Thai
people look back at that time as central to upholding the authority of
the state throughout the country. The Nation (Bangkok) and BBC and Public Radio International and AFP and BT (London) and Guardian (London)

****
**** As unpopular crown prince becomes King, Thailand's stability is questioned
****


In yesterday's article,
I
discussed a pattern that many countries follow after a bloody
generational crisis civil war between two ethnic groups. The civil
war is so horrific that the survivors vow that it will never happen
again. The first generation growing up after the civil war, and with
no personal memory of its horrors, begin peacefully protesting. The
country leader, often from ethnic group that "won" the civil war,
stays in power and resists peaceful protesters with violence, using
the excuse that he wants to prevent another ethnic civil war. This
pattern is currently being followed in generational Awakening eras in
Burundi, Syria, and South Sudan -- and in Thailand.

In Thailand, the two ethnic groups are the minority light-skinned
"yellow shirt" élite, mostly of Chinese descent, known as
Thai-Chinese, versus the much larger population of dark-skinned "red
shirt" mostly indigenous ethnic Thais, known as Thai-Thais. The
indigenous Thai-Thais make up a majority of the population, and so
they have been winning elections, much to the horror of the
Thai-Chinese elite.

This exactly the kind of situation that gives rise to the Awakening
era pattern described above. In this case, the Thai army have sided
with the Thai-Chinese, and there have been three coups in the last ten
years. In 2014, the army finally gave up even trying to hold
elections, and they took control of the government, essentially giving
control to the Thai-Chinese. King Bhumibol was a powerful influence
in the last few years, keeping the excesses of the ruling junta under
control.

With Bhumibol's death, the next in line to be king is his 62-year-old
son, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn. Vajiralongkorn has been
married and divorced three times, has seven children, is considered to
be a partying playboy, is currently living with an airline stewardess,
and is deeply unpopular. He's also thought to be aligned with the
army, which will raise the anger of the large indigenous population.

With the loss of Bhumibol's calming influence, it's quite possible
that we'll see Thailand move in the direction towards genocide that
we've been seeing in Burundi and Syria, where the leader commits
genocide against the other ethnic group in order to protect the people
from another war like the last one. That hasn't started in Thailand
yet, but it could happen, as some analysts are predicting that
Thailand is headed for street protests, violent clashes, and other
signs of increasing instability. LA Times and Economist (23-Jul) and International Business Times

Related Articles

****
**** Today's musical entertainment: The March of the Siamese Children
****


The 1952 Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, "The King and I",
was based on the 1946 book "Anna and the King of Siam" by Margaret
Landon. The story takes place in 1862 Bangkok Siam (Thailand). A
teacher from Britain, Anna Owen, arrives in Bangkok to tutor the
family of King Mongkut. She regrets her decision to go until she is
charmed by King Mongkut's children.

You must take three minutes off and watch "The March of the Siamese
Children" from the 1956 movie "The King and I," starring Deborah Kerr
and Yul Brynner.

YouTube - March of the Siamese Children

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX,
Cambodia, Killing Fields, Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge,
yellow shirts, Thai-Chinese, red shirts, Thai-Thai,
Maha Vajiralongkorn, The King and I, Anna and the King of Siam

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Messages In This Thread
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-14-2016, 03:21 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-23-2016, 10:31 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 08-11-2016, 08:59 PM
14-Oct-16 World View -- Thailand mourns as Massachusetts-born King Bhumibol Adulyadej - by John J. Xenakis - 10-13-2016, 10:08 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 01-18-2017, 09:23 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 02-04-2017, 10:08 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 03-13-2017, 03:33 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 03-15-2017, 02:56 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 03-15-2017, 03:13 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 05-30-2017, 01:04 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 07-08-2017, 01:34 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 08-09-2017, 11:07 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 08-10-2017, 02:38 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 10-25-2017, 03:07 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by rds - 10-31-2017, 03:35 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by rds - 10-31-2017, 06:33 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by noway2 - 11-20-2017, 04:31 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 12-28-2017, 11:00 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 12-31-2017, 11:14 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 06-22-2018, 02:54 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:42 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:54 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-19-2018, 12:43 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-25-2018, 02:18 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:58 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 08-18-2018, 03:42 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 08-19-2018, 04:39 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 09-25-2019, 11:12 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 03-09-2020, 02:11 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Camz - 03-10-2020, 10:10 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 03-12-2020, 11:11 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 03-16-2020, 03:21 PM
RE: 58 year rule - by Tim Randal Walker - 04-01-2020, 11:17 AM
RE: 58 year rule - by John J. Xenakis - 04-02-2020, 12:25 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Isoko - 05-04-2020, 02:51 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 01-04-2021, 12:13 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by CH86 - 01-05-2021, 11:17 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-10-2021, 06:16 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-11-2021, 09:06 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-12-2021, 02:53 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-13-2021, 03:58 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-13-2021, 04:16 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-15-2021, 03:36 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 08-19-2021, 03:03 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 08-21-2021, 01:41 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-27-2022, 06:06 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-27-2022, 10:42 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-28-2022, 12:26 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-28-2022, 04:08 PM

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