DEMOCRACY MONUMENT | BKK S01.E11
Bangkok’s Democracy Monument Explained
Lᴜᴋᴇ Wᴀʟᴋs explains and explores BANGKOK'S DEMOCRACY MONUMENT.
Democracy Monument was commissioned to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d'etat which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy. It is a relief sculpture, representing a palm-leaf manuscript box holding the Thai Constitution on top of two golden offering bowls. The Constitution is guarded by four wing-like structures that are 24 meters high, and this is also the radius of the base of the monument, marking the fact that the 1932 coup took place on 24 June. The six gates of the turret represent the six proclaimed policies of the Phibul regime: "independence, internal peace, equality, freedom, economy and education." The Democracy Monument อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย is a public monument in the city center of Bangkok, capital of Thailand, that occupies a roundabout on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, and the intersection of Dinso Road.
Interestingly, Democracy Monument has become a rallying point for activists. It was the focus of the mass student demonstrations against Thanom's military regime in 1973 which triggered the 1976 military coup. It was also the focal point during Black May in 1992, scores of Thais were killed as they protested at the monument against General Suchinda Kraprayoon's regime. Then in 2010, fatal clashes took place between between anti-government red-shirt protesters and Thai security forces here when red shirt supporters lay dozens of symbolic red coffins on the steps of the Democracy Monument to represent those who had died. During the 2013-2014 Thai political crisis, the monument was a rally point for the People's Democratic Reform Committee who were against the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Also in the 2020 Thai protests, the monument once again became a rallying point for protestors.
BKK Series - Season 001 Episode 011
Lᴜᴋᴇ Wᴀʟᴋs explores BANGKOK Democracy Monument ~ Ratchadamnoen Ave, Wat Bowon Niwet, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200. อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย ~ ถนน ราชดำเนินกลาง แขวง วัดบวรนิเวศ เขตพระนคร กรุงเทพมหานคร 10200.
Democracy Monument:
ORIGIN - The monument was commissioned in 1939 to commemorate the 1932 Siamese coup d'état (also called "Siamese Revolution of 1932" or just "1932 Revolution") which led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in what was then the Kingdom of Siam, by its military ruler, Field Marshal Phibun. Phibun saw the monument as the focal point of what he envisaged as a new, Westernized Bangkok, "making Thanon [road] Ratchadamnoen the Champs-Élysées and the Democracy Monument the Arc de Triomphe" of Bangkok.
DESIGN - The focal point of the monument is a carved representation of a palm-leaf manuscript box holding the Thai Constitution of 1932, on top of two golden offering bowls above a round turret. The constitution is symbolically guarded by four wing-like structures, representing the four branches of the Thai armed forces—army, navy, air force and police—which carried out the 1932 coup. The wings are 24 meters high, and this is also the radius of the base of the monument, marking the fact that the 1932 coup took place on 24 June. The central turret is 3 meters high, representing the month of June, which is the third month of the traditional Thai calendar. There were originally 75 small cannon around the outer ring of the monument, representing the year of the coup, 2475 in the Buddhist calendar. The six gates of the turret represent the six proclaimed policies of the Phibun regime: "independence, internal peace, equality, freedom, economy, and education. Facing outwards from the base of two of the wings are fountains in the form of naga, the protective snake creatures of Hindu and Buddhist mythology..
Dictatorship - The story represented by these sculptures was a considerable distortion of the truth. In fact the 1932 coup was planned and executed almost without bloodshed by a small group of officers and some civilian collaborators, while the king was on holiday at the seaside. The coup was followed by the promulgation of Thailand's first constitution, but this was far from fully democratic. In the mid-1930s there was an attempt to progress to full democracy, but this broke down amid a split between the military and civilian elements of the government, and by 1939, when the Democracy Monument was built, Thailand was in effect a military dictatorship. The most striking absence from the iconography of the Monument is the monarchy, which is nowadays the focal point of Thai national life and political culture. The fact that the 1932 coup was staged against King Prajadhipok (Rama VII), and that he went into exile and eventually abdicated rather than accept the country's degeneration into a military dictatorship, is today seldom mentioned. Base sculptures - Reliefs at the base of each wing show pro-military propaganda images, portraying Thai soldiers as protectors of the people and champions of an adoring democracy.
RALLY POINT - Democracy Monument origins are now largely forgotten, and it has served as a rallying point for later generations of democracy activists. It was the focus of the mass student demonstrations against Thanom Kittikachorn's military regime in the 1973 Thai popular uprising, and of the protests that triggered the 1976 military coup. During Black May (1992), scores of Thais were killed as they protested at the monument against General Suchinda Kraprayoon's regime. During the 2013-2014 Thai political crisis, the monument was a rally point for the People's Democratic Reform Committee led by Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban against Pheu Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. These events have given the monument a legitimacy it lacked for much of its history. During the 2020-21 Thai protests, the monument again became a rallying point for protestors.
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Title: Bangkok’s Democracy Monument Explained | BKK Ep 011
Created by: Luke Walks
Source: https://youtu.be/5Jglj6ishNI
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