I was recently given a digital copy of the Thai translation of the Devil’s Discus by Rayne Kruger. The translation (กงจักรปีศาจ) was undertaken by Chalit Chaisithiwet and the publication, according to the back cover, was arranged by the “History Students Association.” I can’t see any date of publication on the version I have been sent. My brief research has uncovered various dates – all of them in the 1970s.
According to Wikipedia, the translator, Chalit Chaisithiwet, was the brother of Vacharachai Chaisithiwet who was aide-de-camp to former prime-minister Pridi Banomyong:
Pridi was brought under suspicion of regicide in the death of King Ananda by his chief political rival, strongman military Prime Minister Plaek Pibulsonggram and was forced to flee into exile with his chief aide-de-camp (and Ananda’s), Vacharachai Chaisittiwet. Vacharachai’s brother became the Thai translator of The Devil’s Discus in an attempt to clear his name.
This translation appears to have met with a more liberal fate than the original English-language version. Whereas the English-language original (published in 1964) was banned immediately in Thailand, the Thai translation was only banned in 2006. Perhaps this backs up the point suggested by Craig Reynolds at the recent panel discussion on The King Never Smiles that Thai language discussions of the monarchy may be less offensive to the authorities than those by English-language authors.
But, of course, official bans are not the only way to suppress un-welcome material, and I have been told that the Thai translation of the Devil’s Discus is hard to find in libraries throughout Thailand. Can any New Mandala readers confirm this?
I have received some interesting background on this translation from CJ Hinke of Freedom Against Censorship in Thailand:
Devil’s Discus only saw one printing in English (Cassell, London, 1964) and one printing in Japanese. The Thai translation was published by Political Science students at Thammasat University in 1977. I have only seen the black cover variant and all copies I have examined are missing the first 16 pages. There is a second cover variant in yellow, quite rare!
Kruger’s UK obituaries carried an interesting anecdote. They state that, following publication of the Thai translation, the Thai publishing house was burned to the ground. I’m still digging on this but it appears to be mythical!
The English edition saw only one printing as it was banned in the Royal Gazette in its year of publication! The Thai translation was not banned until 2006, 30 years after its publication. Someone thought it a bright idea to sell its photocopies at Sondhi’s PAD rallies at Lumpini Park. The police followed them home and it was banned shortly after.
All known English copies of Devil’s Discus in Thailand were ordered destroyed. The Siam Society resisted with the support of Princess Galyani but it is still in restricted circulation. Some university libraries have copies in rare books.
(Thanks to FACT for this information! You can sign FACT’s petition against censorship in Thailand here and here.)
If any other New Mandala readers have information or opinions about this translation, please post your comments here. In particular, does anyone know why copies of the Thai-language version (including the copy I have been given) start at page 17?
[UPDATE 3 June 2008: Ajarn Somsak Jeamteerasakul has kindly provided this image of the cover of กงจักรปีศาจ. Somsak provides has some observations about the cover in comment 7 below.
Here is a side-by-side comparision with the cover image I provide above:
And CJ Hinke of FACT has provided this pdf copy of the order in the Royal Gazette banning กงจักรปีศาจ in 2006: discus-order. ]
[UPDATE 11 November 2008: CJ Hinke of FACT (Freedom Against Censorship Thailand) has provided these scans of the cover and endpapers of the "yellow" 1974 version of กงจักรปีศาจ.
This "yellow" version is discussed in comments 7, 63 and 64 below.]
This is based entirely on my memory. The main story is still clear to me but I cannot assure the accuracy of all facts.
A publication of the Thai translation was in late 1974 by two Thammasat students (or just graduated). But in the end the published copies were never released to the market. After printing, and a day or two before the two planned to release the book, something happened. All I know is that most copies were destroyed or hidden away by the two publishers (not by the police)while some were circulated in small circles. Later we knew that both of them went to the jungle in mid 1975, the same group as Seksan, Jiranan and others. One of them later became an elected Senator from a northeastern province. The other one returned from the jungle with Seksan (and was mentioned in the film “Moonhunter”). But I didn’t follow his whereabout since then.
I don’t think the 1974 publication was known to the police. It was not banned because the publication didn’t exist! Only a small circle of their friends knew about the publications and the change of plan. Ask former student activists of the 70s, most of them never knew or saw this book at the time. I think the fact that the book was never released to the public and the police didn’t know about it, i.e. the book didn’t exist, is the reason why the ban only took place in 2006, when a copy of an old print emerged in public. It is not true that a publication of Devil Discus in Thai is more tolerable than the one in English. It was so dangerous that “something happened” can caused the publishers to change their plan.
I do not know if the cover shown here is the same as the 1974/75 edition but was mistaken to be the 1977 edition. Or there were really two different prints: 1974/75 and 1977 ones. In 1974, I didn’t see the cover. When I talked to the two about the book, I was too naive and didn’t realize the significance of the book. I only knew the title in Thai “กงจักรปีศาจ” and knew that it was dangerous.
Sorry that I cannot tell the real names of the two. They might not want to be known involving with this episode 34 years ago, esp in the current ugly royalist climate.
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Sorry– in the above anecdote, I put the date 74/75 in some places because at first I was not so sure what year I encountered this incident. I believe it was late 1974 when I met them and since by mid-1975 both of them went to the jungle. But I forgot to revise all the “74/75″ in the above message to “1974″.
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Sorry to arrive into the discussion like an elephant into a glassware shop… but could you… tell us what is Devil’s Discus about ??? !!!
And point number 2, it’s enough to know that is has been banned in Thailand… to have a huge desire to read it.
Therefore, where is it possible to find the english version ?
Thanks.
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I can’t add to the DD story. However, the suggestion that Thai discussion of the monarchy is more acceptable to those up top than western appears to lack any supporting evidence.
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Until recently, Thammasat library actually had an English language copy freely accessible at Professor Direck Jayanama Library. In October 2007 I was able to borrow the book and make a copy. According to the loan period card, it had been borrowed seven times in 2007 alone.
I returned the book and a few weeks afterwards I checked the shelves again for a friend but could not find it any more. To my surprise, the title had also been deleted from the online catalogue. Whereas a few weeks before the catalogue had still listed two copies of the book at Thammasat Central Library (that copy was nowhere to be found) and at Direck Jayanama, it seems as if “The Devil’s Discus” has now completely “disappeared” from Thammasat.
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I have never seen a Thai version, but have read an English version at my university library (in England).
To my knowledge, this book in a Thai version does not exist in Thailand. I looked at library cataloque, both at Thammasat and Chula, and could not find it (a Thai version).
Although there are various other books on Rama 8 death; most of them can be found in bookstores in Thailand. My family have bought a few of them. I have never seen this book in any bookstore too.
I think that one you have seen is an “underground” one. Very very limited amount of people have seen it (at least people in my age –20 something years old).
Therefore, I disagree with your observation that the Thai discussion of monarchy is more acceptable. I think a critical observation of the monarchy by the Thais just does not exist in the public (none of us want to end up in jail).
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Nine years ago I published an article about the backgrounds of this Thai version of The Devil’s Discus, titled กงจักรปีศาจ และหนังสือกรณีสวรรคต . The article was later included in my book ประวัติศาสตร์ที่เพิ่งสร้าง I’ll put the whole article on my blog shortly, and will give notice here after I finish.
Let me discuss here a few details about the book. I’ll write more later if I have time.
First of all, Andrew’s picture of the book cover above is definitely not the real one. It’s been, I think, digitally modified to make the book’s title, author and translator more easily readable. (The font used here actually was not invented back in 1974) I’ll put the picture of the real 1974 front cover on my blog too. (Or if you can’t wait and can find my book, you can have a look there on page 100.)
About the book’s availibility. As K.Serhat says, there used to be a copy of the English version in the Pol Science Faculty Library (too bad without the dusk jacket which looks quite nice). It’s been there for great many years without much notice, until recently.
Actually in my article I also “revealed” how a THAI version had been, for many years also, mysteriously put inside the Thammasat main library, under a wrong title (both on the front cover and in the library catalog). But some students of mine recently told me that it has also been removed, or disappeared or stolen (I cannot think how the staff would know its existence to remove it. But possibly because of my mentioning it the article some people had tracked it down and maybe kept it for him/herself.
About the Thai version. K.Old Phrai’s story is largely correct (I really wonder who you are, since not many people, even of my – our – generation would know about it).
The publishers were the two TU Pol Science students K.Old Phrai says. At first I thought of revealing their names, since it’s been more than 30 years and no harm should happen to them. (Besides they have long ceased to be leftist activists). But on reading K.Old Phrai, I agree it’s better not talk about their names for the time being, especially at current political climate (although given details K.Old Phrai already told, it wouldn’t be difficult for anyone with keen interest in the matter to find out. I’m not saying this’s wrong. Below I’ll confirm some details about them which I don’t think make much difference from what K.Old Phrai already says.
At the time (1974) the two were very close to Seksan. They’re also in a relationship, but had since broken up, I believe, after they went into the jungle to join the CPT. The man left with Seksan and Jiranan in 1980 but the woman stayed and rose to the rank of the CPT Central Committee just before the party’s demise. Late the woman was arrested and released. She started a new career as a writer and wrote articles for daily paper with a sort of feminist leaning. (I have to check K.Old Phrai’s story about her being a senator. This part of her life I missed it.)
In 1974, they (especially the man) decided to publish the Thai version believing it’s legal, since Pridi had submitted it in court case he brought againt MR.Kukrit Pramot for defamation. But I was told since 1974 that Seksan himself adviced against putting the book (already finished) on the market. The book was then “sold under the table” (ขายใต้โต๊ะ i.e. selling something illegally). This was how I bought a copy in 1974, as did a number of people in the student movement . A couple of years ago I checked with an old-book seller at Jatuchak Market, the book I bought for 25 baht was now priced around 6-7000 baht!
I was told that the very first printing of the book had a yellow cover. But I never saw it (the one I bought has the same black cover K.Andrew shows above except for the font used for title, etc as I said earlier). I understnad this yellow cover was changed after the publishers decided to sell it ‘under the table’ instead, as he also have to remove the first 16 pages (or the first prining sheet. I don’t know the technical term in English but we used to call this หนังสือ 16 หน้า ยก which means one printing sheet folded to make 16 pages) Because contained the preface and the real name of the publisher.
That’s it for now. I may write some more if I have time.
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Dear Khun Andrew,
I tried to post the following several times. Not sure if each time it already reach you (it didn’t show up on my screen as usual with the caption “your comment is awaiting moderation”). If it already did, please disregard this one. Thank you.
Somsak.
……………………….
One more point. I have great respect for K.Chalit Chaisitthiwet, the translator. But, as I explain in my article, the book was quite badly translated, with mistakes on almost every page. Some of these are quite serious. I’ll give here two examples (from my article – sorry it’s in Thai):
(p.s. Over the years, I sometimes entertained the idea of tranlating the whole book myself.)
ในหน้า 71 ของฉบับภาษาอังกฤษ ครูเกอร์เล่าว่า ที่ท่าอากาศยานสวิตเซอร์แลนด์ ก่อนจะทรงโดยสารเครื่องบินที่จะนำพระองค์กลับไทย ในหลวงอานันท์ฯทรงแอบหลบไปโทรศัพท์ถึง “a student friend” (พระสหายนักเรียนผู้หนึ่ง) “With journalists swarming about he had time but to say au revoir. He told no one of the call.” ซึ่งชลิตแปลว่า “พระองค์ทรงมีเวลาที่จะรับสั่งกับบรรดานักหนังสือพิมพ์ซึ่งมาห้อมล้อมพระองค์อยู่ว่า ‘ลาก่อน’ แต่พระองค์มิได้ทรงรับสั่งถึงเรื่องที่ได้ทรงโทรศัพท์กับใคร” แต่ความจริง ควรจะแปลว่า “ด้วยเหตุที่มีนักหนังสือพิมพ์คอยห้อมล้อมเต็มไปหมด, พระองค์จึงทรงมีเวลารับสั่งต่อพระสหายผู้นั้นเพียงว่า ‘ลาก่อน’ พระองค์มิได้ทรงบอกใครถึงเรื่องที่ได้ทรงโทรศัพท์นั้น” (ในหน้าเดียวกันนั้น ยังมีประโยคที่แปลผิดอีกหลายประโยค)
……………
ในหน้า 166 ของฉบับภาษาอังกฤษ ครูเกอร์เล่าคำให้การในฐานะพยานโจทก์ของสมเด็จพระราชชนนี “She recalled a private audience Pridi had of the King after dinner on 7 June…. Ananda told her that under the constitution he had the power of appointment [of the Regency Council]. She confirmed the Buddhist tutor’s reporting to her Pridi’s threat after this audience that he would not support the throne again.” ในฉบับแปล “สมเด็จพระราชชนนีทรงให้การว่า…. ปรีดีเข้ามาเฝ้าในหลวงอานันท์ฯเป็นการส่วนพระองค์ในวันที่ 7 มิถุนายน…. ในหลวงอานันท์ฯได้ทูลพระองค์ว่าภายใต้รัฐธรรมนูญ พระองค์ทรงมีพระราชอำนาจที่จะทรงแต่งตั้งผู้สำเร็จราชการ นายปรีดีได้ขู่ภายหลังการเข้าเฝ้านี้ว่าเขาจะไม่สนับสนุนพระราชวงศ์อีก” ข้อความที่ว่า “She confirmed the Buddhist tutor’s reporting to her” หายไปไม่มีการแปล (อาจเป็นเพราะปัญหาการพิมพ์ก็เป็นได้) ซึ่งอาจทำให้เข้าใจผิดได้ว่า ในหลวงอานันท์ฯทรงเล่าเรื่อง “การขู่” ของปรีดีให้สมเด็จพระราชชนนีฟังด้วยพระองค์เอง แต่ความจริง สมเด็จฯทรงได้ยินเรื่องนี้จากปากของ “the Buddhist tutor” (อนุศาสนาจารย์ คือนายวงศ์ เชาวนะกวี ผู้ถวายอักษรไทย)
ฯลฯ….ฯลฯ….ฯลฯ
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Just a note on what I understand are the origins of the book: Kruger was recruited to write it by Prince Subhasvasti, aka Tan Chin, in his Free Thai name, a brother of Queen Rambhai who was exiled in England with the outgoing royal family after the revolution. Prince Subha liked and trusted Pridi and believed he and the others had been framed, and wanted to correct that — and also give King Bhumibol a way out. He had suggested in an earlier long 1947 letter to Bhumibol that Ananda’s death could well have been an accident related to his being ill.
Kruger though concluded (ATTN PLOT TWIST GIVEAWAY COMING if you haven’t read it) that Ananda was despondent over a Swiss girl he wanted to be with/marry. But I don’t think Prince Subha would have had a problem with that.
Anyway, the book was imported into Thailand and went on sale in bookstores before someone took note and got it banned.
By the way, a friend told me around 2003-04 that he saw the photocopied book, English version (possibly Thai too, my friend doesn’t read it) openly on sale at a book fair at Chiang Mai University.
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Just as an aside readers might be interested in British pathologist Professor Keith Simpson’s account of his involvement in the Ananda case. See ‘The Violent Death of King Ananda of Siam’ in his Forty Years of Murder: An Autobiography, London: Harrap, 1978. Simpson’s disagrees with both the accident and suicide versions of what happened. He writes:
‘The question was…accident, suicide, or murder? The King has been keenly interested in small firearms, and had often practiced shooting with Vacharachai. He had kept an American Army .45 Colt automatic in his bedside drawer. Could it have gone off accidently while he was examining it? Would an intelligent man who knew anything about firearms inspect a pistol with the safety catch of and the magazine charged while lying in bed on his back, his head on the pillow and the pistol pointing at his forehead? The idea seemed wildly far-fetched, even apart from the fact that the King’s sight was so defective that he could not have examined anything without his spectacles, and at the time of his death these were lying on the bedroom table. The position of the body made suicide almost equally unlikely. In twenty years experience I had not seen a suicide shoot himself whilst lying flat on his back. No such case existed, so far as I knew. The suicide sits up or stands up to shoot himself. There were other strong indications against suicide. The pistol found at the King’s side was by his left hand, but he was right-handed. The wound, over the left eye, was not in one of the elective sites, nor a “contact” discharge. The direction of fire was not inward towards the centre of the head. Furthermore the King had never hinted at suicide to anyone and had not been depressed at the time of his death. That left only murder, for which the evidence was very strong. I thought he had almost certainly been shot while dozing, and that unconsciousness had followed instantly. The muzzle of the pistol had evidently been close to but not against the skin, giving the King no warning or any chance to protect himself. “This is not a case of suicidal discharge nor of accident, but one of deliberate killing by firearm,” I concluded my report’.
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Dear Khun Paul,
Thanks a lot for sharing this interesting info with us all.
Given the fact that Prince Sawat had ever since the incident in 1946 tried to defend Pridi, to reconcile Pridi with Bhumibol and, as you say, to find the way out for both Pridi and Bhumibol (and I may addd, to cite the Prince himself in that letter you mention, to ‘lift a great weight off [his] mind’ over the incident), your story makes perfect sense and sounds very true.
However, I wonder if you could perhaps give further info or speculate or comment on the following.
On my reading, at the time of the book’s preparation and publication (i.e. first half of 1960s), the Prince was in the process of his own reconciliation with Bhumibol after the two had fallen out for over ten years. Bhumibol was reportedtly furous with the Prince because he believed the Prince was the cause of the wide-spread belief among members of the British royal family in the 1950s that Bhumibol killed his brother. But in the 1960 Bhumibol appeared to forgive the Prince, at the same time as he and the British ‘made up’. That year Princess Alexandra visited Thailand as personal guest of Bhumibol. The King took her to stay and be entertained at the range of Prince Sawat in Phetchaburi province. I read this, as I said, as a reconcilation between Bhumibol and Prince Sawat himself.
I discuss this issue in an article first published in Fa Diew Kan a few years ago and available on my blog at http://somsakwork.blogspot.com/2006/06/blog-post_30.html
See especially the last paragraph and the last note (note 2 http://somsakfootnotes.blogspot.com/2006/06/blog-post_115146282371323264.html
If my reading of this reconciliation between Bhumibol and Prince Sawat is correct, I wonder why the Prince would jeopadize it by supporting a book such as The Devil’s Discus? Perhaps – I admit it’s possible – he’s a man of great loyalty to his friend Pridi and even in the middle of that reconciliation with Bhumibol, still wanted to mediate between Bhumibol and Pridi. But I also think the book greatly risked infuriating Bhumibol again. What do you think?
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“but could you… tell us what is Devil’s Discus about ??? !!!
ThaiCrisis and others, there’s a summary of the book available here.
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SomchaiB: Thanks for that. Interesting. But it still leaves open the idea of an accident that involved another person.
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Dear Khun Paul,
Thanks a lot for sharing this interesting info with us all.
Given the fact that Prince SuphaSawat had ever since the incident in 1946 tried to defend Pridi, to reconcile Pridi with Bhumibol and, as you say, to find the way out for both Pridi and Bhumibol (and I may addd, to cite the Prince himself in that letter you mention, to ‘lift a great weight off [his] mind’ over the incident), your story makes perfect sense and sounds very true.
However, I wonder if you could perhaps give further info or speculate or comment on the following.
(to continue below. I try breaking up my post to see if it works, after trying to post the full text over 30 times since yesterday but never succeeded.)
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Ajarn Somsak – apologies for the difficulties with posting your comment. It is now here, in full, at comment 11.
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Khun Somsak,
I didn’t know about the visit to Prince Suphasawat’s farm so I can only speculate that, first, if Alexandra was also a friend of Suphasawat, perhaps this was King Bhumibol just being diplomatic. Or perhaps as you suggested Bhumibol had warmed to the prince. But also look at the timing: if that visit was in 1960, it was also well before the publication of the Devils Discus, in 1964 was it? In the meantime, Sarit took power and made it clear that Pridi was not to return.
On the other hand, one can’t assume that the king was unhappy about the book. As he had tried in earlier years, the prince and Kruger drew the reader away from the conclusion that Bhumibol killed Ananda. The alternative explanation Kruger offered effectively cleared Bhumibol. (Though it maybe impugned the princess mother Somdej Ya over the Swiss girlfriend issue).
As we know with ‘The Revolutionary King,” just because it is banned doesn’t mean the king didn’t like it.
In fact, it is the Pramojs who are damaged most in the “Devil’s Discus,” for putting their relative at the head of the investigation and then him faking evidence and witnesses.
So the short answer is, I don’t know. Did Bhumibol in 1964 realy care about the prince? Did the prince at that time really care to be back in the palace inner circle?
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2 June 2008
I really would like a copy of either the Thai or English of the book, or both. Is it possible to receive on electronically?
I am doing research on lese majeste here in Thailand as part of a book that covers my experiences in the subject as a victim, and need to have some information that provides background for my research. I thank anyone who may be able to assist.
Sincerely,
Frank G Anderson
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ขอบคุณคุณ Paul มากครับ
Thanks Khun Paul Handley for your thought.
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I have provided an update to this post with some new material provided by New Mandala readers.
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Can the more well-informed among you comment on the conjectures of Stephenson in “The Revolutionary King”? In particular, how do you assess the conclusion that Phibun Songkhram gave the order, and Tsuji Masanobu carried it out disguised as a monk?
The idea of Phibun giving the order makes a LOT of sense to me, and explains Bhumibol’s generally acquiescent behavior until Prem came to power.
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As with Mr Anderson, is it possible to receive this book in an electronic form in English?
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To Clifford
Tsuji Masanobu was one of the most brilliant and controversial of Japanese generals. If you can imagine Douglas MacArthur dressed as a nun skulking around post-war London and murdering Princess Elizabeth, then you can buy this story too. Tsuji hid briefly in a wat before fleeing Bangkok to China in late 1945. Stevenson spun that small fact into his tale. It’s one of the best jokes in an excellently comic book.
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I have Devil’s Discus pdf files (Thai version) but it’s very big files (253 MB)
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Illuson land…
How can I buy/obtain it? I can send cash, etc., or just download it.
Thanks.
FGA
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I try to upload a file and give you a link later.
just download it!!
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In fact, Stevenson’s The Revolutionary King (1997) is not legally banned in Thailand. However, it is not sold here by social convention. Most Thais aren’t worried about the errors or speculation in the book but by the fact that the author refers to Nai Luang by his childhood nickname, Lek–hardly befitting a great king!
While we’re on the subject, I have been told that the Stevensons lived with the Thai Royals for some months while researching his book, with even his children attending school with the Royal progeny. It is said that Stevenson was chosen to write HM’s official biography because of the King’s admiration (and translation of) for his book, A Man Called Intrepid. The Royals have never acknowledged The Revolutionary King, however, rumour has it here that there was Royal intervention to prevent the book being officially banned. An obvious hagiography, it is rife with errors though makes a good read!
To my knowledge, there was never an official ban order nor was one published in the Royal Gazette. To my knowledge, Stevenson’s book was never translated into Thai; if someone knows of a translation, I would very much like to see it.
My own reading of The Devil’s Discus is that Kruger does not favour any possible reason for King Ananda’s death by gunshot but merely tantalises us with possible explanations: regicide (and by whom? Certainly for political gain by implicating Pridi and thus removing him from Thailand’s political and populist landscape.) It is a given that the three Royal servants executed nine years later having been acquitted by lower courts took a fall. There is often concern raised over why Nai Luang did not exercise his prerogative of Royal pardon.
The second possibility is suicide (possibly despondent over the Princess Mother’s unwavering insistence that he break his romantic involvement with a sweetheart in Lausanne). A King’s suicide would have been impossible to admit to the Thai public.
The third possibility raised by Kruger is that of accident. As both young Royal sons loved guns and had ready access to them, this raised the (never-to-be-mentioned) possibility that King Ananda’s death may have occurred during gunplay with his younger brother. In fact, many have speculated that this is the reason the King never smiles. It is my personal view that raising this possibility by its title is the real reason The King Never Smiles was banned well before its publication.
However, I must point out that one simply does not see any Royals anywhere hee-hawing in public. It is unseemly not only in Thailand.
Of course, the mystery of Ananda’s death could only be confirmed by three Royals: Somdek Ya, Princess Galyani and the King himself. The former are both dead and it is unlikely the King will say anything. We can hope his children know the real story so this important element of Royal history is not lost forever.
The new Printing Act 2007 has never been properly tested, so if any reader wishes PDF scans of any of these books, Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) will be happy to provide them as part of its Banned Books Project-Celsius 233.
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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While in Germany, I watched part of a documentary on Asian monarchies. In English, a young King Bhumipol said (quoting from my memory), “Ananda’s death was political murder. But I cannot say whether it involved the international level.”
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An interesting comment at the very least. But, did you actually see him saying it, or was it a quote? Can you provide an estimated date of the day you watched this and in what city? Maybe we can get info on the documentary.
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Frank: The documentary was on the nation-wide channel “Arte”, but it might originally have been French. I should have watched it in the first week of May. Generally, the section on Thailand treated her monarchy in a very positive light. Nevertheless, it could be broadcast in Thailand only with some changes, because the feature also included some critical comments on the heir.
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Frank: Here are some more details.
Channel “Arte” (French/German)
Documentary “Paläste der Macht – Herrscher des Orients: Der Sultan von Brunei und das thailändische Königshaus.”
“Palaces of Power — Rulers of the Orient: The Sultan of Brunei and the Thai Royal Dynasty.”
ZDF/Arte
Author: Gero von Boehm
Germany 2007
Shown on 14. Mai 2008 um 20.15 Uhr
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Srithanonchai and Frank: The documentary was rebroadcast today (17 June) on the German documentary channel “Poenix”. I transcribed the German translation of what Bhumibol said since his original voice is drowned out by the German narrator. The respective part of the documentary is taken from an unidentified documentary from 1980.
Here is the original German transcript:
My English translation would be:
I’m not quite sure if the German translation in the documentary is correct since they seem to translate more than Bhumibol actually says.
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Serhat: Vielen Dank!
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To our knowledge, this is the ONLY comment King Bhumipol has EVER made regarding the death of King Ananda.
Might one of you kind people make a copy of this TV programme and post it to us for further analysis?
Thanks so much.
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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Maybe I am dense but still would like to know how to obtain that book, digitally in English or Thai.
Thanks.
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CJ Hinke: A friend of mine recorded the documentary for me. It’s a huge file but I will try to post a copy to you within the next few days.
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Thank you, Serhat. I actually think it might be easier to burn to disk and post it to me, if that isn’t too inconvenient. I can then make copies for others who’d like them.
Postal address: CJ Hinke, Box 31, Udomsuk Post Office, Bangkok 10261
Thank you so much!
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Frank, please see my comment above. I would be happy to post the disks to you!
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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19 June 2008
Thank you.
My address is:
Frank G Anderson
745/1 Seubsiri Soi 3/13 (Taptim)
Meung, Nakonratchasima 30000
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Concerning Bhumibol’s comments about his brother, this is what he said in “Soul of a Nation” the BBC documentary from about 1980:
“It was not an accident, not a suicide. The truth had been suppressed, because it was political.”
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Dear CJ Hinke,
Would you please send me a copy disk of the file to me ,too.
Thank you in advance.
My address;
Suwat Limsuvan
131/14 Moo 19 , Putthamolthon 2 Road, Sarathumasop, Tawewatana, Bangkok,10170
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CJ Hinke: I just sent out the DVD to you.
However, I should have checked the respective part about the BBC documentary Robert Horn mentions in TKNS first. Handley cites Bhumibol’s entire statement on pages 273-74:
The translators of the German documentary did a quite sloppy job.
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20 June 2008
Do I presume correctly that HM is being quoted via a translation into English? If so, what is the original Thai?
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No, his comments were in English. He was speaking to the BBC in the documentary about him entitled “Soul of a Nation.”
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Frank G Anderson: Bhumibol’s original statement in the BBC documentary is in English.
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21 June 2008
Can any of you ‘real scholars’ out there point me in the right direction to finding a copy of the 1941 Printing Act and subsequent amendments, etc.? I have spent considerable time to no avail.
Thank you!
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Re: the Printing Act
I’d try the libraries at Chula and Thammasat if I were in Bangkok.
Otherwise consider contacting the Thai Journalists Association, or Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT). Or maybe the Law Society of Thailand (though I can’t recall — did they change their name to the Lawyers Council of Thailand — or was it the other way around?)
At a pinch try contacting a newspaper or active publishing house, whose lawyers should have a clue.
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I’m off conferencing but nearly all past and current Thai laws are online with discrete search terms, often in both Thai & English. I am almost certain I have posted the old & new acts along with English translations. I must have them and would be happy to attach them to email in 10 days or so.
Thank you, Serhat, for the DVD; I’m looking forward to it on my return.
Does anyone have any idea where we can find a copy of ‘Soul of a Nation’?
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Disks posted to K. Suwat & Ajarn Frank. Please confirm arrival by email.
Frank, I was getting reading to send you the Printing Act 1941 in Thai & English but I don’t seem to have to have your email address.
I don’t, however, seem to have the Printing Act 2007 in Thai or English. Will some good soul please find these, download them & attach them to email to me? Thanks in advance!
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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editorialoffice@thekoratpost.com
Thanks a great deal!
Frank
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http://www.tja.or.th/images/stories/3-12psb2550.pdf
This is the 2007 Printing Act, I believe. Thai only.
The 1941 Thai language version seems to be here…
http://www.tja.or.th/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=300
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My e-mail
suwat004@truemail.co.th
Thanks krub Mr. Hinke
Suwat L.
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For quite some years, I have been buying EVERY SINGLE COPY of Discus I could find. I thought as many copies as possible should be repatriated to Thailand. I now have several copies in English, from very good to fine in good to very good dust wrapper. First and only edition. And a single copy at the present time of กงจักรปีศาจหลัง, the only Thai edition in its secondary variant with black papercovers.
This is YOUR perfect opportunity to support Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT). Own your very own piece of Thai history which will never be reprinted!
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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http://www.2519.net/autopage/print.php?t=3&s_id=6&d_id=7&page=1
A post 6 October interview with Seni Pramoj. Maybe I am being overly critical, but air-head comes to mind. This rationale seems to be what is a major inhibition to democracy taking real root here.
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Did someone fall asleep at the wheel?
http://www.2519.net, a very informative website, allowed its domain name to expire, and faces permanent deletion in August if not renewed. This site has lots of great historical background, text and photos, etc.
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I’m living in the US now and interested to have a chance to read either the book in Thai or English version or both. I don’t mind up loading the big file if anyone has it in and E-book form.
Back in 1990, when I was in College in the north of Thailand,I used to read bunch of thick books from the library about the death of prince Ananda. I remember taking the books back to the dorm and read them out loud to my friends.
Thanks in advance for any of you who would be able to help me out.
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Cali–Just email me your postal address & I’ll post you a disk.
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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I am also interested to read this book either in Thai or English. Do you still have a link that I can download from?
Thanks
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Khun Hinke,
Could you provide the censored books for us please.
What about considering posting them on scribd.com, if you don’t have your own running servers?
Thank you,
Siammann
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hi
im thinking of writing a research paper on this topic and would like to have a copy of the book in both thai and english.
digital copy would be fine but does anyone have a hard copy i can buy from??
thank you
Natalie
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I have been busy teaching summer session the last ten weeks.
Will all those who requested DD copies please email me with your mailing address and I’ll see you get sent a disk.
CJ Hinke
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)
facthai@gmail.com
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For those who can read Thai, I’ve recently come across this book. Its author is a lawyer and it supports the official findings. However, it purports to contain a complete copy of the court judgement. It seems books in English get banned in Thailand while those in Thai are left alone.
บุญร่วม เทียมจันทร์ [Lawb Plong Pra Chon Raw Phad]
[The Assassination of Rama XIII]
Boonruem Tiamjan
ISBN: 9749458303
1st edition: November 2006
2nd edition: February 2007 (cover states 10th printing)
THB 190
248 pp
http://animategroup.com/asite_up/viewbooks.php?b_id=293
pocketbook@animategroup.com
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There were several copies of The Devil’s Discus, both in Thai and English, at high prices at the current Bangkok International Book Fair. I found a copy of the yellow cover variant of กงจักรปีศาจ for THB 18,000 which puts it in the same league as DD’s first edition in English. The yellow cover variants are much more scarce. Perhaps Ajarn Somsak will be so kind as to enlighten us as to กงจักรปีศาจ’s printing history.
Yes, the first 16 pages are still missing! If anyone has these as scans or photocopies, I would be most grateful for them.
I also found another recent book in Thai on the King Ananda death case of which I was not aware:
Title: บันทึกการสอบสวนกรณีสวรรคตรัชกาลที่ 8
[Records of the Investigation into the Death of King Rama VIII (King Ananda Mahidol):
A Documentary History]
Editor:
Committee Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Pridi Banomyong 11/5/2443-11/5/2543 (Sulak Sivaraksa, Chair)
Co-publishers:
Pridi Banomyong Institute (02-381-3860-1) http://www.pridi.or.th
Children’s Foundation Publishing (02-881-1734) http://www.ffc.or.th
Bangkok
1st edition: Commercial News, Issues 1 – 41, 2489 [1946]
1st book edition: March 2546 [2003]
2nd printing: March 2547 [2004] (2000 copies)
ISBN: 9747834944
Price: THB 300
The book may be found online by ISBN.
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I have just examined the yellow cover variant of กงจักรปีศาจ and am uploading scans of the cover and front endpaper. We must assume, according to the comments above from An old phrai and Ajarn Somsak that this must be the 1974 edition which was privately circulated. There are no apparent textual differences with the black cover variant issue and I would speculate they were produced from the same printing plates. These plates must have remained well hidden from 1974 to 1977! There are some minor differences in the location of the illustrations.
However, what I find very curious is that the first 16 pages are missing from both variants, years apart! Ajarn Somsak speculates that these missing pages, including the title page, formed the first signature or gathering of the book.
We wonder when, exactly, these pages were removed!
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Thanks to FACT I have provided scans of the cover and endpapers of the “yellow” version of กงจักรปีศาจ. See the update at the end of the post.
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I just visited this site and I’m very interesting for the devil’s discus book both in Thai and English. Can anyone tell me the link to download, please…
akiraangel_12@yahoo.com
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Here is the full Thai language version of Devil’s Discus (กงจักรปีศาจ) in a free 18meg download
http://tinyurl.com/Thai-Devils-Discus
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Thank you to the reader who posted กงจักรปีศาจหลัง for free download. They look like my scans!
However, the comment above calls this Thai version “full” and the email I received called it “complete”.
This is not the case. The mystery of the missing first 16 pages remains!
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One question that I have never really understood. There appear to be no copies of The Devil’s Discus in thai that are complete including the first 16 pages. Why has no-one ever thought of translating these pages again and adding them to the incomplete copies that exist, at least the pdf versions?
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It seems that we are missing as well pages 533>578 of the Thai “complete version”.
Is there anybody who can scan those missing pages too.
And isn’t the English version worth too?
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im really curious about this book. i read its name briefly in another book so i wanted to read the whole thing. i think it will be rather difficult for me to find a hard copy in the united states, right? im just curious about the story and what the author has to say. i have no criticisms toward anyone or anything, just a brain full of curiousity
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Anyone not think this is expensive?!!
http://www.maggs.com/title/MO49880.asp
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Something you guys might be interested in: a project by the Pridi Institute to gather & restore a lot of valuable & hitherto inaccessable historical stuff relating to Thai political history post 1932, & make it available through an ‘E-Library.’
Initially the works will consist of printed & AV materials mainly related to Pridi & his wife Poonsuk, although “Websites for other prominent persons such as Puey Ungpakorn, Kularb Saipradit and Jit Pumisak, who are not mentioned in school text books and official histories, will be produced as well.”
Just to get your juices flowing: “… audio clips of Tee Srisuwan making a confession to the late Panyananta Bhikku in 1979 for having framed Pridi in the case of King Ananda’s death were also available on the website.”
Read all about it @ http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1235
Thai: http://www.prachatai.com/05web/th/home/16988 or go straight there: http://www.pridi-phoonsuk.org/pridi-by-pridi/
Pridi By Pridi; Selected Writings on Life, Politics, and Economy
translated by Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit is also available for download (pdf).
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“… audio clips of Tee Srisuwan making a confession to the late Panyananta Bhikku in 1979 for having framed Pridi in the case of King Ananda’s death were also available on the website.”
Does anybody have a script of what is being said? We are unable to understand the wording. Text in Thai or English would be welcome!
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I have just been informed that there is a new edition of The Devil’s Discus (unsure of what language) from Hong Kong.
If anyone knows about this, I would appreciate its title, ISBN, publisher and contact details. Thanks
CJ Hinke
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Mark Teufel of Germany’s Free Thai movement, has made the following files available for free download:
The Devil’s Discus in Thai (1974)
กงจักรปีศาจหลัง
http://www.schoenes-thailand.de/dokumente/buecher-dokumente/the-devils-discus-in-thai-3585-3591-3592-3633-3585-3619-3611-3637-3624-3634-3592-/download.html
Photo illustration from the English Discus (1964)
http://www.schoenes-thailand.de/dokumente/buecher-dokumente/the-devils-discus-pictures/download.html
These are averaging HUNDREDS of downloads per day! A German Discus soon to come.
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Since Mark Teufel, German translator of DD, alerted me to a new edition in English, published in Hong Kong, I have been on a mission to find this book.
As befitting the Discus, finding the book is proving a mysterious process.
What we know:
The Devil’s Discus, [Hong Kong]: 2009, DMP Publications, ISBN-10: 988-97752-5-5,
ISBN-13: 978-988-97752-5-4
The only known copy is held in the library of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Call no. DS585.K78 2009). CUHK claims the book was provided to them by the Hong Kong copyright depository for published works (requirement of five copies), the Books Registration Office of the Hong Kong Central Library.
CUHK staff further claims there are no contact details for the publisher in the book. Curious they don’t seem to want to be contacted to sell their books!
In fact, we don’t even know for sure that this edition was published in Hong Kong as CUHK has mentioned a notation “Printed in USA”. However, if, in fact, copies were deposited with the BRO, it is a good indication the publishers in in Hong Kong.
A ‘net search for the publisher comes up empty, as do searches for the mystery ISBNs (shades of Harry Nicolaides!).
As NM readers may know, Rayne Kruger’s widow, Prudence Leith, gifted FACT with all international rights to DD. However, we are very pleased to see the book getting the attention it well deserves.
I have lots of feelers out to find the publishers but perhaps some NM reader can help.
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If FACT has the rights, will it be re-published? One imagines that a publisher would be interested.
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FOUND IT! The price is rather expensive as the book is produced by print-on-demand but is a high quality production.
The Devil’s Discus
Rayne Kruger
Dragon’s Mouth Press
Hong Kong
2009
ISBN-10: 988-97752-5-5
ISBN-13 978-988-97752-5-4
The Devil’s Discus may be purchased from ABE Books http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&vci=1330729&an=&tn=devil%27s+discus&kn=&isbn=&x=0&y=0
Please note this book CANNOT be shipped to addresses in Thailand.
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US $780! Sorry. CJ, if FACT has the rights, why don’t you make copies available yourself? Even if you cover your costs, it should be a bit more affordable than $780.
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780 US-Dollar??? My translation to which I added a lot of comments and two interviews with German forensic experts cost Euro 29.90 (+ shipping). Book is in German Language, print on demand.
http://www.epubli.de/shop/showshopelement?pubId=2141
If there is a major interest, I could organize an English language reprint in Germany including the interviews and comments, if wished, if someone is ready to become co-author due to my limited English language knowledge.
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Of course, the $780 book is a first edition!
The link I posted worked for me yesterday using any search parameters.
What I meant by expensive was, I think, around $40.
I have queried the publisher and will post a new link as soon as I have one.
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Dragon’s Mouth Publications informs me that sometimes the ABE website fails to reset. The link above works and the price is $40 + shipping.
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A quick question: I was under the impressions that William Stevenson’s book on “The Revolutionary King” was banned in Thailand. Yet, I saw three copies on sale at Kino. Was there no such ban?
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Srithanonchai: No, Stevenson’s book is not banned. I had always heard that bookstores would order it for a customer but were not stocking it, so I’m surprised to hear Kino has it on their shelves!
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There was never an official ban of Stevenson’s book, written as it was, with unprecedented Royal cooperation and access.
However, the book was also never officially acknowledged by the Palace.
At the time of its publication, booksellers were wary of carrying any book about the monarchy so The Revolutionary King fell through the cracks.
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Interesting subject.
There is video on YouTube since a few days, referring to the book – easily be found it “devil’s discus” is entered in the search field.
Since I checked in the internet about this subject I ask myself about the title: What could be the meaning of it?
Furthermore I found a link to the Khun Somsaks analysis from published on Nov. 03, 2007:
http://somsakwork.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-post.html
Is any English translation of this article available?
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Title: I found the explanation on Khun Somsaks blog:
http://somsakwork.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-post.html
“To confuse truth with lies or good with evil is to mistake the Devil’s lethal discus for the Buddha’s lotus.”
Siamese saying
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A friend is looking for The Devil’s Discus in Thai กงจักรปีศาจ.
If you have a copy to sell, please drop me an email.
Thanks.
CJ Hinke
facthaiATgmailDOTcom
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I’ve just received a brand new copy of The Devil’s Discus (Second Edition, English) from Asia Bookrooms in Canberra (www.asiabookroom.com), price AUD59.95+shipping.
When I rang them they had only 3 copies and I bought one of them.
Its printed by DMP Publications in HK and has a date on the very back page of 28 November 2009 so quite new.
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I am also looking a book called (not sure) ” A physician in the court of Siam” by (something) Smith.
Anyone knows of this book? please let me know, I’d like to own one.
Also, where can I get hold of ‘The Devil’s Discus” in Queensland, Australia?
Thanks.
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Smith, Malcolm. 1986. A Physician at the Court of Siam. Singapore: Oxford University Press. 164 pp. (first published by Country Life Ltd. 1957)
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Hi,
Can any one tell me where can I get the book “The Devil`s Discus” in Englisch version in Germany or in England?
Thanks.
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I have recently found a CIA manual called, “A Study of Assassination” in the appendices to a book about the murder of a CIA scientist titled, A Terrible Mistake.
The Web reference to this document at http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/ciaguat2.html lists an illegible entry in the “CLASSIFICATION”, the fourth section’s para four.
However, the book clarifies: “Following these definitions, the assassination of Julius Caesar was safe, simple, and terroristic, while that of Huey Long was lost, guarded and open. Obviously, successful secret assassinations are not recorded as assassination at all. King Ananda Mahidol of Thailand and Augustus Caesar may have been the victims of safe, guarded and secret assassination. Chase assassinations usually involve clandestine agents or members of criminal organizations.”
Of course, everyone knows that the pistol found with King Ananda was a gift from the OSS (predecessor of the CIA) station chief in Bangkok.
Fascinating that such a sinister document mentions the death of King Ananda!
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Are we any closer to a downloadable version in English?
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That book reference is available on several sites –
See http://openlibrary.org/books/OL2834277M/physician_at_the_court_of_Siam
http://arts.tu.ac.th/tuart/images/vijai/2549_pimpan.pdf
At Amazon…. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=A+Physician+at+the+Court+of+Siam&x=0&y=0&ih=1_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_1.1156_47&fsc=-1
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We should not forget that the main subject of the Devil’s Discus is an officially closed case. Three people were tried and three people were executed.
Despite ample indications of their innocence from the most unimpeachable sources, none of these three men, as far as I’m aware, has received an official pardon.
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Not sure they were pardoned, but I do recall – and for the life of me can’t find it – a statement some years ago about the palace acknowledging that these three were not the culprits and that their families had received some kind support from the palace. Anyone else know about this or has the reference?
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I would love to have some reference but have also given up on it.
I seriously doubt the possibility of the official pardon – that would be LM – the King cannot be wrong, and therefore those executed cannot be wrong too.
But it is rumored that the King’s Mother knew that the three were sacrificed so that the case can be closed and spent execution day meditating in her fav temple. It is also rumored that the three families have recieved (unofficial) support from the palace.
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I haven’t been here for a week or two, and missed this renewed discussion on this topic. Let me join in and clarify a few points of facts.
Khun Hinke #95
Of course, everyone knows that the pistol found with King Ananda was a gift from the OSS (predecessor of the CIA) station chief in Bangkok.
Actually, as far as I can remember, I don’t think that’s the case. (My books and documents are in a mess now and have no time to check, but I’m quite sure of this info). The pistol was originally part of the amunition that the Americans provided for the Free Thai movement (largely by air drops). It was presented to King Anan as a gift, a mememto, by Pridi, when the latter took the king for a ‘tour’ at a former Free Thai training camp (at Sattahip naval base). Pridi’s bodyguard, Watchachai Chai-sitthiwet, who the royalists accused of being the ‘assassin’, was also assigned to train the youg king (and presumably his brother) how to handle and use the gun.
Khun Thomas Hoy #98
none of these three men, as far as I’m aware, has received an official pardon.
The three convicts had submitted a petition for royal pardon, but it was rejected by HMK. Royalists please note (it’s important for me to emphasize this, because of the LM law), this is NOT my interpretation (let alone accusation); the official document of rejection, sent from the Royal Secretariat to the Cabinet, stated: “ความทราบฝ่าละอองธุลีพระบาทแล้ว โปรดเกล้าฯให้ยกเสีย” (roughly translated, “His Majesty has learned of the petition, and has graciouly ordered it void.” )
Khun Ralph Kramden #99
Not sure they were pardoned, but I do recall – and for the life of me can’t find it – a statement some years ago about the palace acknowledging that these three were not the culprits and that their families had received some kind support from the palace.
First, about the statment you refer to, I’m sure it’s actually an article by one of Pridi’s key supporters, Mr.Suphot Dantrakun. I don’t have it in my hand right now but have quite good memory of it. Mr. Suphot interprets certain statement by some royals (e.g. prince, or mom chao) who in turn, claims that certain gestures by HMK ‘indicated’ that HMK considered the three innocent. Mr.Suphot’s aim is clear: he wants to present Pridi as at once innocent of the regicide charge and a loyal subject. I have great repect for Mr.Suphot, but I totall disagree with his strategy of defending Pridi here.
More recently, we have Stevenson’s The Revolutionary King, in which he presents HMK as realizing the innocence of the three from the days of trial, and that HMK had intended to intervene in the last minute (presumably by grantin pardon), should the three get convicted. Stevenson claims that HMK was prevented from doing so by Police General Phao Sriyanon (Phibun’s right-hand man) who cunningly withheld the pettion for royal pardon of the three and rushing them to the firing squad without HMK’s knowledge. HMK was, writes Stevenson, ‘in silent rage’ because of this. But as the letter of the Royal Secretariat I cited above shows, this is definitely un-true. Where or whom Stevenson got this un-true story from, I don’t know.
A few years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the execution, I published an article (in Thai) in Faw Diew Kan magazine dealing with the whole issue surrounding the royal pardon as well as providing narrative of what happened on the day of the execution itself. You can read it online at my blog here:
http://somsakwork.blogspot.com/2006/06/blog-post.html
Now, about the rumored ‘support’ from the palace after the execution of the three, which Khun nuomi #100 also mentions:
It is also rumored that the three families have recieved (unofficial) support from the palace.
I can definitely say that the rumor is false. I have in my hand, a commemorative volume of the cremation of Khun Chuchua Singhaseni, wife of Chit Singhaseni, one of the three convicted. In the volume, there’s an interview with Khun Chuchau, five years before she died in 2006, conducted by one of her granddaughters. In this moving interview, Khun Chuchau recalled how the family had fallen into extreme difficulty socially and financially after her husband’s execution. (They had five daughters.) The family was helped by various relatives, and by Phibun, who ordeded his secretary to contact Khun Chuchau, telling her that the Field Marshal wanted to help because her husband “was dead [executed] for political reason” [ต้องตายเพราะการเมือง]. Phibun ordered a payment to the family of two-thusand baths each month. It’s not his own money; I presume he found some official channel for the payment. Khun Chuchau had to go to the government house on the first day of each month to sign and receive the money. Now, I’d suggest that Phibun had his own political reason to help the family I’m not saying he had no ‘altruistic’ motive; I simply cannot judge that. But politics certainly played a part. It was precisely at this time, that Phibun tried to contact Pridi, in exile in China, with a proposed pact against the so-called ‘Sakdina’ clique, by re-open the case of Anan’s death. The plan was cut short by Sarit’s coup of September 1957. I detailed this in my article too.
But apart from such help from Phibun and despite the interview repeatly discussing how HKM felt about the family (both Khun Chuchau and the interviewer tried to speculate whether HMK believed Chit quilty and so on), neither Khun Chuchau, nor the interviewer, nor other relatives presented during the interview mentioned any help from the palace whatsoever. In the context of the interview, they would have proudly cite such help if there was any.
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Thanks for the comments and information Aj. Somsak – especially on the funeral volume for Chuchua Singhaseni.
The comment I was referring to at 99 was, I seem to recall was in a handout that came with the Bangkok Post years ago. Now, my memory may be well off, but I will, if I ever locate it, and my memory was okay, scan and send to NM.
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Thank you Somsak Jeamteerasakul, that clears things up a lot.
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Aj. Somsak #101: Thanks for this illuminating post. re. the paper you link to on your blog: is there an English translation anywhere?
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/flash/june/siam46.htm
I am sure you’al ‘ave seen this but still it was an interesting little note to keep together with others…
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Michael #104
Sorry, no English translation of my article yet.
Re: Ralph Kramden #99 # 102
I’ve found the “source” of the rumor that the palace “acknowledged” the innocence of the three, or to be more precise, of Pridi himself (It’s the same thing, as the supposed quilt of the three was tied to Pridi: they were just Pridi’s “accomplice”). What I recalled from memory at #101 is quite close.
It’s a letter sent to Pridi, dated 10 April 1947 by mom chaoSupphasawat Sawatdiwat, half-brother of Queen Ramphai of Rama VII. As is well-known, Supphasawat was a Free Thai from the UK during the war, and although as member of the royal family, he previously was quite antagonistic towards Pridi and the People’s Party, he came to enormously admire Pridi as a great patriot, for the latter’s role as leader of the Free Thai. The prince henceforth always defended Pridi on issue of Anan’s death. The letter, written from England, seven months after Anan’s death, is basically Suphasawat’s attempt to soothe Pridi of any worry that the present king and his mother would blame the latter for Anan’s death or would even think that Pridi had something to do with it. Now, it’s crucial to remember that Suphasawat action on this issue throughout, had always been premised on his belief that the present King himself had nothing to do with his brother’s death either.
This was how Suphasawat assured Pridi that the present king and his mother didn’t suspect Pridi:
He told Pridi that, the fact that, just prior to the King and his mother’s departure for Swisszerland in late 1946, they had granted Pridi an audience, meant – for Suphasawat – that they both must have believed in Pridi’s innocence. Especially the case of the Princess Mother, which Suphasawat claimed, could have excused herself and not showed up for Pridi’s audience, had she believed Pridi quilty as the royalists already accused him. No mother would be able to pretend to face the person she believed murdered her son: that’s basically was Suphasawat’s logic.
Pridi’s followers, notably Suphot Dantrakun, had repeatedly published Supphasawat’s letter under a rather overstated title (hence the rumor) “พระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัวและสมเด็จพระราชชนนี ไม่ทรงเชื่อว่า ปรีดีฯ สมคบปลงพระชนม์ ร.8″ [His Majesty the King and the Princess Mother do not believe that Pridi conpired to murder King Rama VIII]. I’ve found a pdf file of one edition of such publication, that can be downloaded after registration, here
http://dcms.thailis.or.th/dcms/browse.php?option=show&browse_type=title&titleid=173682&display=list_subject&q=%C3%D1%AA%A1%D2%C5%B7%D5%E8%209,%202489-
Here is the picture of the cover of another edition (the title is slightly different “Prince Supphasawat says the King and Princess Mother do not believe Pridi conpired to muder Rama VIII”):
http://su-usedbook.tarad.com/shop/s/su-usedbook/img-lib/spd_20051207224409_b.jpg
P.S. I recently came across a document of the period, which indicates that , at the time Suphasawat wrote the letter (and presumably unknown to him), Pridi was ironically not worried the way Suphasawat tried to soothe him (i.e. whether the King and his mother suspected him), because he had different explanation from Supphasawat’s of the whole case. But that’s another story . . .
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Thanks for that information, Aj. Somsak and errinpurpose
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Thank you, Ajarn Somsak, for clarifying these important points. All of us have read something somewhere, can’t find it now and are tricked by the deviltry of memory.
I have just tried to access your blog page as mentioned and it tells me I must sign in. Will you be so kind as to accomplish that for me:
facthai
4freedom
Thanks, Ajarn.
Lastly, does any reader know where a copy of Chuchua’s funeral volume might be housed?
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Thanks again Ajarn Somsak. Fascinating stuff that you post here.
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Readers may be interested in this September 18 posting in Thai to Matichon Online. In it, Suphot Dantrakul’s son, Don, discusses the new Royal biography, One King Under the Constitution. It appears the book continues to smear Pridi for the Ananda “regicide conspiracy” and claims to contain “new evidence” on the Ananda death case. Don Dantrakul points out it’s just same same old, tired evidence.
ข้อโต้แย้งกรณีสวรรคตในหนังสือ เอกกษัตริย์ใต้รัฐธรรมนูญฯ
โดย ดอม ด่านตระกูล
http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1286090533&grpid=01&catid=
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Readers might also like this post and the link to pathologist Simpson’s chapter: http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/ananda-mahidols-death/
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There are several points which raised my interest in Simpsons book:
1) He described how strangly the payment had been given to him, in the night, without witnesses, somewhere in the dark streets of London, and receiving a silver cigarette box.
2) Starting reporting the case he explains a view which could be seen as prejustice, i.e. he already believed in a murder case, before hearing / seeing the details. (Explaining how many murder cases happened in Siam aristocracy for example.)
3) Simpson describes how the death occurred without giving a source of his information. And finally on page 175 he is judging based on hear saying.
4) The first professor for forensic medicine in UK did not take into consideration, that the dead body could relax and fall back into the position he was found. After he was very fast with his diagnosis and judgement, proofing he was the right man for to get the right opinion from, he got the visit of a colleague from Siam, and he tried to cement the theory during 9 days of intensive discussions.
5) First he shortly explains on page 176, that the prosecution claimed, that the pistol was laying outside the mosquito-net, while eye-witnesses said, that the pistol was inside the net.
6) He said, that the blood spots proofed, that the head was on the pillow while the king was shot and that the bullet also proofed that he had been shot while laying. But the pillow had been buried because too much blood was on it. And some days later the pillow had been again digged out of the earth. It was certainly not easy to use this evidence in this period of time. And further on the prsecution said, that the bullet had been placed into the mattress and not the original bullet. So how can this be used as evidence for the position of the head?
7) He later noted, that the procedure was long and full of delaying tactics. Which is another proof of prejudgement because he was so sure from the beginning.
8) At the end of his report he mentions, that his counterpart, Dr. Niyomson, who was certainly important for the prosecution to underpin their arguments, had been promoted to become the first forensic professor in Thailand (like he in the UK).
Sorry I not used the same words as native speaker, because I translated back from my book where I translated the arguments into German. And I was too lazy to go back to the sources.
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Re: Mark Teufel #112
also, Hinke #110
Actually, Simpson was ‘right’, in his book, to pinpoint ‘murder’ as the most likely cause of Ananda’s death. But to understand the real reason why Simpson, as well as the great majority of doctors who performed autopsy on the King’s body, opted for this cause, we have to look at the ‘premise’ or the framework on which they made their decision. I’ll explain this in a moment.
But, first, the new book by Wimonphan Pitathawathai (re:Hinke #110) which is now selling like hot cake, despite its very expensive price of 1500 bath (It’s first run of many hundreds copies had been sold out within two or three days, and is now unavaliable – even though it’s only sold at one place, the Chula Bookshop. The author whom I talked to by phone yesterday, told me that the book will come out fully only on the 25th of this month.) It claims to have ‘new evidence’ on the King’s death. But there’s really nothing ‘new’ about its ‘new evidence’, basically one or two telegrams and documents from British archieves that confirm that Pridi was not happy with the doctors’ opinion (of death by ‘murder’) and his government had tried to pressure the British authorities to prevent British doctors to air their opinion. This is noting ‘new’ because it’s been known for decades now that Pridi did try to do that. Wimonphan herself made much of this in a book she co-authored published in 1974. In fact the chapters on Ananda’s death in this new book of hers, are just recycled material (down to sentences, etc) of her 1974 book. That this new book sold fast only proves the power of modern media PR (it’s was lauched by former Bank of Thailand’s Governor, with a large number of high society personalities attending.)
So, let’s consider the reason why the doctors, including Simpson, saw ‘murder’ as the most likely cause.
There were four possibilities how Ananda was killed:
(1) He shot himself, unintentionally (“accident”)
(2) He shot himself, intentionally (“suicide”)
(3) Someone shot him, unintentionally (“accident”)
(4) Someone shot him, intentionally (“murder”)
Notice that “accident” enters twice. Now since day one, everybody knew at once what the third possibility meant: only his younger brother (the present King) could possibly have brought a gun so near the King’s head and accidently discharged it. For legal, political and cultural reasons (cultural because no one dared to think thus), this possibility could not be considered at all. Of course, the royalists including Wimonphan, claim that the brother had ‘an iron-clad alibi’ and therfore can be eliminated as suspect. (The word ‘iron-clad alibi’ was used by Prince Dhani, the presnet king’s privy councilor, when he visited Mountbatten in 1948, after the latter raised the issue of Ananda’s death and any possible involvement of the present king.) But this is not true. I won’t explain why here because it would make my already long post even much longer. I just want to point out that the elimination of this third possibility (which in effect implicated the present king) from any consideration was definitely not because the reason of the brother’s alibai.
With the elimination of the third possibility from any consideration, the likely causes of Anada’s death became just three, and usually written this way:
(1) “accident” (which only means “by himself”)
(2) “suicide” (this is of couse also self-inflicted)
(3) “murder”
And this was exactly how the doctors (including Simpon) who performed the autopsy framed their ‘findings’ (see the Simpson book for yourself).
Now with the elimination from consideration of the possibility that Ananda might have been shot by another person accidentally, any finding that pointed to his being shot by another person had only one opiton left to name, i.e. ‘murder’. What this means is that, ‘muder’ really stood for “shot by another person” period. NOTHING MORE.
This is the real explanation of Simpson’s and the majority of doctors’ opinion of ‘murder’
For what they took into consideration were (a) the position of the enter point of the bullet (left forehead over the brown – the king was right-handed); (b) the bullet trajectory (slightly from left to right, and downward, exit at the king’s nect); (c) the positioning of the king’s body (no sign of struggle, he lied down like sleep, his arms besides his body in ordinary manner). There were a few others factors but they were not as important.
These three basic facts together (which I elsewhere call ‘the physical conditions of the shooting’) virtually meant that the king could not possibly have shot himself, but almost certainly was shot by another person. But since the option for “being shot by another person” (or “somebody shot him”) in all the official inquries, including the doctors’ autopsy (and Simpson book), only had one name for it, i.e. “murder”, most of the inquires therefore inevitably concluded that the king was “murdered” – and quite ‘rightly’ so, if one considers the ‘physical conditions of the shooting’ and provided that we understnad the real meaning of the ‘muder’ category in this case as I argue here.
I have written a two-part article in Thai, explaining all these in details, along the way knocking down all the claims by the royalists and others concerning Ananda’s death. Anyone interested can downloaded the pdf file here
http://www.enlightened-jurists.com/page/134
Lastly, I must also point out that Kruger who suggested ‘suicide’ as the most likely cause was seriously wrong on one point of his theory. He said that it’s suicide with the King sitting up, and the must be sitting up because the bullet ‘missed the pillow’. But the bullet in fact didn’t ‘miss’ the pillow, it exit the king’s nect and entered and passed through the pillow and lodged inside the mattress below. Thus the king could not possibly be sitting up when the shot was fired. Kruger in fact wrote that had the bullet not ‘missed the pillow’, it would have meant that the king was lying down on his back, which in turn meant that “murder” (i.e. shot by another person) was the most likely cause.
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Thank you, Ajarn Somsak. Your posts are never too long to satisfy our thirst for your knowledge!
Would you please give us the name and publication details of Wimonphan Pitathawathai’s 1974 book?
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@Somsak 113
Does anyone discuss what I have heard repeatedly from Thai friends, that there was very serious tampering with evidence so as to make sure that Possibility #3 would be ruled out? Did Simpson and company comment on this?
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Khun Hinke #114
The book by Wimonphan and Sanchai Saengwichian MD published in 1974 was the one here
http://www.toulo.com/product/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=5468
It’s one of the two most important among the numerous books on Ananda’s death that suddenly came out in 1974; the other one was by Suphot Dantrakul, which was a direct response to Wimonphan-Sanchai book: http://www.su-usedbook.com/shop/s/su-usedbook/img-lib/spd_2010062622814_b.jpg
Suphot’s book has since been updated and republished many times, while Wimonphan-Sanchai’s has not, until Wimonphan’s new hot-selling book, which, as I said, recycled her and Sanchai’s 1974 book.
I discussed these two 1974 book by Suphot and Wimonphan-Sanchai in the article I referred to at #7
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2008/05/29/the-devils-discus-in-thai/#comment-462331
Khun Cliff Sloane #115
The elimination of the third possibility from any serious consideration of the case was done, as I said, from day one, without any need for evidence tampering. It was based on two testimonies, one by Bhumibol himself, the other – and this was crucial – by the two pages who sat in front of Ananda’s bedroom. All three testified that Bhumibol didn’t enter Anada’s bedroom. The two pages were of course themselves later convicted of allowing a gunman to enter the bedroom to kill Ananda. By testifying that Bhumibol didn’t enter the bedroom, the two pages in effect sealed their own fate. For if Ananda was killed by another person, as the physical conditions of the shooting pointed to, and if Bhumibol – “the third possibility” – didn’t enter the bedroom, that left only the possibility (#4) that someone else did, i.e. a gunman from outside.
But later on, the royalists, with the help of some doctors, came up with the issue of “missing gun”. Basically, they argued, with the support of dubious forensic test of Ananda’s gun and its bullet casing found at the scence (cf Teufel’s last sentence in point 6 above #112), that Ananda’s gun was in fact not the one that fired the fatal bullet, nor the bullet casing found the one that entered Ananda’s head. This “missing gun” theory (if it’s true) implied that it must be someone else outside who came to kill Anada with his own gun, not the one found at the scence. Hence Bhumibol was further eliminated as suspected (for had he committed the act, he would have used Ananda’s gun found at the scence).
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P.S. Wimonphan-Sanchai 1974 book, though never reprinted, has since been a kind of ‘prototype’ book on Ananda’s death for the royalists. Virtually, all books about the case by royalists that have been published subsequently (including several titles these past years) are based on it, usually copying or paraphrasing sentences or paragraphs of Wimonphan-Sanchai’s.
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The Devil’s Discus in Thai-กงจักรปีศาจ-for sale again
Mindful readers of this thread may remember that photocopies of กงจักรปีศาจ were for sale at Sondhi Limthongkul’s pre-PAD Lumpini Park rallies.
However, we have recently seen very handsome perfect-bound reprints of กงจักรปีศาจ with black cover. The covers have been reset and the pages clear and legible. The only change appears to be the addition of a date at the bottom of the book’s spine: 2489. This, of course, is not the date of publication but the year of King Ananda’s death: 1946.
กงจักรปีศาจ was first printed by the Thammasat University Political Science Students in 1974. Although The Devil’s Discus in English had been banned from its first printing in 1964, กงจักรปีศาจ was not banned until May 31, 2006, 32 years after it was published. The coup govt used the 1941 Printing Act’s Article 9 to ban the book from being sold or given away.
It appears no one has been arrested over the ban of กงจักรปีศาจ, however, it is unclear whether its possession is a crime under the coup’s 2007 Printing Act.
The new book may be print-on-demand. Would love to know more!
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In the wake of the official ban of Ajarn Ji’s new book, we were fortunate to interview FACT signer Prudence Leith, OBE, CBE, celebrity chef and Rayne Kruger’s widow.
Rayne Kruger essentially blundered into lèse majesté territory.
Prue’s story adds some fascinating anecdotes and some tantalising suggestions.
http://facthai.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/factexclusive-…devil’s-discus/
As to the identity of the mystery Royal, we do not wish to see her revealed in print, even after all these years, but are curious if she is still alive. Ajarn Somsak?
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Khun Hinke krab,
The link you gave isn’t working.
It leads me to “Not Found
Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn’t here.”
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The link is
http://facthai.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/factexclusive-prudence-leith-and-the-devil%e2%80%99s-discus/
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Thanks khun Srithanonchai.
Khun Hinke krab,
May I ask a rather mundane, silly question: How is “Rayne” correctly pronounced? (Or, better still, rendered in Thai: เรเน, เร, เรน ?)
Regarding the mysterious royal lady who helped Kruger research the book, may I say that I’m a bit skeptical? I believe that what’s Kruger told Miss Prudence Leith. But the story feels a bit too “romantic” to be true. Besides, given the complexity of the material pertaining to the case, I’m not sure that someone not associated with the case in some way, say, having connection with the defense lawyers’ team, could have help a non-Thai speaker like Kruger.
I remember vaguely that Khun Paul Handley said something to the effect here that he was told that Prince Supphasawat helped facilitate the writing of the book? My apology to Khun Handley, if I’m mistaken.
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It’s a fascinating anecdote, esp along with the burning printing house!
Rayne is pronounced as ‘rain’.
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Thanks Khun Hinke,
I’ve introduced your interview with Ms.Leith to readers of my facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=149391278447493&set=a.137616112958343.44289.100001298657012
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I have just noticed that three scans of กงจักรปีศาจ are available on Scribd for reading or download:
http://www.scribd.com/collections/2496420/The-Devil-s-Discus, http://www.scribd.com/collections/2801432/หนังสือหายาก, and http://www.scribd.com/collections/2690652/หนังสือหายาก.
Thank you to mysterious uploaders!
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Is anyone working on retyping the book into Word format? This kind of work is a bit slow for non-natives…
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There is an e-book available with German-English-Thai Versions (total 1273 pages), and additional information:
The net income (price = about 75 Baht less internet service) will be donated to help less known political prisoners.
http://www.xinxii.com/der-tod-des-knigs-von-siam-p-323703.html?language=en¤cy=USD
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That link takes me to a German-only 99 page version without further links.
Any idea how to find the English?
Thanks.
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Frank, may be you found the fast to download small size preview file.
This download can be made from one of the time limited free download services:
https://www.yousendit.com/dl?phi_action=app/orchestrateDownload&rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.yousendit.com%252Ftransfer.php%253Faction%253Dbatch_download%2526batch_id%253DbFlHak96TSs4aU94dnc9PQ
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yo Frank G Anderson
I heard that you are a victim of lese majeste charges! Is this true? Where can we get details?
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No, and yes.
Was a victim. Back in 2005 a local female radio personality accused me on the air of lese majeste and actually filed charges with police. the usual investigation went on, nothing was discovered so nothing was ever done to me. subsequently, this last year, the same personality herself was convicted for three years of lese majeste offense. I am not shedding tears on that.
As to what kind of problems I do have, Akbar Khan and his police col. friend Wattanasak have filed criminal defamation charges against me for something Khan told police he saw on my website back in December 2008. High-level police at the station they filed charges tell me that Wattanasak’s English is not good enough for him to understand what he supposedly was offended by and that he was being urged on by someone else. Of course, I am not making any accusations or saying anything directly, just reporting what I was told. My main contention in return for the fraudulent allegations is to file my own criminal charges against the two, which I did, as per sections 137, 172 and 179 of the Criminal Code – all to do with filing fraudulent allegations with authorities. So far my complaints have been recognized officially by the Office of the Prime Minister, and I have recently filed a complaint with the DSI – headed by the Ministry of Justice. As well, I have spoken with the national Attorney General’s office. My contention is that if you are being defamed, or feel you are, your first responsibility is to contact the source and get the material looked at, edited or removed, but not to ignore taking real action instead of slithering over to the police to try to get the offender imprisoned in a back-stabbing ungentlemanly and cowardly gesture.
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Khun Anderson,
…this last year, the same personality herself was convicted for three years of lese majeste offense.
Is this the personality you refer to? I’m just curious, and not a little surprised.
http://www.manager.co.th/Local/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9530000177068
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Strange, I wonder what the offending comments might have been – were they defamatory? Has the issue been resolved yet? Do you need a lawyer
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Apparently they were not offending enough to warrant notice to me to edit or remove the comments. This is the crux of my argument to the police – useless – that they should have dismissed the complaint up front because it is either defamatory or not, and if so, then the offended parties had a primary responsibility to notify me when they saw the comments and demand or request editing, etc. Instead as police tell me Khan filed within 24 hours of seeing them and Wattanasak filed about three months later because he was “busy.” In either case, the subsequent investigations went on for over a year without anyone so notifying me. Even an imbecile should be able to sort out the incongruity – but police seem to have ignored this point as seemingly have the two complainers. In addition to this, the prosecutor seems to have been pleased to hear me admit to posting material online although he has never shown me what material it was. The sheer lack of standards, logic, appropriate investigation and presence of malice and fraud is disappointing in the extreme. No wonder they will never find out the truth about Somchai Neelaphaijit. A criminal justice system that begins with injustice can never…ever produce a meaningful level of justice. I am ot opposed to the proposal that The Royal Thai Police need to be reorganized, first put under the Justice Ministry, but also broken up into provincial units and the national organization disbanded. It would also not hurt to have the multitude of unjust cases they have pursued investigated and officers brought to task for what they have or have not done. But we merely dream…
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still dont know what the comments were about so I cannot say whether they were defamatory or not. Usually if they are not defamatory the case will not be forwarded to a prosecutor unless there is something fishy. I presume you must have a good lawyer already. Have you tried contacting Watanasak? I interviewed him a couple of years ago for an article and he seemed very friendly and intelligent unlike most officers – I reckon a simple chat would end the matter peacefully.
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I would just like to show appreciation and gratitude to all that contributed to this intellectual construction(the post); as I am a Thai aspiring for truth these comments and the scrutiny of the historical context are vital mental nourishments. I have not yet acquired the ability to contribute towards what I aspire, but I figured I should show the people who do some recognition. Ajarn Somsak ขอบคุณครับ
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New Mandala and FACT as well, please continue with your endeavors for truth
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Reference to Frank G Anderson , post #126
I have a copy of The Devil’s Discus (English version) in microsoft word format, that I have painstakingly reproduced. Currently it does not include the illustrations although I am working on that. It also has a hyperlinked index – click on the page number in the index section to go straight to that page. Although this is quite a large file I am willing to email it to anyone who wants a copy.
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Steve:
That is exactly what I was referring to. Might you contact me directly at raybradburyfan@yahoo.com, if possible, to advise how I might “obtain” the very helpful material you produced? As well, does anyone have any idea whether a Thai language Word version exists?
Many thanks to all…
Frank
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Could you send me a copy too please Steve. Thanks in advance.
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Reference to post #138
If anybody wishes a copy of The Devil’s Discus (English version) in microsoft word format, please just contact me.
thehouse30AThotmailDOTcom
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A .DOC file of The Devil’s Discus will be available for a limited time here:
URL: http://www.sendspace.com/file/o4qqrq
Password: discus
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Reference to post #142
It has been brought to my attention that my word version of The Devil’s Discus is missing the photographs on pages facing 114 and 115. I have now corrected this and uploaded the revised file. It can be found here:
URL: http://www.sendspace.com/file/00pv4p
password: discus
I have also converted it into a PDF file for anyone who cannot open microsoft word files. Unfortunately I do not possess the know-how to keep the hyperlinks in the PDF file, but the PDF version can be downloaded from here:
URL: http://www.sendspace.com/file/5q7qk6
password: discus
Both versions will only be available to download for a limited time, but if in the future anyone wants a copy just email me.
Steve
thehouse30AThotmailDOTcom
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Many thanks to NM regular Doug for his help and advice in producing a PDF version of The devils Discus retaining all the hyperlinks. It can be found here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/jujat4
password: discus
Steve
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Thai readers should note that there are now two new paperback print editions of กงจักรปีศาจ.
The first, published in 2010, on which I have reported here previously, is a faithful reprint of the original black-covered first edition with white lettering with author attribution on its spine. The only change appeared to be the addition of a date at the bottom of the book’s spine: 2489. This, of course, is not the date of publication but the year of King Ananda’s death: 1946. The original publishing group of political science students at Thammasat University is noted on the rear cover.
The second reprint has a redesigned cover. The book is in slightly larger format. The title on the spine is in orange letters with no author attribution. The cover is glossy and the rear cover blank. Its first page is a photo-reproduction of the front dust wrapper of the first edition copy of The Devil’s Discus in English.
It is most interesting that we are now seeing two print copies of a Thai book officially banned by the military coup govt in 2006. To sell, distribute or even give away is a criminal act under the military coup-promulgated Printing Act 2007. The Thai translation was originally banned using Article 9 of the 1941 Printing Act.
Simple personal possession of banned books appears not to be criminal. Of course, we have no indication the either book’s publisher or their motivations in taking such great risk.
Both books are widely available and circulated at many book venues although, of course, not sold in bookstores.
Needless to say, the first 16 pages of both reprints are missing nor have we ever found them in first editions. I’ll pay handsomely for scans of those first 16! We love a mystery.
The gunshot death of King Ananda is the most notable suppressed history in Thailand. This seminal event is not taught even to undergraduate history majors or to graduate students of Thai history. King Ananda’s death remains the great unmentioned.
In my opinion, it is the principal failure of the ninth reign that the young King Bhumibol did not extend a Royal pardon or at least commute the sentences of the three Palace servants executed in 1955, or even reopen an extensive and independent new investigation into the case.
The new king had then ascended the throne for nine years. Due to the political implications of his brother’s death case, the king must have been under extreme pressure not to act. We must all consider who might have exerted that pressure.
Ananda’s death changed the political landscape of Thailand irrevocably. Pibulsongkram ensured the ascendancy of the military and Pridi died in exile.
We are all still suffering the consequences.
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CJ (re comment 145): I assume you asked Prudence Leith (Rayne Kruger’s widow) if she has those missing 16 pages?
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Not that simple! I have, of course, meticulously compared the Thai to the English only to find…nothing missing! Which means that the 16 were unique to the Thai edition.
Maybe the missing 16 were so radical the students thought better of distributing them. Or perhaps some moral crusader took the high ground. Or perhaps a printer said, no way.
The missing 16 add to the mystery surrounding this book from its beginnings.
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Somsak # 113 :
re -
“For legal, political and cultural reasons (cultural because no one dared to think thus)”
I have to disagree against your statement “no one dared to think this”. I’ve visited Thailand since 1963, and have found many Thais willing to indicate this – although very quietly indeed.
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Readers here should be aware that one of our own, Ajarn Somsak Jeamteerasakul, has been accused, not charged with, lese majeste. Aj. Somsak spoke at length before a seminar against the lese majeste laws at Thammasat U on December 10. I myself became of the 112 charter signers. A press conference is being held today in his defence.
http://www.prachatai3.info/english/node/2436
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/04/24/national/Shock-cver-lese-majeste-charge-against-Thammasat-h-30153798.html
Who’s next?
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Somsak Jeamteerasakul, Thailand needs more than anything right now, courage. Man stands strongest when he stands alone. Your time has come…
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The problem we are seeing, including the bullying of Professor Somsak, is not in the misuse of the LM law, but rather in having an LM at all. Looking around the world, one has to come to the conclusion that LM laws are past their sell-by dates. There are other ways of protecting individuals from wrongful libels and slanders, including possibly privacy laws.
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MaratJP 150
First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
- Pastor Martin Niemoller
Martin Niemöller was a German pastor and theologian. Niemöller was an anti-Communist and supported Hitler’s rise to power at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. Unlike Niemöller, they gave in to the Nazis’ threats. In 1937 he was arrested and eventually confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. His crime was “not being enthusiastic enough about the Nazi movement.”
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Royalists here will never be guilty of the crime of lacking enthusiasm. Strange in a country where “deemed” seems to be the standard of measuring guilt and innocence.
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Readers of this thread may be interested to learn that FACT is calling for a fresh investigation into the death of King Ananda.
FACTorial: Thailand’s censorship revising our history
FACT calls for reopening the King Ananda death case
March 12, 2012
https://facthai.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/factorial-thailands-censorship-revising-our-history/
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Just an addendum: I’ve read an original English copy in the UCLA’s Powell Library 30 years ago. This would be a really rare copy if it’s still existed.
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