A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej

By Paul M Handley

I read this book avidly hoping for something new and exciting to emerge, granted, I do have a rather unhealthy appetite for gossip and scandal but I got very little that was new and even less that was exciting.What I did get was a new look at an old monarch, Rama IX, Bhumipol Adulyadej, ninth king of the Chakri dynasty, the worlds longest serving monarch.

I moved to Thailand in 1991 after living in Hong Kong for 12 years, during that time I became a frequent visitor to Thailand and a great lover of its culture and cuisine. I finally moved back to the UK in 2005 and I wonder if I would dare to write a review of this book if I were still there.

One of the first things you notice when you visit Thailand is the awe and reverence the Thais have for their king, it goes beyond mere respect, it’s almost worship and in a way it’s rather unhealthy.

Granted Bhumipol has done a lot for his country and I have a healthy respect for him as I am in no doubt at all that without him Thailand would be a real dump, like its neighbours, Laos, Cambodia and Burma.However as I read this book it gradually emerged that Bhumipol is not just driven by philanthropy, he is driven by a desire to manipulate and control consequently he has held back the cause of democracy in Thailand.

It is very difficult as a resident of Bangkok, to be able to sort out fact from fiction sometimes, as the palace PR machine is a very big well oiled creature, constantly on the go spinning a web of jewelled deceit to cover the machinations of the king as he interferes with the government.I would recommend reading this book in conjunction with The Revolutionary King: The True-life Sequel to "The King and I" (Paperback)
by William Stevenson, which as Mr Handley points out is sanctioned by Bhumipol himself and consequently reads a little bit like a hagiography.

My biggest disappointment with The King Never Smiles is that it does not go far enough in exposing the behaviour of other members of the Thai Royal family, who my friends refer to as “The Adams family”.

Let’s take HRH The Crown Prince, Vajiralongkorn, widely regarded as no better than a common gangster and a serial adulterer. I was surprised to see no mention of his dealings with Harrods boss Mohammed “El” Fayed, there were lots of rumours going round in the mid nineties and it’s a fact that suddenly lots of Harrods duty free shops sprang up at the airport and just as suddenly disappeared when relations between the two men soured.

Then there’s The Kings eldest daughter Princess Ubolratana (call me Julie) Jensen, who married an American and lived as a housewife and devoted Mother in the States for many years. The way her life is reported in Thai magazines and newspapers is like a modern fairytale, since her divorce and return to Thailand she is treated as a full royal despite having been stripped of her title and position when she married “out”. It’s a well known fact that whatever “Julie” wants “Julie” gets, an oft quoted story (some say an urban legend) among Bangkok’s upper echelon expatriates relates how she had a Mercedes sports car gift wrapped as a present for one of her boyfriends, the then GM of The Oriental Hotel. Of course this was years ago before she became a devoted mother.

The book does devote a little more space to the youngest daughter Chulabhorn, little more than a spoiled brat but like her siblings a nasty piece of work if even half the gossip is true.It is obvious that Mr Handley didn’t set out to write sensationalized News of The World type of exposé of The Thai Royals, his comments are very restrained but even so they paint a picture of a very dysfunctional family whose extravagances match those of The Marcos’s in The Philippines.

I did enjoy reading it as it does provide a unique insight into the workings of The Kings mind; I strongly recommend it to anyone who is contemplating doing business in Thailand.

I could go on relating anecdotes about Bhumipol and his family, I’m sure I could fill a book but I’ll leave that to someone else as I rather fancy returning to Thailand someday.