King Pumipon of Thailand: The Ugly Truth

"KING PUMIPON of Thailand was a weak and characterless monarch who spent his useless and privileged life in a bubble, surrounded by fawning, grovelling toadies who claimed that he was a “god”. He was a pathetic creature who should not in any way be pitied. His life’s work was in self-enrichment, support for military regimes and the defence of inequality.

"He played a significant role in preventing democratic rights, the development of social justice and the fair and unbiased use of the law. He did this by legitimising all the worst government policies and atrocities committed by Thai rulers.

(snip)

"He came to the throne after his elder brother died from gunshot wounds to the head, in 1946. His brother’s death was either a suicide or a gun accident, involving Pumipon. Either way, Pumipon was fully aware of the circumstances of his brother’s death, but chose to keep them a secret, allowing three innocent palace staff to be executed and allowing Pridi Panomyong to be falsely blamed for the incident by his political opponents.

"Pumipon carried on his career as a monarch in this deceitful and spineless manner for the rest of his life."

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/king-pumipon-of-thailand-the-ugly-truth,9599

This interesting article, written by a Thai socialist living in exile, was printed in the Australian Independent Australia online news site.

Kinda makes sense - in spite of the adulation of Pumipon, we've seen how the Thai military cracks down on dissent, and then there are the terrible "lese-majeste" laws, prohibitng any criticism of the monarch.

And nowhere else have I seen anything that came even close to detailing the death of his brother – if true, that is really horrible.