HONOLULU — Not every monarch is alike. It's true that many are mean and greedy and full of themselves — selfish squirrels who sock their ill-gotten gains beneath everyone's eyes overseas while they stick their political opponents into dark dank prisons — or graves. But some are comparatively mild, even perhaps honestly patriotic.
Britain's Elizabeth, the old girl, strikes one as a rather civilized queen if you have to live with a monarch, and Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, Rama IX of the Chakri Dynasty tends to get pro-king media reviews as a nice-guy sort of King George III.
But the Thai royal image suffered a bit of a setback about a year and a half ago when seasoned Siamese observers detected the subtle claw of the otherwise Humble King Bhumibol behind the shocking removal in September 2006 of a sitting prime minister. The Thai military fronted for the king and did the dirty work of course, removing the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while Thaksin was traveling abroad.