As Ever, the Last Word in Thailand

For several minutes each evening, the stations broadcast nearly identical footage, sometimes depicting the king in white uniform officiating from his gold throne at palace ceremonies, sometimes showing loyal subjects prostrating themselves before the monarch and his family, offering gifts and other tribute in ornate gold bowls.

These rites date to an absolute monarchy that fell to a bloodless military coup in 1932. Fourteen years later, Bhumibol, then studying science in college in Switzerland, was called upon to reign as a constitutional monarch.

He abruptly switched his studies to law and political science before sailing home to Bangkok. But he did not abandon his passions. The king remains an avid photographer, and the royal portraits that hang outside government buildings and behind store counters often portray him with a camera around his neck. He is also an accomplished composer and jazz saxophonist who has jammed with the likes of Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton.

To Thais, he is known as the father of development. He has launched, by official count, almost 3,000 social welfare projects, in such areas as irrigation, agronomy, forestry, fishing and health. People lovingly hang his portrait in their homes and rise to honor him at the start of every movie, as his image appears on the screen and the royal anthem plays.

"I'm afraid one day I won't be able to see the king anymore," whispered a tall, 50-year-old woman with long hair who turned out in the tropical heat to watch the motorcade. She said she tried to attend every one of his public appearances. "He's getting old. This year he'll be 79. He doesn't smile much any more."

In a country with a freewheeling press and spirited debate, few people dare to publicly contradict the king, fearing police attention.

Charges of lèse-majesté, or insulting the dignity of the monarch, have been leveled repeatedly in recent months against protagonists in the current political struggle. A complaint was filed against the chairman of the national election commission on grounds that he defended the April vote after the king suggested it be nullified as undemocratic. Police have filed similar charges against protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul for remarks he made at a March demonstration. Sondhi has said he was misquoted.

When a campaign of largely peaceful protests began last year against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over allegations of corruption, many demonstrators looked to their sovereign. They waved banners in yellow, the royal color, and donned caps that declared, "We Love the King." Some protest leaders called on him to appoint a new prime minister to oversee constitutional reforms.

"We want Thaksin to start showing proper respect for our king. We want the king to save us," said Taveesak, a garment exporter.

The efforts to wrap the anti-Thaksin campaign in yellow were not appreciated by senior officials in the palace, according to Thai and longtime resident Western observers who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of discussing the king. The king, according to sources close to the palace, feels ill at ease with his role as political backstop. He is reluctant to act unless he is guaranteed to succeed.

But the palace was at the same time growing weary of Thaksin's autocratic administration. Some influential members of the king's privy council telegraphed through statements and actions that they thought it was time for the prime minister to quit, the longtime observers said.

To defuse the street campaign, Thaksin called snap elections for early April. But the main opposition parties boycotted the polls. Though Thaksin's party again won a big majority in parliament, the body could not legally convene because several dozen seats remained vacant.

Two days after the election, the prime minister paid a private visit to the king at his beachfront Klaikangwon Palace to give notice he intended to step aside. During the royal audience, the king said little, commenting only that the political situation was confused, according to the Thai and resident Western sources. When Thaksin said he was planning to resign, the king simply nodded.

But with the parliament still unable to meet, Thaksin was powerless to turn his formal duties over to a successor. A second round of voting failed to fill all the vacancies and end the stalemate. Exasperated, the king spoke out on April 25, rebuking the ruling party, the opposition and the country's judges. Bhumibol said it would be unconstitutional for him to act on a "whim" and appoint a new prime minister. He bluntly told the judges to do their duty, "so that the country survives," or resign.

The essence of the king's message to the Thai people, Anand said, was, "Don't pass the buck to me. There is a mess. You've got to clean up the mess. Don't expect me to come and rescue you."

Yet that's exactly what the king did.