History is not one of my favourite subjects. I don’t like it at all — and I have no ambitions to be a great King, and go down in history. When great Kings reign, Mr Davis, there are invariably wars during their lifetime — and I want people to be happy and free of war during my reign…
- Quotation attributed to King Bhumibol Adulyadej by royal photographer Reginald Davis (1981), The Royal Family of Thailand, London: Nicholas Publications, p. 31.
This comment was apparently made some time in the mid-1960s, “at a royal banquet given in [Reginald Davis'] honour at the Grand Palace in Bangkok”. On that occasion King Bhumibol and Davis “talked about [Bhumibol's] other interests — photography, and philosophy, and keeping fit”.
As an aside, if you can find a copy of Davis’ book it includes some 102 pictures of the Thai royal family of a personal type that I have rarely seen, including some of Queen Sirikit with Empress Farah of Iran in 1968 and of the 2nd birthday party for Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn’s eldest daughter. The photographs were taken by Davis from 1961 to 1980. The most recent pictures are of Princess Bajrakitiyabha, and her parents, when she was still a toddler.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Peace Pipe // Apr 25, 2009 at 2:48 am
a gentle man, with a loving family.
2 Frank G Anderson // Apr 25, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Both Ebay and Amazon have it available, but it’s $97 bottom.
3 Susie Wong // Apr 26, 2009 at 10:29 am
What are the moral responsibilities of a scholar in this context?
When academics’ responsibility is to think, one should embrace the fact that it entails a set of practices that allows for thinking to flourish. Our information about Phumipon differs substantially from the past. We now have more accurate information about Phumipon. Is it time to inquire about what went wrong with the past research methodology? History and politics go hand in hand. We cannot explain the current events in an ahistorical manner; the present moment has its own historical dynamics.
I would like to pose research questions to historians and political scientists who possess both intellectual range and specialized competence, as to why has democratization in Thailand proved so difficult, which are the main actors and forces involved? And how have memory and psychological factor of the past played a role in the preference of the subject of history?
4 Frank G Anderson // Apr 26, 2009 at 11:54 am
Susie:
Your substandard spelling of the king’s name must be corrected.
Secondly, there is a wide space between scholars and academics, as are the number and variety of conclusions that even world level experts present to us form time to time. the Big Bang and Evolution theories, for example, are sewed as truth when that has not been established. As to explaining why Thailand has failed in his historical pursuit of governance, first you must recognized that power brokers and others have generally not pursued the path toward democratization. Far from it, most efforts in Thailand have been to preserve the status quo or to stifle dissent and carry on the tradition of icon worship of both religious and royal subjects. It is no secret. If you want an explanation of why Thailand is not democratic and why it more often seems to be oppressive and even dictatorial, you do not need to skip over historical writings – just stay away from those produced by Thais with vested interests. Many Thai scholars or academics, are, in fact, so imbued with the concept of self-knowledge and ignorance on the part of others that they feel no need to seek truth and knowledge. To them, they already possess it.
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