[Tlc] Write up of Keyes' Article

[maureen hickey]

Hi Justin,

Here is a blog post commenting on Biff Keyes recent piece in the BP in  
New Mandala.

http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2009/04/30/another-side-of-thai-political-life/

Best,
Maureen

Maureen Hickey-Putnam
Department of Geography
University of Washington
Seattle, WA USA
mhhp at u.washington.edu

Another side of Thai political life
April 30th, 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly · 5 Comments

Last week Charles Keyes, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and  
International Studies at the University of Washington, penned a  
thought-provoking article on “how pervasive magic has become in Thai  
politics”.  Keyes describes the use of ritual, “black magic” and  
astrological insights by many of the players in the current political  
crisis.  He highlights the links between these practices and the  
colour-coded street mobs that have come to indicate deeply-felt  
divisions in Thai society.  The lack of popular legitimacy accruing to  
the current constitution is, Keyes suggests, a big part of the  
problem.  In his important conclusion, Keyes points out that  
“[w]ithout an agreed on set of new rules for politics in Thailand,  
magic, mob psychology and millennialist movements will continue to  
perpetuate the political crisis”.

In his article, Keyes points to Thaksin Shinawatra, General Sonthi  
Boonyaratkalin, Sondhi Limthongkul, Newin Chidchob and other political  
leaders as practitioners of various forms of magic.  The “Khmer  
voodoo” so beloved of old New Mandala commentator Vichai N. has  
regularly received an airing in this context.  Readers looking for a  
taste of the way that issues at the intersection of politics and the  
supernatural played out during the dramatic period around the coup of  
2006 will find these New Mandala posts (and comments) interesting: 13  
September, 5 November and 9 November.

Searching for information on other matters, I was recently trawling  
through America’s National Archives and stumbled upon a 3 December  
1973 dispatch from the United States Embassy in Bangkok to the  
Secretary of State in Washington, and the American Embassy in  
Canberra.  Signed by the American Ambassador to Thailand, William R.  
Kintner (1973-1975), it reads:

1. A CONFIDANT OF THE KING TOLD THE DCM [Deputy Chief of Mission] LATE  
DECEMBER 3 THAT THE KING HAD CANCELLED ALL HIS BIRTHDAY FESTIVITIES  
AND WAS DEPARTING PRECIIPITOUSLY FOR A REMOTE IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT  
REST HOUSE IN KANCHANABURI PROVINCE. THE ROYAL DOMESTIC STAFF WAS  
SCRAMBLING TO SET THE PLACE IN ORDER. KANCHANABURI IS THE OUTBACK OF  
WEST THAILAND.

2. THE SAME INFORMANT MENTIONED THAT HIS MAJESTY’S PRINCIPAL PRIVATE  
SECRETARY HAD LEFT ABRUPTLY FOR AUSTRALIA. THE CROWN PRINCE IS  
STUDYING THERE, AND HAD PLANNED A TRIP TO THAILAND FOR HIS FATHER’S  
BIRTHDAY.

3. WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING AT THIS JUNCTURE WHETHER THE KING’S  
ASTOLOGERS, IF HE CONSULTS THEM, HAVE ADVISED HIM TO GET OUT OF TOWN,  
OR WHETHER SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS IS BREWING. IF THE THAI MILITARY ARE  
PLANNING TO FIX SOME ORDER AMID THE CURRENT RASH OF LABOR STRIKES AND  
STUDENT STRIDENCY, THEY WOULD MOST LIKELY INFORM THE KING IN ADVANCE  
AND RECEIVE HIS BLESSING. ON THE OTHER HAND, HIS MAJESTY, GIVEN THE  
MIASMA OF RUMORS CURRENTLY FLOATING IN THE BANGKOK ATMOSPHERE, MAY  
JUST BE EXERCISING UNUSUAL PRUDENCE.

4. COME DAWN, WE’LL CONSULT MORE TRADITIONAL SOURCES THAN THE CRYSTAL  
BALL FOR A CLEARER READING, AND INFORM WASHINGTON.

KINTNER

Writing of the same general period, King Bhumibol’s unofficial  
biography, Paul Handley, notes that “[t]hroughout the 1970s crisis  
[Bhumibol] unfailingly performed the religious rituals of the office,  
tweaking them to suit his views.  He visited monks known for magic and  
supernatural powers and still followed a daily schedule advised by  
royal astrologers…he sometimes explained the world in terms of cosmic  
and astrological forces” (p. 353).

In his Bangkok Post article Keyes has provided a useful overview of  
the role of magic, of various sorts, as used by Thai politicians in  
their quests for power.  But can we assume that astrologers and  
similar advisors continue to play a major role in the life of the  
palace?  With all of the assumptions and assertions about the role of  
the palace in recent political events is it worth considering how  
ritual, magic and astrology inform decision-making at the highest  
levels?

Thoughts and comments from readers are very welcome here.  As an  
aside, I also wonder whether the current American Ambassador in  
Bangkok would ever speculate on consultations with the “king’s  
astrologers” in his official communications.  As somebody writing  
about his now archived predecessor put it, “[William R.] Kintner’s  
embassy in Thailand (1973-75) proved controversial…He was too bluntly  
honest, especially with his own government”.



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