Franc Dylan Baldomero | BMA - TD02 1/28/23

A former King of Thailand, named King Ananda Mahidol is one of the youngest
man that became King in history. He was the eigth monarch of Siam and Thailand
from the Chakri dynasty as Rama. As time goes by, he recognised as king by the
National Assembly in March 1935, he was a 9 years of age living in Switzerland and
by the year of 1945 he returned in Thailand, and the day comes that he got shot
dead in June 9, 1946. This tragedy that happened to King Mahidol remains
mystery to Thai’s until now.

On the morning of June 9, 1946, the 20 - year - old Ananda Mahidol, King Rama
VIII of Siam, was shot through the head and killed in his bedroom in the
Barompiman Hall building in the Grand Palace complex in Bangkok. Bhumibol has
reigned ever since: he is now an old and frail man, confined to Siriraj Hospital on
the west bank of the Chao Phraya River that weaves through the capital, but he
remains Thailand' s king. The truth has been suppressed by Thailand' s
establishment, partly through use of the draconian law of lè se majesté, Article 112
of Thailand' s criminal code, which has been used to criminalize open and honest
discussion of Thai history and politics. The official investigation into Ananda' s
death considered three possibilities: that he was murdered, committed suicide, or
shot himself by accident. Despite the destruction of evidence, and the fact that
those involved lied about what happened, it is possible to reconstruct how Ananda
died. The first key point is that there is no credible possibility that an unknown
assassin sneaked into the Grand Palace that morning, took Ananda' s Colt. 45
automatic pistol from his bedside cabinet, shot him through the head with it, and
escaped, unseen by anyone.

Ananda' s mother Sangwan begged Pridi Banomyong, the inspirational statesman

who was prime minister at the time, to declare that the shooting was a self -
inflicted accident rather than suicide. Partly in order to preserve royal prestige,
Pridi and the government complied. The chances of Ananda doing this by accident,
while the gun was pointed at his forehead, were extremely slim. Within hours of
Ananda' s death, royalist politicans— in particular Seni Pramoj— began spreading
rumours that Pridi Banomyong had conspired to have Ananda murdered. But
Ananda' s death was exploited by the royalists to smear Pridi, with disastrous
consequences for Thailand.