Power, Protection and Magic in Thailand the Cosmos of a Southern Policeman
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POWER, PROTECTION AND MAGIC IN THAILAND THE COSMOS OF A SOUTHERN POLICEMAN POWER, PROTECTION AND MAGIC IN THAILAND THE COSMOS OF A SOUTHERN POLICEMAN CRAIG J. REYNOLDS ASIAN STUDIES SERIES MONOGRAPH 12 For Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit In memory of Pinyo Srichumlong (1934–2009) Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au ISBN (print): 9781760463168 ISBN (online): 9781760463175 WorldCat (print): 1123205971 WorldCat (online): 1123205860 DOI: 10.22459/PPMT.2019 This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). The full licence terms are available at creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cover design and layout by ANU Press Cover photograph: Khun Phan at age 102, by Chanthip Phantarakrajchadech This edition © 2019 ANU Press Contents Plates . ix Transcription of Thai . xi Glossary . xiii Acknowledgements . xv 1 . Introduction . 1 2 . Lion Lawman . 29 3 . The mid south’s fathomable past . 63 4 . Policing and banditry . 85 5 . Magical thinking to dispel fear and uncertainty . 115 6 . Invulnerability and protecting the sovereign body . 151 Appendix: Biographies of Khun Phan . 159 Bibliography . 165 Plates Plate 1 Butr Phantharak as a young constable ....................3 Plate 2 Statue of Khun Phan outside Nakhon Si Thammarat police station .......................................58 Plate 3 Khun Phan at age 102 ..............................61 Plate 4 Khao Ok Thalu, Phatthalung .........................66 Plate 5 Chandrabhanu, Nakhon Si Thammarat’s founding king .....75 Plate 6 Statue of Phao Siyanon, Pathumwan Police Centre, Bangkok ..98 Plate 7 Bullfight, Phatthalung .............................112 Plate 8 Fruit seller wearing the Jatukham-Ramathep amulet, Nakhon Si Thammarat. 123 Plate 9 The Jatukham-Ramathep deity outside Nakhon Si Thammarat police station .............................139 Plate 10 The Jatukham-Ramathep deity, Krabi City Hall .........145 Plate 11 Jatukham-Ramathep image in a Nakhon Si Thammarat restaurant .........................................146 ix Transcription of Thai The transcription of Thai follows the system prescribed by the Royal Institute of Thailand with the following exceptions: j (jo jan) instead of ch. Wat Khao Or instead of Wat Khao O. Khun Phan’s descendants spell the family name as Phantarakrajchadech (Phantharakratchadet). Jatukham-Ramathep, the transcription used here, is the way most central Thai speakers pronounce the name. Southern Thai speakers who are less influenced by central Thai culture often drop a vowel in the second term: Jatukham-Ramthep. xi Glossary jon outlaw, bandit; from Pali jora kloe friend, mate, buddy, usually of same sex; cohort of people formed in early years welcomed into families as kin; kloe groups can be 20–30 individuals; kloe is originally from the southern dialect but is common in central Thai kok group, faction, party; gang in the context of banditry and criminality; from Chinese kuo metthamahaniyom attraction/repulsion, the magnetic forces, for example, of an amulet after it has been consecrated; personal quality useful to investors, gangsters and political leaders at all levels mongkhon auspiciousness, often based on prognostications determined by a horoscope; from Pali maṅgala monthon provincial circle; groups of provinces created between 1893 and 1899 nak leng tough guy of generous spirit and dignified bearing, especially but not exclusively in rural areas; local political leader with these characteristics; gambler (nineteenth century) paritta Buddhist recitations from Pali texts that keep a person safe from evil spells, betrayal, fire, poison and weapons (knives, guns) phra curved knife or machete used in cultivation or for clearing jungle; a weapon favoured by rural outlaws before firearms became widely available xiii POWER, PROTECTION AND MAGIC IN THAILAND pokkhrong to rule, govern; from pok shield; possibly from Khmer prok; khrong to cloak or cover, sometimes to possess prathetsarat autonomous kingdom or state, sometimes translated as dependency, dominion, colony saiyasat magical knowledge of putatively Brahmanic origin, sometimes referred to as magical animism or esoteric Buddhism; formulas (dhāraṇī and mantra) associated with this knowledge saksi dignity, dignified bearing, especially as applied to nak leng śastra see sat sat a corpus of knowledge, body of learning, a science; suffix designating an academic or scientific field— for example, economics, geology, geography, history, medicine and so on; from Sanskrit śastra sen string, line, route; classifier for noodle; a connection with an important or influential person in high places (mi sen) suea tiger; epithet for outlaw, bandit, nak leng Tai term for language family and ethnic groups, including Thai takrut small cylinder containing a thin rolled sheet of tin or other pliable material inscribed with magical symbols (yantra), worn around the neck, from the waist or inserted under the skin weikza magician, wizard or sorcerer (Burmese); from Pali vijja (‘possessed of wisdom’), cf. Thai wicha xiv Acknowledgements I have dedicated this book to three people. Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit, friends for many decades, have made huge contributions to Thailand’s cultural and political life through their research projects, books and journal articles, newspaper columns, op-ed pieces in the international press and public presentations. Chris, a Cambridge-trained historian who enjoyed a reputation as a specialist on Tamil India before he moved to Thailand and Thai studies, and Pasuk, a political economist who ventures forth fearlessly where few dare to tread, share their expertise and ideas with each other on everything from the black economy to literature and history. Their prize-winning English translation and exegesis of Khun Chang Khun Phaen, a folk epic that may be likened to the Japanese Tale of Genji and the Vietnamese Tale of Kieu, is a monumental work of scholarship. For years to come, scholars will be reading their translation and making their way happily through the forest of footnotes to learn of Siam’s past and how the Thai elite codified the folk epic, preserving some themes but suppressing the parts for which it did not care. I salute Chris Baker and Pasuk Phongpaichit. The other dedicatee, Pinyo Srichamlong (1934–2009), was a dear friend I met years ago in Krabi. We were both outsiders. I was an American Peace Corps volunteer assigned to the local boys’ school as an English teacher; he had been exiled to the then remote province by the Ministry of Education for reasons I never understood. A native of Nakhon Si Thammarat and a proud graduate of Suan Kulap School, where he came second in his class, Pinyo was an author of short stories and novels and a poet of uncommon talent from an early age, who won competitions on Thai TV for his improvised verse (klon sot). He described himself truthfully as a ‘champ’, and a tribute at his passing called him a nak leng of the genre. He was steeped in the Thai literary canon and, on his visits to my bungalow behind the school, would regale me with tales of Siamese kings of yore and their literary accomplishments. He spoke often of his xv POWER, PROTECTION AND MAGIC IN THAILAND poet-hero Sunthorn Phu. I imagined that Pinyo had been transported by a time machine from an earlier century where he composed poems in the court of a Siamese prince. He was what the Australian language calls a larrikin, a maverick with little regard for convention. I would arrive at school on Monday mornings to hear the teachers’ disapproving reports of Pinyo’s embarrassing exploits in the market over the weekend. Pinyo’s historical novel, written when he was a young man, dramatised the life of Khun Phrai, a courtier in the early seventeenth century who was born into a modest family and worked his way up to minor noble rank in the palace only to be cheated and abused. He fled to take up the outlaw life. To community acclaim, he freed people held in bondage, joined a gang of pirates and returned to civilisation to successfully defeat his enemies. When challenged to defend the veracity of his seventeenth- century account, the novelist demurred and quoted Napoleon: ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’ (Pinyo 1994: 7–10; Phanida 1997: 111). Pinyo was witty and lots of fun, but his own life was no romance. He had problems with money, was always in trouble with his bosses and his larrikin behaviour deprived him of the literary awards he expected and deserved. His daughter, Sriyapha Srichumlong, has been a loving custodian of his legacy. This project is the most collaborative I have ever undertaken, and I have many people to thank for their help. Nasan and Chanthip Phantarakrajchadech took time to talk about their father and shared not only information about his life, but also an understanding of the world in which he lived. Samphan Kongsamut, Khun Phan’s most prolific biographer, also spent many hours telling me about his interviews with the southern policeman. Patrick Jory, Kasem Jandam, Jirawat Saengthong, Suwit Maprasong and Wannasan Noonsuk introduced me to the mid south and its society that they know so well. It would take many pages to explain what ’Sem, a poet and international scholar of birds’ nests, has taught me about the region where he was born. Davisakd Puaksom, also from the mid south, took me on an unforgettable journey with his students through northern provinces, where we visited monasteries and the Nam Phi iron mine. In Uttaradit, where the southern policeman acquired his Red Sword, we planned to visit a spirit medium at Mueang Laplae who channels the eighteenth- century warrior Phraya Phichai, but we just missed her. She had departed to conduct a séance near the Bangkok airport. xvi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Nick Cheesman, Patrick Jory, Maurizio Peleggi, Peter Zinoman, Jim Ockey, Ronit Ricci, Maria Myutel and David Chandler read drafts of chapters and enthusiastically shared their reactions.