MYSTERY OF

Prime minister orders investigation, but warns against making it a political issue

BANGKOK

IT is a whodunit worthy of a Dan Brown novel: a small bronze plaque commemorating Thailand’s 1932 revolution is ripped out from a very public place by parties unknown and substituted by one praising the Chakri Dynasty, whose 10th king took the throne in December. A disinclination by the authorities to find those responsible adds another element of mystery.

The original plaque, installed in 1936, marked the spot where a group of progressive army officers and civil servants proclaimed the end of the absolute monarchy in order to steer the country towards democracy.

“At this place, at dawn, on June 24, 1932, we, the People’s Party have given birth to the constitution for the progress of the nation,” is a translation of the words engraved on the brass disc.

The ideal has not taken hold, still. A royalist military government that took power in a coup three years ago rules Thailand, and its newly enacted constitution