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The Thai icon, the curse, the king and I
The Daily Telegraph
By Sebastien Berger
(Filed: 23/07/2004)
A British academic is facing ritual curses, allegations of criminal defamation of two dead kings and demands for his deportation after he cast doubts on the authenticity of one of Thailand's most important cultural artefacts.
The 3ft-high stone obelisk, known as 'Inscription One' and engraved on each of its four sides, is said to have been carved on the orders of King Ramkhamkaeng in 1292. It describes an idyllic kingdom based in Sukhothai, the first capital of Siam.
The stone is officially recognised as the first ever use of the fiendishly complicated Thai script. Last year it was added to Unesco's Memory of the World register.
But Michael Wright, an author who has lived in Thailand for 45 years and lectures at Thammasat University, one of the country's top two educational institutions, believes it is a fake.
The stone was allegedly discovered in Sukhothai in 1833 by Prince Mongkut, who went on to become King Rama IV, the leader portrayed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I.
But Mr Wright accuses Prince Mongkut of having the stone carved to create a historical precedent for his reforming policies.
'Inscription One is national myth number one,' he told The Telegraph yesterday.
'The national mythology has it that it is the first piece of Thai writing, that the writing system was invented by King Ramkhamkaeng out of thin air, and its content describes an ideal kingdom - a Camelot. The fields are full of rice, the water is full of fish, blah, blah, blah.
'As a piece of literature it's brilliant but to take it as history is woefully ignorant. A modern person reading it with an open mind will find almost nothing that fits the 13th century but it's almost perfect for the mid-19th century.'
The language of the inscription was generally intelligible to a modern reader, unlike genuine 13th century works, he said, and its written form was also consistent with the 19th century.
Decades of nationalistic teaching under post-Second World War dictatorships, allied to a culture of deference to authority, have left their mark on the Thai psyche. So the questioning of icons is not always welcome. On top of that, Thais are fiercely protective of their royal family.
When Mr Wright and Piriya Krairiksh, the director of the Centre for Thai Literary Studies at Thammasat University, set out their theory in a Thai-language newspaper it caused outrage.
Residents of Sukhothai gathered to protest at a statue of King Ramkhamkaeng amid the ruins of his capital. In imitation of a ceremony described in the inscription, they rang a bell to attract the king's attention and told him of their grievances. They then carried out a cursing ritual, burning chillies and salt and the names of the two men written on scraps of paper.
Paisal Dilokkunatham, one of the organisers, said 5,000 people attended. 'For many Thais, King Rama the Great is not only the former king of Thailand but has become holy. He did many good things for the sake of Thailand so he would not lie or mislead the people.'
He added: 'If they [Mr Wright and Mr Krairiksh] do not stop what they are saying then we will visit them at home.'
Darun Meetes, a former ruling party MP for Sukhothai, has filed a criminal complaint against the two writers, alleging defamation of both King Ramkhamkaeng and King Rama.
'This is a matter of national security,' he said, demanding both be arrested - Mr Wright for deportation and Mr Piriya to face trial for betraying the nation. 'We have already lost the economic war and this is the cultural war.'
Mitr Thongsaeng, who is running the police inquiry, said: 'This is a very sensitive matter. The allegations are very serious.'
However, Mr Wright dismissed the politician as a mere attention-seeker and predicted that the police would quietly let the matter drop. 'It doesn't bother me at all,' he said, adding that the curse had had no ill-effects.
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