Opinion | Thai monarchy facing the end of an era

The case of China's disgraced security boss, Zhou Yongkang, bears marked similarities to that of the head of Thailand's police criminal investigation department, Pongpat Chayaphan. Lurid allegations of corruption and other crimes have been paraded through the media, an indication that there is an underlying political message as well as supposed proof that the government is cleaning up.

But while Zhou's case may be the final major act by President Xi Jinping to cleanse the uppermost echelons of those who are both corrupt and politically inconvenient, the Thai case may mark the start of an internecine struggle for position as the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej approaches its end. The politics of the palace and the struggle between those for and against populist ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have become ever more intertwined, with dangerous consequences, not least for the monarchy, an institution whose role is now becoming exposed to more public scrutiny. The popping of the bubble of sanctity created around it will be disturbing for all Thais.

The Thai monarchy is usually presented by the world's media as a rock of stability in a politically fractious society given to alternating military coups and democratic interludes. References to King Bhumibol are almost always prefaced in news reports by the adjective "revered".

But at least some of this received wisdom derives from an eagerness not to be accused of lèse-majesté, the wide-ranging law which can be used by any citizen against anyone seeming to have criticised members of the royal family. As a result, the institution has got away with an almost unparalleled absence of scrutiny, a remarkable achievement in a society which is otherwise very open.

Granted, any monarchy needs myths. "We must not let daylight in upon magic," noted Walter Bagehot discussing the monarchy's role. But a modicum of public respect is needed, especially if monarchs wish to be political arbiters rather than gilded figureheads.

A few days after the arrest of Pongpat, it was announced that the heir apparent to the throne, Prince Vajiralongkorn, had stripped his third wife, Princess Srirasmi, of her royal title. What was not reported locally or in the major English-language media was that the arrested police chief was an uncle of Srirasmi. That news first appeared on a Hong Kong-based website, though it was presumably known to other foreign media.