The Democracy Monument celebrates the coup in June 1932, which abolished the absolute monarchy and created a constitutional monarchy. King Prajadhip, known as Rama VII, reigned in the country. A group of young intellectuals studying abroad had a bloodless coup and demanded a constitution. This change meant the first reduction of the powers of the monarchy over 800 years.
Since then, the constitution has undergone many revisions, but the framework and central items of the first constitution are the backbone of the current incarnation. The 1932 Constitution created a two-chamber law-making body called the Parliament. The lower house was chosen by referendum, while the upper house was appointed by the king and his cabinet. It is not surprising that this and other aspects of the constitution reflect Western ideas, as many supporters of the coup learned in the West. But as long as the initial constitution strives for democracy, it takes a long time to gain democracy.
The democratic ideals of coups fell increasingly along the way. King Prajadhip was exiled after the coup, and finally stopped the throne, not accepting what became a military dictatorship. When Prajadhipok King resigned, he issued this statement about the deadlock between himself and the new government:
"I am ready to turn the powers I had previously exercised over the whole people, but I don't want to translate them into individual or
The government appointed Prince Ananda Mahidol as king, which was obviously aimed at eroding the power of the monarchy. He left Thailand with an absent ruler In 15 years, Thailand regains a functional king. , attention expanding left some fundamental ideal. In particular, one of the new leaders supported a single-party system. When the first power struggle came to an end, the coup managed to change an absolute government. Luckily, time has passed through various reforms, such as education, but has led to a long slow rise to democracy.
The Democracy Monument ironically celebrates the coup that quickly led to a military dictatorship. The incorrectly named monument was built in 1939 in a dramatic Art Deco style, flourishing in Thai style, like the fountains of the mitotic Naga snake in Garuda, the semi-semi-bird deity. The Plaek Phibulsonggram, the military ruler of the new system, known as Phibun, commissioned the work. Designed to be a new western center of Bangkok. The Democracy Monument would stand on the head of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road, just like the Paris Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees head. We can see the parallels, and the positive heritage that Phibun's time can legitimately demand is one of its modernization plans. But giving the name "Democracy" to a memorial commemorating a coup in a military dictatorship was obvious propaganda.
The construction of the monument at that time was very unpopular. The military dictatorship was very nationalistic and very anti-Chinese. This part of the city contained a number of shops that were mostly Chinese owned. They were only evicted 60 days in advance. The expansion of Ratchadamnoen Klang Road has cut 200 shade trees, not a small crowd in the city like Bangkok, especially in the days before air conditioning.
Mew Aphaiwong, a brother of a senior official, designed the monument symbolically. The centerpiece is a round tower with a gold bowl that features a carved representation of the 1932 constitution. The four towers represent the four military branches of Thailand, which executed the coup. As the coup occurred on June 24th, all towers are 24 meters high. The central tower is three meters tall, which is June, the third month of the Buddhist calendar. The six principles of the Phibun rule, independence, inner peace, equality, freedom, economy and education represent the six gates of the tower.
The statues at the bottom of each tower were made by an Italian sculptor named Corrado Feroci. He was a Thai citizen named Silpa Bhirasi of Thailand. The sculptures are another piece of propaganda and are largely inaccurate. They count the different scenes of the coup and portray the ideas of the rule in a very biased manner.
The history behind the monument is seriously ignored by Thais, as it gives a new meaning to today. For example, the last celebration of King Bhumibol's 80th birthday was held here. Keeping an event in honor of the king can be considered very slow, as the monument commemorates a coup that gained power from the monarchy and left the predecessor of one king. Since then, the monarchy has been balanced with the elected government, and the power struggles of the Phibun regime are in the forgotten past. Today, everyone is focusing on the future of Thailand.
Source by Georgi Dagnall