King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Rama X of Thailand, was crowned yesterday in a dazzling show of pageantry laced with Hindu and Buddhist ritual, vowing to reign “with righteousness” on behalf of the Thai people.
Starting at the auspicious time of 10:09am, the public was granted a rare window into the cloistered halls of Thai power as the key rituals of the three-day coronation began.
King Vajiralongkorn is the 10th monarch of the Chakri Dynasty, which has reigned since 1782.
Photo: Reuters/ the Committee on Public Relations of the Coronation of King Rama X
He ascended the throne more than two years ago following the death of his father, but waited until after a long mourning period before setting his coronation date.
The somber ceremony opened with the white-gowned king — the folds of his robe leaving one shoulder bared — receiving sacred water from across Thailand and dabbing it gently across his face at a shrine inside the Grand Palace.
A cannon salute marked the moment as pipes played and Buddhist monks chanted.
Several gray-haired Hindu Brahmins were also in attendance at the syncretic ceremony, which symbolizes Rama X’s transformation from a human to divine figure.
He later took his seat under the umbrella of state and was handed the Great Crown of Victory, a tiered gold 7.3kg headpiece topped by a diamond from India.
Uttering his first, brief royal command, he vowed to reign “with righteousness” for the benefit of the Thai people.
His fourth wife, Suthida — married in a surprise ceremony days before the coronation — was invested as queen, kneeling in respect in front of her husband, who sat on a throne.
For most Thais, it is the first time they have witnessed a coronation, as the last was in 1950.
Hundreds of state officials in immaculate white uniforms lined the streets around the Grand Palace, but only a modest number of civilians braved the hot sun for the royal convoy.
The king held a grand audience with members of the royal family, the privy council and senior officials later in the afternoon.
Vajiralongkorn, 66, has spent time overseas and has rarely addressed his subjects.
Fiercely private, he has inherited one of the world’s richest monarchies and a kingdom submerged by political crisis.
Thailand has been run by an arch-royalist junta since 2014.
Rama X is widely seen as an adroit player of Thailand’s treacherous politics, intervening several times — including in the March 24 election — during his short reign.
Those elections are yet to yield a new government, with the kingdom split between pro and anti-junta blocs, the latter crying foul over the vote count so far. Full results are due to be announced next week, with the junta tipped to return as the civilian government.
“The coronation distracts from the popular indignation regarding election irregularities,” said Thai politics expert Paul Chambers of Naresuan University.
The monarchy takes primacy in the nation’s power pyramid, but it is buttressed by the army.
The military regime drove a wide-ranging image campaign in the months and weeks leading up to the coronation, as Vajiralongkorn’s visage appeared on money, stamps and in front of government offices and banks.
Junta leaders past and present were prominent in the ceremonies.
Thailand’s normally hyperactive social media has been subdued in the days leading up to the coronation.
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