THAILAND: KING'S BIRTHDAY AUDIENCE DECEMBER 5 -

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003110 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2029 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINRTH TH SUBJECT: THAILAND: KING'S BIRTHDAY AUDIENCE DECEMBER 5 - CLOSING THE CURTAIN ON AN ERA? BANGKOK 00003110 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: DCM James F. Entwistle, reason 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: 82 year-old Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej held court in his throne hall at the Grand Palace on his birthday December 5, in what was seen by many Thai as a possible last public hurrah. Leaning heavily on his right side, the King offered brief remarks to several hundred key officials, stressing his recent themes of national unity and the need to place national interests above personal benefits. As the golden curtain closed at the end of the audience and cameras flashed as if at a rock concert, Thais watching around the country on TV cried and commented that it seemed like a closing of an era. To emphasize the sense of transition, the Crown Prince stood in for the King at subsequent birthday events. End Summary and Comment. One last hurrah, delivered in a VW van? -------------- ¶2. (C) No longer able to maneuver in and out of his yellow Rolls Royce, King Bhumibol left Siriraj hospital, where he has been since mid-September, in a wheelchair pushed up the back ramp of a VW van to make the brief trip to the Grand Palace's throne hall for his birthday morning audience. The audience, before a select crowd of several hundred officials, was only the third public sighting of the King in three months: Chulalongkorn Day (October 23),Loy Krathong (November 2),and his December 5 birthday. ¶3. (C) Unlike the previous two occasions, when Bhumibol looked very much like a recuperating patient, in a wheelchair pushed by Siriraj hospital doctors, the King settled into his throne in all his royal regalia, against a spectacular backdrop. The ceremony, normally carried live on TV, ran this year with a 15-20 minute delay, with observers suggesting the delay was designed to avoid any potentially embarrassing moments. Sensing the audience might well be one of the last such occasions, the normally well-behaved crowd was unusually anxious, pushing in the back to get a better view of the King's arrival and requiring the palace police to restore order, according to one of our contacts. ¶4. (C) In their greeting remarks, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister Abhisit both hailed the King's full recovery. What those in attendance and watching on TV saw was something quite different: their beloved monarch leaning markedly to his stronger right side, barely moving his left hand/arm--leading to speculation that he may have suffered another minor stroke while in hospital--and speaking with a soft monotone of a voice. The King's message was a familiar one: urging Thais to join hands to help the country return to normalcy, and to set aside personal benefits for the sake of the national interest, stability prosperity. ¶5. (C) At the end of the short remarks, the golden curtain separating Bhumibol from the audience closed slowly, accompanied by a blinding flash of cameras. The moment carried with it the metaphorical feel of a curtain closing on an era - a reaction we heard from many contacts we talked to over the succeeding several days; many Thais cried as they watched the curtain close to the Royal Anthem. Later that evening, hundreds of thousands of pink-clad Thai turned out in downtown Bangkok for a candle-light tribute to the King, mixed with fireworks in his honor. The palace had decreed that this year pink was the color to honor the King, supposedly in honor of his recovery (the King wore pink, the royal color for Tuesday, when he left the hospital in late 2007 after suffering a stroke). Most people, however, interpreted the color switch as a sign of a desire to avoid the polarizing yellow appropriated by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in their 2008 protests. Signaling the Crown Prince as Da Next Man -------------- ¶6. (C) In his remarks, the Crown Prince also vowed to do his best as a Thai and as a member of the Chakri dynasty to serve the country--with many people seeing that remark as a a reminder that sooner rather than later Vajiralongkorn will BANGKOK 00003110 002.2 OF 002 likely succeed his father as Rama X, the tenth member of the Chakri dynasty. ¶7. (C) The atmosphere at the palace's diplomatic birthday reception December 8 was notably different than in 2008, when the Crown Prince also stood in for Bhumibol. The Crown Prince, accompanied by wife Sirasmi and his eldest daughter Ong Pa, made a special effort to greet each of the ambassadors; he projected more authority and certainty than a year earlier. All 13 healthy Privy Councilors were standing at attention, a much higher number than in 2008. While beloved Princess Sirindhorn had also attended the 2008 reception, this year she had already left the country - to China, the proud Chinese Ambassador told the Ambassador. ¶8. (C) At a seminar entitled "Thailand in Transition" held elsewhere on December 8, noted Thai scholar (at Madison-Wisconsin) Thongchai Winichakul addressed the sensitive issue of succession and transition in this way: "Transition is not only about the institution of monarchy and royal succession. It is much larger, and the process of transition is well under way, a train that has left the station and cannot be reversed." Even within the narrower confines of the institution of monarchy, the last several days have been rich with symbolism and signals about the transition which is indeed underway. JOHN