Introduction to the Democracy Monument

The Democracy Monument is perhaps the most visible symbol in Bangkok. The monument marks the country’s peaceful transition from absolute monarchy to democracy which took place on June 24th, 1932. On that day, a group of 114 bureaucrats and military officers, calling themselves the Promoters, demanded a constitution from King Rama 7. The bloodless coup began at dawn and was over by noon bringing an end to 150 years of absolute monarchy in under 8 hours. Democracy came as a surprise to most; it all happened so quickly that most Thai citizens were hardly aware that anything had happened.

Unfortunately, conflicts within the Promoters thwarted the democratic process. A military government headed by Field Marshal Pibul Songkran rose to power marking a painful pattern of dictatorships and coups that would persist for another 58 years.

Ironically Pibul, the autocrat, had the Democracy Monument built in 1940 as a marching ground for his military. The monument wasn’t used in a democratic function until October 14, 1973 when some 500,000 pro-democracy demonstrators massed on Rajadamnoen. The pictures of the waves of people gathering around the Democracy Monument are extremely powerful and contributed to the popularity of the monument as the ideal rallying point for political demonstrations. Since the first pro-democracy demonstrations in 1973, the area around the Democracy Monument has witnessed four major political upheavals.

In May 1992, hundreds of thousands of middle-class workers, known as the mobile phone mob, used their handheld phones to organize impromptu demonstrations against yet another dictator. After three days of appalling military suppression of the Black May protests 44 people had been killed and almost 50 people had disappeared.

Less ambitious demonstrations also occasionally take place here. In 2000, a man attempted to set fire to the Democracy Monument to draw attention to his claims that a microchip had been implanted in his head by doctors at a local hospital without his consent. After leaving the hospital, he planned an arson attack on the Democracy Monument to call attention to his plight.

‘Democ,’ as it is popularly known, was designed by an Italian artist named Corrado Feroci who came to Bangkok in 1923 after King Rama VI requested the Italian government to send a sculptor to train Thai artists. In spite of his Italian roots, he is considered to be the father of modern Thai art and architecture. After gaining Thai citizenship in 1946, Corrado Feroci changed his name to Silpa Bhirasi.

Bhirasi’s monument is loaded with symbolism, much of which is not immediately apparent:

• The four wings of the monument measure 24 meters in height signifying the 24th of June when the People’s Group began their revolution for a constitutional democracy.
• Each wing is engraved. The first wing has images of the revolution by military force. The second wing portrays the role of civil society in the revolution. The third and fourth wing show the life of the Thai people after the revolution.
• There are 75 cannons linked together by an iron chain around the monument. They mark the year 2475 Buddhist Era in which the revolution took place.
• At the center of the monument stands a 4-ton pedestal tray made of bronze which holds the constitution aloft. It is three meters high signifying the third month of the year in the traditional Thai calendar which was the month when the revolution took place.
• The six swords which decorate the central constitutional stand represent the six principles for governing the country: Independence, Inner Peace, Equality, Liberty, Economics, and Education.

In 2003 the monument received a facelift for the global APEC conference. The entire structure was repainted, including its circular foundation and the four large wings. The “yellow egg peel” color was carefully selected to match the original shade which was determined after researchers peeled back several layers of paint to extract color samples of the original coat.