ABSTRACT
On the evening of 12 March 2006, all Thai television stations replayed
archival footage of a scene from ‘‘Black May’’ in 1992. This showed General
Suchinda, leader of the military government that seized power in a 1991
coup, and Chamlong Srimuang from the pro-democracy movement,
prostrated before King Bhumibol. The monarch admonished them for the
recent bloody conflict, and shortly afterwards Suchinda stepped down. The
replaying of this footage was taken to be a sign of the King’s concern about
the confrontation between then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Sondhi Limthongkul and the PAD (People’s Alliance for Democracy),
which had produced the largest mass rallies in Bangkok since 1992. The
anti-Thaksin daily The Nation described the replay of the ‘‘Black May’’
footage as ‘‘the King whispers’’ – referring to Thaksin’s statement that he
would step down if the King whispered in his ear (Nation, 13 March 2006).
Considering that the ruling Thai-Rak-Thai (TRT) Party had won in a
landslide in 2001, and did so again in February 2005, this reversal of
Thaksin’s fortunes surprised many. When he stepped aside as prime minister after a snap election on 2 April 2006, which was boycotted by the major
opposition parties, the conflict briefly captured the attention of the inter-
national media.
