Ken Dobson's Queer Ruminations from Thailand
Search this site
  • Life in Thailand
  • Queer Issues in Thailand
  • Queer Christian Issues
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Stories

Song Phra Charoen

8/11/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
     August 12 is the birthday anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand.  The day is celebrated as national Mothers Day, with the Queen representing mothers, Mother of the country, and mother of current King and his three sisters.  It is a public holiday.

     It is appropriate on this auspicious occasion to honor mothers.  In Thai culture mothers are given honor that approaches veneration.  No matter a mother’s competence or lack of it at the task of nurturing her offspring, she is to be esteemed for the contributions and sacrifices she made.  If she is loved and affectionate, kind and generous, supportive and patient, so much the better.  If she is successful in enterprise, esteemed in public service, or renowned as a scholar, that is reserved for mention on other occasions.  Mother’s Day is only about mothering.

     Except in the case of Her Majesty the Queen.  Her mothering is at a higher level.  The Mother of Thailand is given veneration that approaches worship.  Although it is impossible to separate loyal narrative about the Queen from mundane details and complicated reality, it is also unnecessary to do so.  This year in particular, as she is sustained in nursing care following her debilitating stroke, as her husband lies in state awaiting cremation two months from now, and as her son redefines kingship, it is all the more important to remember what she represents.

     At one time she was at the pinnacle of the Thai social pyramid, the elite of the elite.  She represented the value of the traditional social structure.  In that position she demonstrated what obligations the nobility had, as well as what privileges.  She selected issues and projects to benefit the country.  Her attention to preservation of the environment and textile cultural heritage were well known.  She also stepped in to thwart attempts to promote the central culture and religion at the expense of minorities.  Her birthday eve addresses in this regard are missed.

     But her role as intermediary between the sacred and the secular is more subtle and pervasive.  Cultural anthropologists and mythologists might map this arcane territory inhabited by royalty at the point where super-social touches demi-divine.  For the time being, however, I am content to observe that the national narrative actually does refer to this in metaphors and innuendos, being careful not to cement the pieces so tightly together that they ever imply that one line of narrative is an allegory for another.  For her part, Queen Sirikit was a patron of royal arts including masked khon  performances of the Ramakien  and it was her hope to develop popular support for this form of classical dance-drama about divine kings and queens.

     That brings us to the matter of national identity and cultural validity, about which “the palace” is always concerned and is scrambling to enhance.  Put very simply, as school books put it, Thai culture is upheld by three things: king, religion and nation-state.  They are an ineffable trinity, each institution sustained by the other two.  If any of them fail the others fall, and the nation as it is known ceases to exist.  What then results is impossible to imagine.  Moreover, each institution is intricately composed of P E O P L E, mortal human beings who have somehow agreed to cooperate in complex relationships about which they have not been consulted.  This is generally acceptable as long as that is understood to be the best configuration presently available, and promotes everyone’s welfare, upholding a grateful population and their core values.  The role of HM the Queen in this has been emblematic rather than entirely functional.  She, like Sita in the Ramakien, is a key player whether she is active as in the past or passive as is apparently her present circumstance.  As in the many acts of the Ramakien  dance-drama, her role in this act is off-stage but the action is never comprehensible without her.  Nor is the drama entirely predictable as it proceeds.  It is a drama, after all, that is both cosmic and temporal.

    I find the Thai salute especially appropriate this year.  The exaltation is not “Happy birthday” but “Prosper!”  [“Long life the Queen” is not a translation of “Song phra charoen” but is an English equivalent.]  “Song phra charoen,” ทรงพระเจริญ is utterly contextual.  What it means for Her Majesty to prosper under these circumstances is beyond my grasp, but I sincerely wish it to include all things good and positive.    
1 Comment
Bruce P. Grether link
8/11/2017 11:29:14 pm

I have loved Her Majesty, Queen Sirikit, all my life, and I do consider her the Mother of Thailand.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Rev. Dr. Kenneth Dobson posts his weekly reflections on this blog. 

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2023 Rev. Dr. Kenneth Dobson