Enduring legacies

re: "2 great kings to be feted this month" (BP, October 10)

Dear editor,

King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, indisputably deserves the admiration accorded him for decades. Not least among his achievements that earned him the title "Great," are those reforms that helped to move the Thai nation firmly into the technologically and morally developing twentieth century. Not only did this great king willingly act to abolish the ancient tradition of slavery, as early as 1873 (Royal Gazette), he ended the feudal practice of prostration, arguing that such relics of a bygone era did not suit the modern nation he sought to forge for the Thai people. Like other great leaders, he welcomed ideas from outside to strengthen in all ways the nation he led, including the democratic values of the Enlightenment.

Who would not respect this great Thai reformer whose visionary mindset revised old ways to more fully respect the human dignity of all of his subjects?

Thailand is fortunate that this great king's example of modernizing has been followed by his successors, including such tireless advocates of progress as Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, who was instrumental in bringing modern medicine to the Thai nation, and the Prince's son, the late King Bhumipol Adulyadej, whose wisdom, as seen for example of his comments on Thailand's lese majeste laws, made in his birthday speech of 2005, must earn the respect of those who value human rights and decency. These descendants of King Chulalongkorn shared both Western education and their great ancestor's willingness to embrace ways of thinking beyond Thai tradition, thereby following in and confirming Rama V's enduring legacy to the modern Thai nation.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on October 13, 2018, under the title "Enduring legacies" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1557322/egregious-whistles