Prem Tinsulanonda is the kingmaker if he outlives King Bhumi. When the throne becomes vacant it is the duty of the Privy Council to submit to the cabinet and to the National Assembly the name of the Successor to the Throne. During this vacancy period (before the submission) the President of the Privy Council(Prem) will be the Regent pro tempore. So, in this sense, Prem is the most powerful figure after the king and Thaksin made the stupid mistake of trying to sideline Prem when he was in power. In recent years the council and its president in particular, has been accused of interfering in politics. This stems from the council’s closeness to the military in particular during the 2006 Thai coup d'état.
Thaksin sitting on the king's chair
The unmaking of Thaksin
On 10 April 2005, Thaksin Shinawatra presided over a 'secret' and 'private' merit-making ceremony at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the holiest site in Thai Buddhism. This was in fact an order from the king himself and Thaksin found out to his disdain that the king wanted him out.
Starting October 2005, the website of
Phoochatkarn newspaper (owned by Limthongkul, remember him ?) ran an article alleging that the Prime Minister had usurped the Royal powers of the King by presiding over the ceremony. This blast, referring to a photo printed in The Nation Multimedia newspaper, led Sondhi Limthongkul, the owner of Phoochatkarn, to start using "We Love the King", "We Will Fight for the King", and "Return Power to the King" as his key anti-Thaksin rallying slogans. This allegation has been repeated in Sondhi's "Thailand Weekly" live tapings. It also became a staple of the Thailand-insider.com website of Ekkayuth Anchanbutr, a notable critic of Thaksin. A widely circulated spam email showed a picture of
Thaksin sitting on a chair(above) normally used by the King and asking
"People are familiar with images only of the King and members of the Royal Family, all dressed in royal uniforms and decorated with full regalia, presiding over grand ceremonies in the temple’s main chapel. Yet this picture makes me think: What has happened to our country?". Thus the ubiquitous "we love the king" bracelets , T-shirts and what else was born...
Thaksin was blindsided by the king's order and the king never said anything about this eventhough the king was the one who ordered Thaksin to perform that dress-changing ceremony of the Emerald Buddha. The king could have come out and dispel all those gossips and innuendos but he chose not to and now he could incidentally reap his karma in being the last king of modern Thailand.
