Rama X: The Mysterious King of Thailand (Rama X, le mystérieux roi de Thaïlande)

The documentary titled “Rama X, le mystérieux roi de Thaïlande,” serves as one of the most vital and critical analyses by a Western media outlet to date, dissecting the complex and often-impenetrable structure of power surrounding the Thai monarchy.

The producers of the documentary went to great lengths to secure the voices of scholars targeted by the Thai state, flying to interview Pavin Chachavalpongpun, founder of 112WATCH in Kyoto—a city that currently serves as his academic refuge. Crucially, the film features a formidable and essential lineup of critical voices, including Paul Handley, author of the foundational, banned biography The King Never Smiles biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, and Paul Chambers, the American scholar who became a recent victim of political persecution under the Lèse-majesté law (Article 112), forcing his abrupt exile from Thailand.

This documentary is more than a mere historical overview; it is an act of defiance that brings the suppressed narrative—the history of the Thai King that the majority of Thai people know but cannot speak—onto the global stage. It underscores how the reality of the Thai monarchical system, though widely understood domestically, remains publicly censored and violently enforced by the strict constraints of Article 112, highlighting the urgent necessity for foreign media to break this pervasive silence.