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Review
'...a `must read' for reporters, diplomats, and anyone else with an interest in Thai history and current affairs.'
--Jeroen Rikkerink, Contemporary Review, 1st October 2009
--Jeroen Rikkerink, Contemporary Review, 1st October 2009
Grant Evans, Far Eastern Economic Review, September 13 2006
'...succeeds in engrossing the reader with the complex personality
of the Thai king and his long and eventful life.'
of the Thai king and his long and eventful life.'
Inside This Book
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
An interesting perspective on the Thai monarchy. Large parts of the text are clearly padding and somewhat heavy going while the 'interesting bits' are generally inadequately covered. Not really enough references. A book half the size would have been more accessible and informative. Nonetheless this book is worth persisting with as it contains some interesting nuggets. I would be wary of over reliance on it as an accurate reflection of the position of the monarchy in Thailand but it does have value as an alternative to the mainstream perspective.
35 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As someone who spent my childhood in upcountry Thailand, went to state schools there and later in Bangkok and had an advance degree from a US University, I thought i would share with my countrymen how we perceive the King. My conversations with friends, colleagues, and most of the comments here by Thai readers/reviewers say I was totally wrong.
The book hits the nail in its head when it says that most thai my generation (I was born in the turbulent year 1976, when the right-wing government crushed student protestors and the King declared the event "the saddest day in Thai history") have always seen the King in the best of lights - and it was not something that wasn't well-planned by someone. In retrospect, I agree with the author about how the palace has orchestrated all their efforts on setting the royals in the best of lights, i.e. making all the royal projects look far more important and successful than their real worths by downplaying efforts by governments, presenting the royals in the way of super-human, in every aspect possible. When I was a young adult, I did not have a second thought about what the media was protraying the king and the royal family, i accepted it as truths and I don't have any reason to believe that most of my countrymen would see things otherwise - everything was so grand, so well orchestrated and thus so believeable.
One notable point that I think Handley sums up the sentiment of many Thai very nicely is when he briefly discussed another biography on King Bhumibol "The Revolutionary King" (which I also read several years back) that it was probably for the consumption of a small group of educated Thais who tend to be more ready to accept what's written in English than those written in Thai (for several reasons, for one, they believe the author can escape the lesse majeste by saying negative things about the King in English) My view about the King has always been similar to the one protrayed in "The Revolutionary King", which puts the King as a very capable person though with some minor flaws - which make it easier to swallow than "The Perfect One" image that the Palace media has always been projecting. Deep down, I believe, many Thais think of the King as human, yet a very respectable one (though many choose to live with the fairy tale that he is a true semi-god), so when we hear negative minor points about him, we think it could all be possible and make him even more humane yet more likable. This could be the original purpose of the "Revolutionary King" - reinforcing the King's image to the elite Thai lot. The book was written by the person who wrote "The Man called Intreprid" which was translated by the King himself.
Overall, Handley convincingly argue his case that things could be looked at in a very different perspective. He backs up his arguements with well-researched evidence many anecdotes the average Thai would have heard of. For me I haven't heard of just about half (probably more for even younger people), the others are totally new to me.
I highly recommend this book to any Thai who want to understand the country and the monarchy better, in a more objective way. This book doesn't make me love the country and the King less. It makes me understand the King better, in a more realistic way.
I also recommend an academic piece by McCargo "Network Monarchy" if you find this book interesting.
The book hits the nail in its head when it says that most thai my generation (I was born in the turbulent year 1976, when the right-wing government crushed student protestors and the King declared the event "the saddest day in Thai history") have always seen the King in the best of lights - and it was not something that wasn't well-planned by someone. In retrospect, I agree with the author about how the palace has orchestrated all their efforts on setting the royals in the best of lights, i.e. making all the royal projects look far more important and successful than their real worths by downplaying efforts by governments, presenting the royals in the way of super-human, in every aspect possible. When I was a young adult, I did not have a second thought about what the media was protraying the king and the royal family, i accepted it as truths and I don't have any reason to believe that most of my countrymen would see things otherwise - everything was so grand, so well orchestrated and thus so believeable.
One notable point that I think Handley sums up the sentiment of many Thai very nicely is when he briefly discussed another biography on King Bhumibol "The Revolutionary King" (which I also read several years back) that it was probably for the consumption of a small group of educated Thais who tend to be more ready to accept what's written in English than those written in Thai (for several reasons, for one, they believe the author can escape the lesse majeste by saying negative things about the King in English) My view about the King has always been similar to the one protrayed in "The Revolutionary King", which puts the King as a very capable person though with some minor flaws - which make it easier to swallow than "The Perfect One" image that the Palace media has always been projecting. Deep down, I believe, many Thais think of the King as human, yet a very respectable one (though many choose to live with the fairy tale that he is a true semi-god), so when we hear negative minor points about him, we think it could all be possible and make him even more humane yet more likable. This could be the original purpose of the "Revolutionary King" - reinforcing the King's image to the elite Thai lot. The book was written by the person who wrote "The Man called Intreprid" which was translated by the King himself.
Overall, Handley convincingly argue his case that things could be looked at in a very different perspective. He backs up his arguements with well-researched evidence many anecdotes the average Thai would have heard of. For me I haven't heard of just about half (probably more for even younger people), the others are totally new to me.
I highly recommend this book to any Thai who want to understand the country and the monarchy better, in a more objective way. This book doesn't make me love the country and the King less. It makes me understand the King better, in a more realistic way.
I also recommend an academic piece by McCargo "Network Monarchy" if you find this book interesting.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I write this review on may 20 2010, central Bangkok has been ripped apart, burnt tires and bodies litter the streets, while redshirt protesters set fire to town halls across the country. Never has Handley's book seemed more important, Thailand can only progress if it can talk openly about its king. This book needs to be compulsory for every Thai and anyone with a passing interest in Thailand.
Mr Handley and those Thais that worked with him to write this book did so at great personal risk from Thailand's draconian lese majeste laws, and because of its publication mr Handley will never set foot in Thailand again. Truly a brave and important book, the like of which we see very little in the modern world.
Mr Handley and those Thais that worked with him to write this book did so at great personal risk from Thailand's draconian lese majeste laws, and because of its publication mr Handley will never set foot in Thailand again. Truly a brave and important book, the like of which we see very little in the modern world.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
uninformed hatchet job
The full text of the Grant Evan's review excerpted on the Amazon page actually rips Handley's central thesis to shreds. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by Narizdura La Carretera
the world's longest serving head of state - a politcal book - not the...
Bhumibol Adulyadej - known as Rama IX. in the western world - reigns since 9 June 1946. He is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-serving monarch in... Read more
Published on 16 May 2009 by Amelrode
Political Game for sure
Waste my money, You can try to buy it and read it but i as i read through this author really didn't know anything at all about thailand. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2007 by Review
Thought-provoking but too many hearsays
It is an interesting read, but definitely not an academic text. Good for casual light-reading. The book provides useful analysis of many behind-the-scene actions, but I am... Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2007 by JAT
Good read and thought-provoking
Without a doubt, this book is banned in Thailand. I just got back from England and found out that my mother is totally pissed just because Handley is American and he writes a book... Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2006 by tally26
A uncensored version of thai history
This book flip the coin and show thai history in a different light that the official history.
Very interesting and shows the king in another light then the adoration he... Read more
Very interesting and shows the king in another light then the adoration he... Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2006 by Gui
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