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The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej | 
| Author: Paul M. Handley
Publisher: Yale University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $38.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 42139
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 2
ISBN: 0300106823
Dewey Decimal Number: 959.3044092
EAN: 9780300106824
ASIN: 0300106823
Publication Date: July 28, 2006
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: Y20080623111734E
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Product Description
Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej, the only king ever born in the United States, came to the throne of his country in 1946 and is now the world’s longest-serving monarch. The King Never Smiles, the first independent biography of Thailand's monarch, tells the unexpected story of Bhumibol's life and sixty-year rule—how a Western-raised boy came to be seen by his people as a living Buddha, and how a king widely seen as beneficent and apolitical could in fact be so deeply political and autocratic.
Paul Handley provides an extensively researched, factual account of the king’s youth and personal development, ascent to the throne, skillful political maneuverings, and attempt to shape Thailand as a Buddhist kingdom. Handley takes full note of Bhumibol's achievements in art, in sports and jazz, and he credits the king's lifelong dedication to rural development and the livelihoods of his poorest subjects. But, looking beyond the widely accepted image of the king as egalitarian and virtuous, Handley portrays an anti-democratic monarch who, together with allies in big business and the corrupt Thai military, has protected a centuries-old, barely modified feudal dynasty.
When at nineteen Bhumibol assumed the throne, the Thai monarchy had been stripped of power and prestige. Over the ensuing decades, Bhumibol became the paramount political actor in the kingdom, silencing critics while winning the hearts and minds of his people. The book details this process and depicts Thailand’s unique constitutional monarch—his life, his thinking, and his ruling philosophy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 Honest Blasphemy May 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Even a casual visitor to Thailand will not fail to notice the deep reverence the Thai people seem to have for their king. His Majesty's portraits are everywhere. Before a movie starts, everyone stands at attention when the royal anthem is struck and the king's face appears on the screen. Thai sportsmen dedicate their victories to the king. In some remote quarters, I have even seen offerings of incense placed before portraits of the king.
Such reverence that the Thai people hold for their king is neither incidental or accidental. From the first few years in school, Thai kids have been indoctrinated with the 3 pillars of Thai society - Nation, Religion and King. The military channels seem totally dedicated to praising the monarchy. Official publications are full of words of wisdom from the palace. Like faithful followers of any influential religion, the vast majority of Thais never question these teachings and propaganda. Even fewer would bother (or dare) to discuss the more down-to-earth aspects of the "heavenly kings" who once ruled their great kingdom. Apart from laws that forbid anyone from showing disrespect to the king by criticising the institution, many Thais and even some well-educated, thinking foreigners who have seen the rest of the world seem to hold complete faith in the image of a perfect Dhammaraja.
Paul M Handley proposes in his book The King Never Smiles, that dhammarajas are made and not born. And this dhammaraja was made by a large number of shrewd princes and military propagandists, not just to preserve Thailand's monarchy per se, but also to reserve for themselves, a huge slice of Thailand's power pie.
The book begins at the beginning. The king's childhood in the US and Europe, his return to Thailand, Ananda's death, Phibun's thinly disguised plot to make a republic out of Thailand and Sarit's aggressive campaign to revive the divinity of the monarchy, turning everyone into obedient servants once more. The threat of communism, the Vietnam War, countless military coups to replace elected civilian governments, the great massacres of 1973, 1976 until the great Suchinda drama of 1992.
In the official version of history, the king's influence is often left out in the daily running of the country. This is important. Unlike elected office bearers who are constantly under scrutiny to reveal warts and all, the perfect dhammaraja must only appear in the limelight at critical moments and his actions must put a period to any tense face-off. A flawless, living Buddha must only be seen performing acts of charity in a people-centred, apolitical way. Everything must be embellished and orchestrated to the finest detail. The exact opposite of reality TV. The act is imperfect, but it's enough to fool a basically monolingual population without a global outlook.
In this book, Paul Handley attempts to put matters in perspective. Putting the king himself under scrutiny, he skillfully adds a critical piece to the whole seemingly senseless puzzle of Thailand's recent history and political developments. Even though Handley had no hidden camera installed in the palace, his profound observations, analysis and conjectures on the king's obvious intervention, lack of intervention and even participation in various less than glorifying happenings are absolutely plausible.
With all the events in Thailand's recent history neatly woven together, Handley adds the important element of motive to all the massacres and abuse of human rights for which the military is often blamed. This makes the book a really engaging and sometimes shocking read. In spite of the tonnes of facts, figures and dates, it's really quite absorbing.
However, apart from the more serious "news" that are reported in depth, there is quite a bit of "tabloid" info in the book. I feel that Handley shouldn't have devoted so much of the book to chapters like Family Headches and Annus Horibilis.
When I first saw this book at the stores in Singapore a couple of years ago, I was instantly convinced that it would be banned in Thailand. True enough, the issue is still too sensitive in Thailand. Too many people worship the monarchy as if the king were a demi-god. Too many powerful people depend on this faith to secure their place in the kingdom. The peaceful situation in Thailand today rests a lot on ignorance. To many Thais, this book would seem like pure blasphemy, but I think anyone who wants to write a review on this book should first read it well and understand it as just another point of view. Nobody who has any involement in politics is perfect. There is nothing wrong with loving a king who isn't perfect.
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 flawed and biased December 5, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
For anyone already familiar with the Thai monarchy, the holes in Handley's work are two obvious and too numerous for it to be taken seriously. It's hard to believe it passed Yale editorial.
Many of the aspects of the monarchy are spun in a ethnocentrically negative light. The same aspects seen from the typical Thai perspective are in fact oftimes positive.
The definitive Bhumibol bio has yet to be written.
Accurate and dispassionate September 22, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book is scholarly and engaging; I have to believe that Handley was barred from entering the Kingdom as persona non-grata after publishing it. I gave it 4 stars only because it takes a lot of coffee to get through the minutia. But without that level of detail, the author would be at risk of being ridiculed for trying to do a hatchet job on Thailand's Royal Family. The reality is, the King is a product of his time, working in a country beset by ignorance and self-serving "influential families." Most Thais would be horrified to read this book, and will probably reject it out of hand. But their school system and indoctrination will never allow them to read this dispassionately. Having lived in Thailand, I understand why Thai's who have reviewed this book are horrified by it, but as a Westerner, I just view it as a solid piece of historical inquiry. I enjoy life in the Kingdom and the unique Thai conviviality and sense of fun; this book just gives me a better perspective on the reasons for Thailand being the way it is today.
Why write this book? September 9, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
When I first saw this book on the shelf, I had to go borrow money from my wife to buy it. I was immediately transfixed on this book and saw in it the makings of a well-written, and well-needed epoxy for the fragments of knowledge of the Thai King possessed by the average Westerner. That being said (and after reading the book in its' entirety), I can't help but question the motives behind the tenor set for this work.
Though I agree that our common knowledge of the Thai Monarchy here in the West is sketchy at best, I take serious issue to the need for the author to "intimate" his so-called "revelations" regarding the falability and the humanity of the Thai King (both as a person and as an institution). If one looks at the total sum of King Rama IX's body of works with respect to the general Thai populace (even taken into account a probable healthy dose of dramatic inflation on the part of loyalists), there seems to arise no justification for this "attack of truth" that could have no other motive than to either try to damage the integrity of the Thai Monarchy, or (even less palatable) simply serve as a vehicle on which the author seeks some measure of notoriety and monetary benefit.
There is a curious and institution-damaging notion in the West (one which the traveller possessing a modest degree of knowledge of non-Wester cultures will instantly spot as a weakness) that the general populace in a given society would be better served to be in the possession of "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" (as the saying goes) in all matters of personal, private, and even governmental matters. Somehow the state of transparency of all interactions has become (in many minds) a God-given right, a commodity that is owed to the general public. This curiously western view does not hold to all cultures, and (in my humble opinion) is one of the reasons I think Western Civilization will soon (historically speaking) see its demise.
The general Thai person neither perceives the need or the desire for such information regarding governmental and Monarchical matters. This is one of the strengths of the Thai (and indeed South, and South-east Asian country's) cultures, and here one must not make the common mistake of equating a strong culture with a prosperous one. They don't spend the majority of their time trying to understand whether or not their leaders are justified in their actions, and I believe they are a much stronger society for it.
That being said, there is some good historical and Monarchical information in this book as long as the reader is willing to wind their way through the mine-field of "attack the ideal of the Thai Monarchy" droppings that polute the literary grounds of this book.
 Que? July 23, 2007
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Bought this as a present for someone and had it sent to them. Not sure why I'm being asked to review it.
Long Live The King.
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