Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T22:10:26.510Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - The Passing of the Gentleperson

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2020

Patrick Jory
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Get access

Summary

This chapter argues that since the October 1973 student-led demonstrations which overthrew the military regime, the consensus surrounding the ideal of the gentleperson (phu di) has broken down. The political instability of the period since 1973, with repeated coups, bloody crackdowns, wild swings from relatively liberal, open government to reactionary conservative military regimes, and the frequent ripping up of constitutions and drafting of new ones, reflected the entry of the middle class and the rural and urban lower classes onto the political scene and the challenge they posed to the political domination of the military, bureaucracy, and the monarchy. Just as there was no consensus over how the country was to be governed, in the period following October 1973 there was great contention over appropriate conduct. Changes in government were typically followed by official moral and behavioural campaigns. The long-reigning King Bhumibol came to represent the ideal of the gentleperson. His death in 2016 symbolized the passing of a particular kind of civility.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • The Passing of the Gentleperson
  • Patrick Jory, University of Queensland
  • Book: A History of Manners and Civility in Thailand
  • Online publication: 18 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868006.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • The Passing of the Gentleperson
  • Patrick Jory, University of Queensland
  • Book: A History of Manners and Civility in Thailand
  • Online publication: 18 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868006.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Passing of the Gentleperson
  • Patrick Jory, University of Queensland
  • Book: A History of Manners and Civility in Thailand
  • Online publication: 18 December 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868006.008
Available formats
×