I was in Thailand last year during the funeral for the past Supreme Patriarch. The CP was the lead royal in those ceremonies, which involve some quite close contact with the remains of the deceased … as well as a grueling number of hours on public display. It did not seem like the sort of gig he would choose for himself, and I wondered at the time if he might have been forced into that role and if part of the motivation for so forcing him would have been to put him face to face with death. But there are other explanations of why he was there?
[…] of rule by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the main ruling party in Malaysia, has undermined Malaysia’s democratic institutions. There are now no effective institutional checks and balances on the handling of GLCs by the state […]
Read Handley, The King Never Smiles (2006), for a detailed discussion of the engagement between the monarchy, military and government regarding the constitution.
The draft constitution does not change the previous provisions on the monarchy, except to add one new one, section 24, that expands the power to administer royal oaths to persons other than the King and authorizes oath-takers to begin duties before taking the oath:
“Section 24. In taking an oath of allegiance before the King pursuant to the Constitution or law, the King may endorse that it be carried out before His sui juris Heir or His representative.
“While the oath of allegiance under Paragraph One is not yet taken, His Majesty may endorse the person having to take the oath of allegiance to perform duties pro tempore.”
Bumiphol appeared in “usually modest, ordinary garb” when visiting adoring farmers writes the author. Most pictures show him wearing either outright military fatigues, or else semi-civilian/ military clothing.
I was wrong about Saleh Husin, relying on his Wikipedia entry that hadn’t been updated and still hasn’t been.
My point about Sutiyoso relates to Megawati’s attitude towards the 1996 attack on the PDI-P headquarters. I don’t think she could care less on what date Jokowi reshuffled his cabinet. Presumably the main point for her is that Puan survived, as did Tjahjo Kumolo.
Giving Wiranto a post makes sense if there was any danger of losing Hanura support, but not necessarily the one he obtained. Perhaps Jokowi likes to have some party chairmen or women in his cabinet. It was odd that, a year before appointing Wiranto, Jokowi had already appointed Sutiyoso to a high-profile post, he being chairman of a party that has no seats in the DPR and thus not part of the supermajority.
Because the “Old” issue had shaped Thailand’s unsocial, oppressing living environment of the past 7 decades and will stay that way, only to worsen, should the “Old” issue stay unsolved.
Much better would to start by recognizing the prince’s essential humanity.
People like tattoos. The prince is a person who likes tattoos.
As long as tattoo-making is sanitary and hepatitis C free, why should anyone care if a person has a tattoo on their body or not.
And as for transparency and the ending secrecy in matters royal, of course.
We cannot even talk about 2003 drug war extrajudicial killings, because like everything else in Thailand it has become thoroughly politicized with each side on the political divide having a standard script that must be followed to the letter.
Say “2003 drug war extrajudicial killing” and the other side of the chess match will whip out a royal address or someone in the privy council that said someone that might indicate support in some way and touche, the discussion ends, checkmate.
There are so many issues that can be talked about freely in Thailand though, so why not focus on them instead of beating an old issue to death 🙂
1. Jokowi gave that Menkopolhukam seat to Wiranto because he wanted that two ministerial seats. Saleh Husin was replaced by Airlangga Hartarto.
2. Yes, Hanura still matter because with Hanura in the coalition, Jokowi still has more than 2/3 of the seats in the DPR, an important supermajority.
3. On Sutiyoso’s appointment, let just say that it has something to do with Hendropriyono and their past reconciliation, and that’s beyond the scope of this article.
4. Yes, Luhut was shocked. He was not informed about the reshuffle until just the night before (one of my sources even stated that he was informed in the morning. Go figure). But that also because Jokowi trusts Luhut to be willing to support him in the end.
According to this writer, Jokowi appointed Wiranto to the most important ministerial post in cabinet in order to preserve his supermajority in parliament. Didn’t Luhut tell Jokowi that Hanura is just a minor party? Why give that coordinating minister post to the leader of a minor party? Now that Golkar and PAN are on the government’s side and have been duly rewarded, what does Hanura matter? Wiranto is hardly going to support Prabowo.
Incidentally, while Hanura lost Yuddy Chrisnandi in the reshuffle, who was the other Hanura sacrificial lamb? Saleh Husin is still there.
When choosing to carry out his latest reshuffle on 27 July, did Jokowi really alienate Megawati? Let’s not forget that she backed the re-election as governor of Jakarta of the man who had been the Jakarta commander at the time of the July attack on PDI-P headquarters in 1996. When Jokowi appointed that general, Sutiyoso, as head of BIN, was there a squeak out of Megawati? Does she even remember the date of the attack? Did she set up a board of enquiry into that outrage when she became president half a dozen years later?
The writer seems unaware how shocked Luhut and his staff were by his demotion. If Luhut was to become one of the architects of Jokowi’s re-election by performing magic tricks as Rizal Ramli’s successor, it is a pity that Jokowi didn’t give him rather longer advance notice to soften the blow.
Such a serious war-monger. If you really enjoy war so much, go the the Middle East to experience some. If you still think war is a good thing after that stint, then continue with your war mongering opinions.
Excellent article. But far too much is made out of the insignificant – eg. Prince George fed his dog an ice cream. Shock horror – the twit’s Twittersphere goes into overdrive.
Let’s face it : this CP episode has been blown way out of proportion. His Royal Highness was simply performing one of his duties – i.e. helping Thailand’s struggling TAT promote full moon parties.
If you’re not interested in reading about the Thai royal family, Andrew, nobody is forcing these articles upon you. Go read about something else. Or write an article of your own about what you regard to be a more important issue. Tell us how the military’s power is sustained or how to build political alternatives to Thailand’s anti-democratic alliance. Surely that would be a more productive use of your time than spewing embittered negativity? Just a suggestion.
It does seem to be an under-represented area of research. The monarchical/military relationship since the 1932 “revolution” has alternated between parasitic and commensual (using biological rather than political terms). Limited democracy (for better or worse) has been by the consent of this union as 18 coups amply demonstrate.
This has depended on the skill sets of the reigning monarch/military supremo de jour, notably Pibul, Sarit and the latest “designate”.
The current embryonic pairing has yet to be tested in the field. I suspect that the current EO was selected by elderly members of the privy council who are probably now regretting their choice. However in my opinion neither the monarchy or military can continue much longer in their present exalted state. The fig leaf is becoming increasingly threadbare and transparent. Or to use another analogy – too small to hide the tattoos.
To channel a monarchist perspective -from the Princess Irulan via Frank Herberts “Dune”: “A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. ”
Correct on Hanura. But I would take Luhut’s version of his appointment in Facebook with grains of salt. He knows all too well how to deal rhetorically with Javanese politicians. He had been alienated by Suharto for years, never posted as regional commander (Pangdam), only as junior commander in Madiun or chief of military schools, and only rose thanks to Benny Moerdani and owes his cabinet positions to Gus Dur. Of course Wiranto is senior and should be treated accordingly as Luhut might have adviced his former bussines partner and friend, Jokowi, who knew little on military politics.
The writer’s last sentence seems rather strange. He suggests as if Wiranto wished to lead the administration “tightly and efficiently, as though he was its chair rather than the president.” It’s true Abdurrachman Wahid’s leadership and presidency is known as erratic, yet sources said he clearly took the lead. Such in fact that he fired and replaced some ministers, including indeed Gen. Wiranto himself – the first time since decades that a president sacked the military chief.
There are interesting ideas in this comment. On the other hand, there seems no doubt that Luhut’s demotion came as a complete surprise to him. He acknowledged this in his Facebook explanation in which, while stressing his loyalty to the boss, he couldn’t quite conceal some disappointment and bitterness at only have been notified of the move the day before.
Jokowi’s had Hanura men in his cabinet before, namely Saleh Husin, who is still there, and Yuddy Chrisnandi, who’s not. So appointing Wiranto was not an overdue exression of gratitude to Hanura for its electoral support.
Handling any disgruntled generals seems too insignificant a task for the incumbent of the politics, law and security coordinating post. And let’s not forget Jokowi’s astonishing statement that he wanted Wiranto to oversee the reform of the justice system.
Having made these points, I have to admit that I don’t know why Jokowi chose Wiranto.
Wiranto not only outranks Luhut in terms of the cabinet hierarchy but also in terms of their respective TNI status. Wiranto was a four-star general when he was on active service, Luhut only a three-star one.
This matters. Wiranto once pointed out this distinction when it concerned himself on the one hand and SBY on the other, SBY being another officer with only three stars when on active service. Wiranto did this this was by means of the wording on a floral tribute sent to congratulate SBY on his election.
If Luhut is indeed Jokowi’s ‘best friend and confidant’, maybe Jokowi should learn to treat his friends better.
Wiranto is a year older than Luhut. Please recall Jokowo’s bizarre appointment of the septuagenarian general, Sutiyoso, to head BIN. Jokowi seems to like to surround himself with elderly appointees. Does it perhaps make the president himself appear younger?
Rama IX was not the constitutional monarch – on the contrary, he was very actively integrated into the country’s politics.
The Democratic Party gave him within their 3-month reign in 1948, back again the power over the Crown Property Bureau and the military under Sarit made him systematically to a god-king. This myth ruled Thailand then more as 6 decades. And under the guise of this myth all coups and military governments were legitimized by the king.
Military and judges are sworn to the king – not on the people and the Constitution.
– So on 07. August´16 Thailand now will vote on the then 20th Constitution of Thailand in 84 years.
The military ruled during these 84 years more as 60% of the total time.
Always with the legitimacy of the king.
The king has long been very ill, so the question arises whether the last coup was actually approved yet by Him. Or whether it was only a staging of the military one the last time to seize power.
This coup was necessary for the military because by “normal” means the Yinglucks government could not be replaced. The transitional period until new elections was consisted of Pheu Thai members and approximately the Pheu Thai had won in elections again. The by the military selfmade constitution of 2007, could not help. At the time of the already sick King’s death the crown prince would been made king – as envisaged in the succession. Since the crown prince, unlike his father, can not give the necessary legitimacy to the military , they had to be acted.
So we now see a draft constitution enshrined the power of the military and then no longer depend on a king.
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Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGte0L-t5Jw
Royal ink
I was in Thailand last year during the funeral for the past Supreme Patriarch. The CP was the lead royal in those ceremonies, which involve some quite close contact with the remains of the deceased … as well as a grueling number of hours on public display. It did not seem like the sort of gig he would choose for himself, and I wondered at the time if he might have been forced into that role and if part of the motivation for so forcing him would have been to put him face to face with death. But there are other explanations of why he was there?
Why Najib Razak is still in power
[…] of rule by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the main ruling party in Malaysia, has undermined Malaysia’s democratic institutions. There are now no effective institutional checks and balances on the handling of GLCs by the state […]
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Read Handley, The King Never Smiles (2006), for a detailed discussion of the engagement between the monarchy, military and government regarding the constitution.
The draft constitution does not change the previous provisions on the monarchy, except to add one new one, section 24, that expands the power to administer royal oaths to persons other than the King and authorizes oath-takers to begin duties before taking the oath:
“Section 24. In taking an oath of allegiance before the King pursuant to the Constitution or law, the King may endorse that it be carried out before His sui juris Heir or His representative.
“While the oath of allegiance under Paragraph One is not yet taken, His Majesty may endorse the person having to take the oath of allegiance to perform duties pro tempore.”
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Bumiphol appeared in “usually modest, ordinary garb” when visiting adoring farmers writes the author. Most pictures show him wearing either outright military fatigues, or else semi-civilian/ military clothing.
Jokowi shuffles the deck for presidential push
I was wrong about Saleh Husin, relying on his Wikipedia entry that hadn’t been updated and still hasn’t been.
My point about Sutiyoso relates to Megawati’s attitude towards the 1996 attack on the PDI-P headquarters. I don’t think she could care less on what date Jokowi reshuffled his cabinet. Presumably the main point for her is that Puan survived, as did Tjahjo Kumolo.
Giving Wiranto a post makes sense if there was any danger of losing Hanura support, but not necessarily the one he obtained. Perhaps Jokowi likes to have some party chairmen or women in his cabinet. It was odd that, a year before appointing Wiranto, Jokowi had already appointed Sutiyoso to a high-profile post, he being chairman of a party that has no seats in the DPR and thus not part of the supermajority.
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Because the “Old” issue had shaped Thailand’s unsocial, oppressing living environment of the past 7 decades and will stay that way, only to worsen, should the “Old” issue stay unsolved.
That’s why.
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Much better would to start by recognizing the prince’s essential humanity.
People like tattoos. The prince is a person who likes tattoos.
As long as tattoo-making is sanitary and hepatitis C free, why should anyone care if a person has a tattoo on their body or not.
And as for transparency and the ending secrecy in matters royal, of course.
We cannot even talk about 2003 drug war extrajudicial killings, because like everything else in Thailand it has become thoroughly politicized with each side on the political divide having a standard script that must be followed to the letter.
Say “2003 drug war extrajudicial killing” and the other side of the chess match will whip out a royal address or someone in the privy council that said someone that might indicate support in some way and touche, the discussion ends, checkmate.
There are so many issues that can be talked about freely in Thailand though, so why not focus on them instead of beating an old issue to death 🙂
Jokowi shuffles the deck for presidential push
1. Jokowi gave that Menkopolhukam seat to Wiranto because he wanted that two ministerial seats. Saleh Husin was replaced by Airlangga Hartarto.
2. Yes, Hanura still matter because with Hanura in the coalition, Jokowi still has more than 2/3 of the seats in the DPR, an important supermajority.
3. On Sutiyoso’s appointment, let just say that it has something to do with Hendropriyono and their past reconciliation, and that’s beyond the scope of this article.
4. Yes, Luhut was shocked. He was not informed about the reshuffle until just the night before (one of my sources even stated that he was informed in the morning. Go figure). But that also because Jokowi trusts Luhut to be willing to support him in the end.
Jokowi shuffles the deck for presidential push
According to this writer, Jokowi appointed Wiranto to the most important ministerial post in cabinet in order to preserve his supermajority in parliament. Didn’t Luhut tell Jokowi that Hanura is just a minor party? Why give that coordinating minister post to the leader of a minor party? Now that Golkar and PAN are on the government’s side and have been duly rewarded, what does Hanura matter? Wiranto is hardly going to support Prabowo.
Incidentally, while Hanura lost Yuddy Chrisnandi in the reshuffle, who was the other Hanura sacrificial lamb? Saleh Husin is still there.
When choosing to carry out his latest reshuffle on 27 July, did Jokowi really alienate Megawati? Let’s not forget that she backed the re-election as governor of Jakarta of the man who had been the Jakarta commander at the time of the July attack on PDI-P headquarters in 1996. When Jokowi appointed that general, Sutiyoso, as head of BIN, was there a squeak out of Megawati? Does she even remember the date of the attack? Did she set up a board of enquiry into that outrage when she became president half a dozen years later?
The writer seems unaware how shocked Luhut and his staff were by his demotion. If Luhut was to become one of the architects of Jokowi’s re-election by performing magic tricks as Rizal Ramli’s successor, it is a pity that Jokowi didn’t give him rather longer advance notice to soften the blow.
To rule over the waves
Such a serious war-monger. If you really enjoy war so much, go the the Middle East to experience some. If you still think war is a good thing after that stint, then continue with your war mongering opinions.
Myanmar Update 2017 Call for Papers
very intriguing information on Myanmar! Is the conference concerned only about Myannmar related themes?
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Excellent article. But far too much is made out of the insignificant – eg. Prince George fed his dog an ice cream. Shock horror – the twit’s Twittersphere goes into overdrive.
Let’s face it : this CP episode has been blown way out of proportion. His Royal Highness was simply performing one of his duties – i.e. helping Thailand’s struggling TAT promote full moon parties.
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
If you’re not interested in reading about the Thai royal family, Andrew, nobody is forcing these articles upon you. Go read about something else. Or write an article of your own about what you regard to be a more important issue. Tell us how the military’s power is sustained or how to build political alternatives to Thailand’s anti-democratic alliance. Surely that would be a more productive use of your time than spewing embittered negativity? Just a suggestion.
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
It looks to me like the crown prince is trying to force his dad to appoint his sister instead of him as a successor. Can’t blame him : )
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
It does seem to be an under-represented area of research. The monarchical/military relationship since the 1932 “revolution” has alternated between parasitic and commensual (using biological rather than political terms). Limited democracy (for better or worse) has been by the consent of this union as 18 coups amply demonstrate.
This has depended on the skill sets of the reigning monarch/military supremo de jour, notably Pibul, Sarit and the latest “designate”.
The current embryonic pairing has yet to be tested in the field. I suspect that the current EO was selected by elderly members of the privy council who are probably now regretting their choice. However in my opinion neither the monarchy or military can continue much longer in their present exalted state. The fig leaf is becoming increasingly threadbare and transparent. Or to use another analogy – too small to hide the tattoos.
To channel a monarchist perspective -from the Princess Irulan via Frank Herberts “Dune”: “A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. ”
Wiranto and Indonesia’s new Cabinet
Correct on Hanura. But I would take Luhut’s version of his appointment in Facebook with grains of salt. He knows all too well how to deal rhetorically with Javanese politicians. He had been alienated by Suharto for years, never posted as regional commander (Pangdam), only as junior commander in Madiun or chief of military schools, and only rose thanks to Benny Moerdani and owes his cabinet positions to Gus Dur. Of course Wiranto is senior and should be treated accordingly as Luhut might have adviced his former bussines partner and friend, Jokowi, who knew little on military politics.
Wiranto and Indonesia’s new Cabinet
The writer’s last sentence seems rather strange. He suggests as if Wiranto wished to lead the administration “tightly and efficiently, as though he was its chair rather than the president.” It’s true Abdurrachman Wahid’s leadership and presidency is known as erratic, yet sources said he clearly took the lead. Such in fact that he fired and replaced some ministers, including indeed Gen. Wiranto himself – the first time since decades that a president sacked the military chief.
Wiranto and Indonesia’s new Cabinet
There are interesting ideas in this comment. On the other hand, there seems no doubt that Luhut’s demotion came as a complete surprise to him. He acknowledged this in his Facebook explanation in which, while stressing his loyalty to the boss, he couldn’t quite conceal some disappointment and bitterness at only have been notified of the move the day before.
Jokowi’s had Hanura men in his cabinet before, namely Saleh Husin, who is still there, and Yuddy Chrisnandi, who’s not. So appointing Wiranto was not an overdue exression of gratitude to Hanura for its electoral support.
Handling any disgruntled generals seems too insignificant a task for the incumbent of the politics, law and security coordinating post. And let’s not forget Jokowi’s astonishing statement that he wanted Wiranto to oversee the reform of the justice system.
Having made these points, I have to admit that I don’t know why Jokowi chose Wiranto.
Wiranto not only outranks Luhut in terms of the cabinet hierarchy but also in terms of their respective TNI status. Wiranto was a four-star general when he was on active service, Luhut only a three-star one.
This matters. Wiranto once pointed out this distinction when it concerned himself on the one hand and SBY on the other, SBY being another officer with only three stars when on active service. Wiranto did this this was by means of the wording on a floral tribute sent to congratulate SBY on his election.
If Luhut is indeed Jokowi’s ‘best friend and confidant’, maybe Jokowi should learn to treat his friends better.
Wiranto is a year older than Luhut. Please recall Jokowo’s bizarre appointment of the septuagenarian general, Sutiyoso, to head BIN. Jokowi seems to like to surround himself with elderly appointees. Does it perhaps make the president himself appear younger?
Private: ‘Excuse me, Emperor …’
Rama IX was not the constitutional monarch – on the contrary, he was very actively integrated into the country’s politics.
The Democratic Party gave him within their 3-month reign in 1948, back again the power over the Crown Property Bureau and the military under Sarit made him systematically to a god-king. This myth ruled Thailand then more as 6 decades. And under the guise of this myth all coups and military governments were legitimized by the king.
Military and judges are sworn to the king – not on the people and the Constitution.
– So on 07. August´16 Thailand now will vote on the then 20th Constitution of Thailand in 84 years.
The military ruled during these 84 years more as 60% of the total time.
Always with the legitimacy of the king.
The king has long been very ill, so the question arises whether the last coup was actually approved yet by Him. Or whether it was only a staging of the military one the last time to seize power.
This coup was necessary for the military because by “normal” means the Yinglucks government could not be replaced. The transitional period until new elections was consisted of Pheu Thai members and approximately the Pheu Thai had won in elections again. The by the military selfmade constitution of 2007, could not help. At the time of the already sick King’s death the crown prince would been made king – as envisaged in the succession. Since the crown prince, unlike his father, can not give the necessary legitimacy to the military , they had to be acted.
So we now see a draft constitution enshrined the power of the military and then no longer depend on a king.