SIAM: Revolution by News Broadcast

"Oh, God," moaned an overemotional Siamese consul in Singapore last week, "what will happen to our King now?" The answer to this rhetorical question—in a land which most Americans are apt to regard as a musical-comedy setting—was: nothing whatever. In the 19 years since Siam became a constitutional monarchy, her political history has been punctuated by eight coups d'etat, none of which had any profound effect on the powerless ruling House of Chakkri. Last week, young hepcat King Phumiphon Adundet,* his pretty Queen Sirikit and their eight-month-old daughter Princess Lotus Precious Stone...

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