Word: bhumibol
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Popular Monarch. Despite their current worries, however, the Thais have many built-in strengths to fall back on-including their ancient tradition of independence and their long-nurtured fear of the Vietnamese, with whom they have warred for centuries. They also have an immensely popular monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 47, a tireless worker who spends much of his time traveling in rural Thailand with a walkie-talkie in his hip pocket. In addition, the country has remained stubbornly prosperous, with sharply rising foreign exchange and gold reserves-a fact that has undoubtedly inhibited the growth of the Communist insurgency...
From all over Thailand they came. Farmers, folk singers, hill-tribe leaders, journalists, lawyers, businessmen and provincial officials streamed into Bangkok and filled the capital's plush hotels. They were among the more than 2,300 delegates called to a National Convention by King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He had complained that "the good people in Thailand don't want to take the power, and the bad people do." To remedy that and to help fill the political vacuum that has existed since the military-dominated regime was overthrown after a bloody student revolt last October, the King convened...
Tedious Regimen. Much of the success of the new system will at first depend on King Bhumibol, 46, who avoided politics until recently. He used to spend his days touring his kingdom, opening hospitals, awarding diplomas and visiting villages. Reports TIME Correspondent Barry Hillenbrand: "It is precisely this tiring, often tedious regimen that has made Bhumibol so unreservedly loved throughout the country. His travels also made him aware of the disfavor felt toward the military regime and the need to bring farmers and laborers into the National Assembly. Since last October's student revolt, the King has distinguished himself...
...King's activism worries some of his supporters. One high Western diplomat, for example, fears that Bhumibol might tarnish his image as an individual above politics, and thus deprive the Thais of "the one thing they have going for them: the stability that the King provides." In that case, unrest and turmoil could mount and lead to a return of military rule. As one member of the constitutional-drafting committee puts it: "The military has the guns and planes. All we have to stop them is the constitution and our idealism." For the moment, at least, idealism in Thailand...
Drafting a constitution-a task Sanya has entrusted to a broad-based committee of judges, lawyers and law professors-will not be all that easy. Any new political charter for Thailand must assign an important role to its very popular King, even though Bhumibol personally desires little political power. (In fact, the King has hinted that he is even uncomfortable about the role he was forced to play in ousting the former leaders.) A new constitution must not only exclude the military from politics but must also create a government so stable that the military will not be tempted...