Most people know before they come to Thailand for a holiday, that they shouldn’t criticize or even comment about the Thai royal family. It is a sensitive subject which could lead to 15 years in prison in extreme cases of lese majeste. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that only Thai people will be prosecuted. There have been two recent cases of foreigners being sent to prison. In 2007, Oliver Rudolf Jufer, a tourist from Switzerland, was sentenced to ten years in prison for writing graffiti over portraits of H.M. The King. He was drunk at the time. Just this week, Harry Nicolaides, an Australian teacher and self-published author, was sentenced to three years for writing a few sentences in his book about the romantic adventures of a fictional Crown Prince of Thailand.
All of this gives first-timers the wrong impression of the Thai monarchy. Unlike some European royal families, H.M. The King actually does deserve all of the adoration that he receives. Over his long and full life he has achieved much, not only personally but also for his loyal subjects. He has traveled to all corners of the Kingdom helping people who are in need of assistance. When people say “Long Live the King” in Thailand, they really do mean that.
It has been said that several hundred years ago, you weren’t even allowed to look at royalty. According to some stories, whenever the king left the palace he was accompanied by archers. Their job was to shoot out the eyes of anyone who dared glance at the monarchy. Things have changed now and even the present King has been quoted as saying that he is not above criticism. However we still need to make sure that we obey all royal protocol.
Newspaper editors have to be very careful about where they position pictures of the royal family on the page. Recently, Jonathan Head, the Bangkok bureau chief for the BBC, was accused of lese majeste because of the position of the King’s picture on the BBC website. In preference it should be above the fold without any other picture above it. Obviously this is not always possible, but editors must never juxtapose a picture of the royals with say a murderer or a particularly gruesome car accident. As a webmaster, we also have to be careful. Though of course that isn’t easy with blogs.
Last year the Thai newspaper Thai Rath got into some trouble about a picture they ran. They had a picture of a group of Thai students who had just won an international award for a robot competition. Two of the people in the picture were holding portraits of H.M. The King. It was a good story, but the newspaper didn’t want to run the picture above the fold. Secondly, one of the students holding the picture was sitting on the floor with the image of the H.M. The King near his feet. In Thai society the feet are considered dirty. Other students were standing behind this boy with their heads being higher than the portrait. The editors wanted to run the story but they had a dilemma about royal protocol. What they decided to do in the end was to photoshop out the picture of H.M. The King. They were hoping no-one would notice. But of course, everyone did and Thai Rath was accused of being disloyal to the monarchy.
If you want to have your pictures of the royal family published, then here are some tips from Bumrung Phankaek, a royal photographer.
# Avoid a photo that might be lower the family member’s dignity. For instance, if the royal person is very short compared to someone nearby, take a photograph with both sitting on a sofa.
# A photo of the royal person eating or drinking is prohibited.
# Shoot a photo only at an eye-level angle. It’s not possible to publish a royal photograph shot from a high angle because this is considered as defamation of royal honour.
# It is prohibited to take royal photograph during movement from lower and higher ground, such as taking a stair step.
# For a close-up photo of a royal smiling face, always leave some blank space over the top of the photo while taking a shot. This is to avoid missing of some part of the head, in which case you cannot use it.
# You will have to stay at least five metres away while taking a photo.
# Only an SLR or film slide camera is allowed. Compact or digital cameras are prohibited for taking a royal photo due to their ease to edit for improper use.
# Before publishing any royal photograph, it is strongly recommended to ask permission from the royal office.
I have seen quite a few pictures of people posing with royal family members. Nearly always the royalty are sitting on a chair and everyone else is sitting on the floor. No-one wants to be positioned where their head is higher than royalty. However, just a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Abhisit was criticized by the opposition M.P.’s for a photo released showing him sitting on a chair next to H.M. The King (see picture at the top). Both chairs were at the same level. The Prime Minister’s office countered by saying that the PM was invited to sit their by H.M. The King.
What is interesting to note is the old photo of King Rama VI above. Can you spot him among his governmental ministers? He is sitting in the first row, four chairs from the right. You won’t see pictures like that these days. Makes you wonder if some people are taking this law too far. It is sad that in recent years, politicians and also members of the public, are using the lese majeste law for their own personal benefit. Anyone can accuse their enemies of lese majeste in order to bring them down.
Long Live the King!
You are probably not going to like what I have to say and may feel obliged to delete it.
Firstly, I like and respect the King of Thailand very much, but I do not like the people working for him. There has been more than 60 years of carefully orchestrated propaganda designed to elevate the status of the current dynasty to the level of the Divine. History books have been rewritten, sanitized and purged to the point that what is available to read is more myth than history. Historians are a rare and endangered species in Thailand. Critical history is not taught to Thai high school students nor encouraged in university students, and minority traditions and cultures have been surpressed and would be in even greater danger of extinction were it not for the fact that it finally dawned on some government officials that they could make a buck or two off the tourists by preserving what “reservation life” still remained. However, when push comes to shove over land rights it is still no contest between the traditional lifestyles of the hilltribes and the lowland Thai or especially any real or imagined encroachment upon royal projects or forest preserves.
Secondly, one needs to ask oneself how the Crown Properties came to acquire over 35 billion US dollars in assets, making the King of Thailand the richest monarch in the world. What’s been going on here? Is it the case of honest and wise investment, or does the adage “behind every great fortune lies…” apply?
Thirdly, any sane person would have to assert that the photography rules you listed above border on the absurd, and are exactly the kind of evidence I was looking for to prove my point that the royal office rulemakers have taken things entirely too far. Your second photograph appears to be in violation of a rule because it was taken above the eye level of the King and Queen, yet how could anyone say this photograph shows disrespect? It’s ridiculous, but beyond that it’s insidious because it becomes impossible not to be ensnared by one of their rules. Likewise, the lese-majeste law is abhorent and insidious because it will eventually become impossible not to fall victim to its over-reaching aims.
I am sorry to inform mr. blog writer that every morning the elementary school children sing the anthem and pay respect to the picture of King. I have difficulty believing in the “honest love” as everywhere you go from toddlers to grown ups the society blasts out the same words you are saying “you love him truly”. So if someone makes you by example everytime do prayer in front of someones picture, tells stories of positive nature. What else you gonna get but “love”. But this is not from the heart but something that I have witnessed even a child of 4 years old praying in front of Kings picture. Does that child really respect the King because of the good things he has done?
Besides, this article contains so much of myths and stories. You do know that there are lots of rich people in this world who have donated more of their money, proportionally and by real dollar to dollar term, to people and projects in need. Just look for example Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. These men have given more money to good causes. So one could say that they have all the right to be in similar elevated status.
You should also do some background checking, that the picture of old times shows in black and white. Just spend two minutes on the internet today and look the history of Thailand since 1932. Just look what organization was in power. And what organization started to RE-elevated Roayl family to its current status in 1950′s. It is not true respect if it has been manipulated by military maschine trying to divert the attention from it’s own actions.
Oh and google also the divine healing powers of the current and King Chula. Why all shops has even the picture of King Chula on their small stalls and shops and where ever you go? Because Thais, Cambodians and Laos believe in the supernatural nature of having picture of the King. And especially the King Chula is said to have extraordinary power of bringin good luck!
Keep that aspect in your mind too when you ask why the picture is so everpresent. Believe in supernatural good fortune. Military actions after 1932. Take your pic.
Good luck and may there be good Kings in Thailand in future too.