Story from The Times newspaper, February 16, 1942, on the fall of Singapore to the Japanese military.
The fall of Singapore, February 1942
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King Ananda’s death: Remembering the “forgotten round”
Ananda Mahidol, the 20-year-old King Rama VIII of Siam, was killed on the morning of June 9, 1946, shot through the head in his bedroom in Bangkok’s riverside Grand Palace complex with his own Colt .45 automatic pistol. Later that day, in the evening, his 18-year-old brother Bhumibol became King Rama IX, and has been on the throne of Thailand ever since.
Cables on the Thai regicide trial
On the afternoon of Wednesday, September 28, 1948, the most sensational trial in Thai history got under way. Three men — royal pages But Pathamasarin and Chit Singhaseni and former royal secretary Chaleo Pootomros — stood accused of conspiring to murder King Ananda Mahidol, who was shot dead in his bedroom in June 1946. The prosecution alleged that the plot was masterminded by fugitive former Prime Minister Pridi Banomyong, and that the assassin was his aide, naval Lieutenant Vacharachai Chaiyasithiwet, also on the run. The trial and appeals were to drag on for more than six years.
Pridi Banomyong’s escape from Siam, November 1947
Before dawn on November 19, 1947, Siam’s Senior Statesman Pridi Banomyong arrived at the Bangkok residence of British naval attache Captain Stratford Hercules Dennis. Pridi was wearing a naval uniform and thick spectacles, and had further disguised his appearance by growing a moustache and removing his false teeth.
British cable on the wedding and coronation of King Rama IX
A confidential cable by British ambassador Geoffrey Thompson. There are interesting comments in sections 5 and 6 on British and American opposition to King Bhumibol’s plans to return to Lausanne after his wedding and coronation.
Medical committee report on the death of Rama VIII
Thailand’s King Rama VIII, Ananda Mahidol, was shot through the head in his bedroom in Bangkok’s Grand Palace on June 9, 1946. An official communique released the same day said the king had shot himself accidentally with his own Colt .45 pistol. But this explanation was widely considered to be bogus. Twenty doctors — 16 Thai, two British, one Indian and one American — were asked to carry out belated forensic work on Ananda’s corpse and give their verdict on whether his death was suicide, accident, or regicide.
The mystery of Leo W. Hurrah
While digging through some old newspapers this afternoon researching #thaistory, I stumbled upon the tale of Lleieusszuieusszesszes Willihiminizisteizzi Hurrizzissteizzi.
I first found him in an Associated Press story from September 24, 1925, also published in the New York Times the following day:
Déjà vu all over again
My review of King Bhumibol Adulyadej: A Life’s Work, the recently published biography of Thailand’s king, has not been unreservedly positive.
Sufficiency Monarchy
In 1999, a team of experts worked on distilling King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s sufficiency economy theory into a concise and clear explanation.
The Tragedy of King Bhumibol
A response to King Bhumibol Adulyadej: A Life’s Work
Multiple contributors, overseen by editorial board chairman Anand Panyarachun
Edited by Nicholas Grossman and Dominic Faulder
Published by Editions Didier Millet, November 2011.
In memory of Hiro Muramoto
(UPDATE: I have added further details including naming the company that investigated Hiro’s death as Control Risks. A Thai-language report on this article, by Prachatai, is here.)
On April 10, 2010, Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was shot dead while filming clashes between Thai soldiers, Red Shirt protesters and unknown gunmen in the Rachadamnoen area of Bangkok. He was 43 years old and is survived by his wife, Emiko, and two children. Hiro joined Reuters as a freelance cameraman in 1992 and became full-time in 1995. The final footage he filmed before his death showed him in the thick of the fighting on April 10 – a day in which five soldiers and 20 other civilians were also killed. Among the incidents he filmed was a still unexplained grenade attack that killed Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, a rising military star and deputy chief of staff of the Queen’s Guard.
#thaistory3
After long delays, a complete draft of #thaistory3 is ready. Work on this project has taken me in directions that I never expected, and I found myself delving further into the past than I had anticipated, because it seems the only way to make sense of what is happening today.
Although earlier drafts were divided into chapters, #thaistory3 is now one long single narrative. It focuses on the reign of King Bhumibol, and on the challenges Thailand is facing. Many people will find some of the material offensive; all I can say is that I sincerely have no wish to offend, but I believe that it is only by facing the truth about Thailand’s past that the country can progress to the prosperous and democratic future that it deserves.
The document can be accessed as a PDF here and on Scribd here.
A few passages will be familiar from parts 1 and 2: I have moved them here, and removed them from their original location. I’ll publish an updated and edited parts 1-3 together once work on it is complete. There will also be a part 4, which will be a detailed look at the period of 2005 to the present, with particular reference to the WikiLeaks cables.
Best wishes.