The King Never Smiles

Download or read book The King Never Smiles written by Paul M. Handley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, the only king ever born in the United States, came to the throne of his country in 1946 and is now the world's longest-serving monarch. This book tells the unexpected story of his life and 60-year rule: how a Western-raised boy came to be seen by his people as a living Buddha; and how a king widely seen as beneficent and apolitical could in fact be so deeply political, autocratic, and even brutal. Paul Handley provides an extensively researched, factual account of the king's youth and personal development, ascent to the throne, skilful political maneuverings, and attempt to shape Thailand as a Buddhist kingdom. Blasting apart the widely accepted image of the king as egalitarian and virtuous, Handley convincingly portrays an anti-democratic monarch who, together with allies in big business and the corrupt Thai military, has protected a centuries-old, barely-modified feudal dynasty. When at nineteen Bhumibol assumed the throne after the still-unsolved shooting of his brother, the Thai monarchy had been stripped of power and prestige. Over the ensuing decades, Bhumibol became the paramount political actor in the kingdom, crushing critics while attaining high status among his people. The book details this process and depicts Thailand's unique constitutional monarch in the full light of the facts.

Download or read book A Kingdom in Crisis written by Andrew MacGregor Marshall and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Perhaps the best introduction yet to the roots of Thailand's present political impasse. A brilliant book.' Simon Long, The Economist Struggling to emerge from a despotic past, and convulsed by an intractable conflict that will determine its future, Thailand stands at a defining moment in its history. Scores have been killed on the streets of Bangkok. Freedom of speech is routinely denied. Democracy appears increasingly distant. And many Thais fear that the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is expected to unleash even greater instability. Yet in spite of the impact of the crisis, and the extraordinary importance of the royal succession, they have never been comprehensively analysed – until now. Breaking Thailand's draconian lèse majesté law, Andrew MacGregor Marshall is one of the only journalists covering contemporary Thailand to tell the whole story. Marshall provides a comprehensive explanation that for the first time makes sense of the crisis, revealing the unacknowledged succession conflict that has become entangled with the struggle for democracy in Thailand.

Download or read book King Bhumibol Adulyadej written by Nicholas Grossman and published by Editions Didier Millet. This book was released on 2011 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book King of Bangkok written by Claudio Sopranzetti and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The English translation of this best-selling graphic novel tells the story of Nok, an old blind man who sells lottery tickets in Bangkok, as he decides to leave the city and return to his native village. Through reflections on contemporary Bangkok and flashbacks to his past, Nok reconstructs a journey through the slums of migrant workers, the rice fields of Isaan, the tourist villages of Ko Pha Ngan, and the Red Shirt protests of 2010. Based on a decade of anthropological research, The King of Bangkok is a story of migration to the city, distant families in the countryside, economic development eroding the land, and violent political protest. Ultimately, it is a story about contemporary Thailand and how the waves of history lift, engulf, and crash against ordinary people.

Download or read book Coup, King, Crisis written by Charles F. Keyes and published by . This book was released on 2020-11-23 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The prospects of the inevitable end of the Bhumibol era loomed large over 21st century Thailand. Events have now taken their course, and King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been crowned. The new King is beginning to make his presence felt, but in important ways Thailand is still in an interregnum: a time when the old order is dying but a new one struggles to be born. The prospects of the inevitable end of the Bhumibol era loomed large over 21st century Thailand. Events have now taken their course, and King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been crowned. The new King is beginning to make his presence felt, but in important ways Thailand is still in an interregnum: a time when the old order is dying but a new one struggles to be born. This volume examines the royal transition in Thailand, from the 2014 coup through to the 2017 Constitution and the 2019 election. The royal transition sparked a crisis that pressured important institutions of the nation, from the politicized judiciary to the troubled Sanga or priesthood. The period of waiting has influenced all aspects of Thai governance, from foreign policy to economic management, to human rights and the spread of self-censorship. This volume, which brings together some of the leading writers on Thailand, is the first book-length analysis of this deep transition.

Download or read book A King's Ransom written by Sharon Kay Penman and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-03-04 with total page 706 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharon Kay Penman follows up her acclaimed novel Lionheart with this vivid and heart-wrenching New York Times bestseller about the last event-filled years in the life of Richard I of England, Coeur de Lion. November 1192. After his bloody crusade in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Richard and his crew are overcome by a sudden storm, its fierce winds propelling the ship onto the Sicilian shore. But this misfortune is just the beginning. Forced to make a dangerous choice, Richard finds himself in enemy territory, where he is captured—in violation of the papal decree protecting all crusaders—and handed over to the Holy Roman Emperor. Imprisoned in the notorious fortress at Trifels, from which few ever leave alive, Richard, for the first time in his life, experiences pure, visceral fear—while his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, moves heaven and earth to secure his release. Amid betrayals, intrigues, infidelities, wars, and illness, Richard’s courage and intelligence will become legend.

Download or read book A Good True Thai written by Sunisa Manning and published by Epigram Books. This book was released on 2020 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1970s Thailand, three young people meet each other with fateful results. Det has just lost his mother, the granddaughter of a king. He clings to his best friend Chang, a smart boy from the slums, as they go to college; while there, Det falls for Lek, a Chinese immigrant with radical ideals. Longing for glory, Det journeys into his friends’ political circles, and then into the Thai jungle to fight. During Thailand’s most famous period of political and artistic openness, these three friends must reconcile their deep feelings for one another with the realities of perilous political revolution.