Bangkok Thailand - Democracy Monument

The Democracy Monument commemorates the				Garuda, the half-man, half-bird deity. The military
coup of June 1932, which brought down the				ruler of the new regime, Plaek Phibulsonggram,
absolute monarchy and established a constitutional				known as Phibun, commissioned the work. It was
monarchy. King Prajadhipok, known as Rama VII,				designed to be the center of a new, Westernized
ruled the country. A group of young intellectuals				Bangkok. The Democracy Monument would stand
who had been educated abroad staged a				at the head of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road in the
bloodless coup, demanding a constitution. This				same way as the Arc de Triomphe of Paris
change represented the first curtailment of the				stands at the head of the Champs-Elysees. One
monarchy's powers in over 800 years.				can see the parallels, and the positive legacy that
The constitution has undergone myriad revisions				Phibun's regime can legitimately claim is one of its
since then, but the framework and central tenets				modernization plans. However, giving the name
of the first constitution remain the backbone of				"Democracy" to a monument commemorating a
the current incarnation. The constitution of 1932				coup which resulted in a military dictatorship was
created a bicameral legislative body called the				blatant propaganda.
National Assembly. The Lower House was elected				The construction of the monument was very
by popular vote, while the Upper House was				unpopular at the time. The military dictatorship
appointed by the King and his cabinet. It is no				was very nationalistic and very anti-Chinese. This
surprise that this and other aspects of the				area of the city housed many shops which were
constitution mirror Western ideas, since many of				mostly owned by Chinese. They were evicted
the proponents of the coup were educated in the				with only 60 days notice. The widening of
West. But as much as the initial constitution				Ratchadamnoen Klang Road resulted in the cutting
strove for democracy, it would take a long time				of 200 shade trees, no small matter in a city as
for democracy to truly take hold.				hot as Bangkok, especially in the days before air
Increasingly, the democratic ideals of the coup fell				conditioning.
by the wayside. King Prajadhipok went into exile				Mew Aphaiwong, who was the brother of a high
after the coup, and eventually abdicated the				ranking official, designed the monument to be rife
throne rather than accept what had become a				with symbolism. The centerpiece is a round turret
military dictatorship. When King Prajadhipok				with a golden bowl that holds a carved
abdicated, he issued this statement regarding the				representation of the 1932 constitution. The four
impasse between himself and the new				towers represent the four branches of the Thai
government:				military that carried out the coup. Since the coup
"I am willing to turn over the powers I formerly				took place on the 24th day of June, each tower
exercised to the people as a whole, but I am not				stands 24 meters tall. The central turret is three
willing to turn them over to any individual or any				meters high, representing June, which is the third
group to use in an autocratic manner without				month in the Buddhist calendar. The six tenets of
heeding the voice of the people."				the Phibun regime, independence, internal peace,
The government appointed Prince Ananda Mahidol				equality, freedom, economy and education are
as king, a move obviously intended to erode the				represented by the six gates of the turret.
power of the monarchy further. King Mahidol was				The sculptures at the bottom of each tower
very young, and at the time was studying abroad				were done by an Italian sculptor named Corrado
in Switzerland, leaving Thailand with an absentee				Feroci. He was a Thai citizen who went by the
ruler. It would be another 15 years before				Thai name Silpa Bhirasi. The sculptures are
Thailand regained a functional king.				another piece of propaganda and are largely
Sadly, that was the situation that had developed.				inaccurate. They recount various scenes of the
Soon after the coup, internal struggles for power				coup and depict the ideals of the regime in a very
stymied any potential progress. Although the				biased way.
proponents of the coup had taken Western ideas				The actual history behind this monument is largely
of democracy, they had ignored some principle				ignored by Thais as they assign new meaning to
ideals. Notably, some of new leaders advocated a				it for the modern day. For example, a recent
single party system. When the initial struggles for				celebration for King Bhumibol's 80th birthday was
power were over, the coup had succeeded in				held here. To hold an event in honor of the king
exchanging one absolute government for another.				at this location could be considered slightly
Thankfully, the regime followed through on				inappropriate since the monument commemorates
various reforms, such as education, but it made				a coup that took powers from the monarchy and
for a long slow climb to democracy.				caused the abdication of one of the king's
The Democracy Monument ironically celebrates a				predecessors. The monarchy has since struck a
coup that quickly led to a military dictatorship. The				balance with the elected government, and the
inappropriately named monument was				power struggles of the Phibun regime are in the
constructed in dramatic Art Deco style in 1939,				forgotten past. Today, everyone focuses on
with Thai-style flourishes like the fountains				Thailand's future.
depicting the mythical Naga snake in the mouth of