Purifying Violence: Buddhist Kingship, Legitimacy and Crisis in Thailand

In this chapter, which draws on historical and ethnographic data, I explore the relationship between kingship, legitimacy and violence in Thailand’s Ninth and Tenth Reigns. I argue that Thai Buddhist kings must always imply an ability and willingness to use violence, as long as they do so in accordance with Thai notions of spatial and temporal context-appropriate behaviour (kalathesa). In particular, they must be ready to act forcefully as agents of social renewal in times of crisis. According to long-standing Buddhist prophetic narratives, society cyclically fragments, enabling anarchy and violence to spread. Buddhist kings intervene with violence in order to submit the unruly to the righteous authority of the state, thus purifying the kingdom. Once the kings have reinstalled the rule of law, they are able to purify their own violence, entering a process that transforms them from warrior kings into paternal figures who rule in peace.