ABSTRACT
Despite not having any executive power, Rama IX remained for over seven decades the most powerful man in Thailand since he ascended the Chakri throne in 1946. Despite Rama IX having said in his Birthday Speech that he was not above criticism, his courtiers and the right-wing royalists who surrounded him and whose own vested interests were tied to him were quick to denounce anyone, local or farang, who criticized the king, made a joke about him or questioned his authority and legitimacy. The Shinawatras were part of the Chiang Mai social elite and a family of over-achievers. The Shinawatras made their wealth selling telephones, mobile phones and phone accessories. Thaksin led Shin Computer and then Shin Corporation to become a high-value communications giant. Local and farang political scientists often claim that Thaksin's administration was corrupt from the start. Some former Red Shirt members have even suggested that he was corrupt from the time he was in school.
