Reign of Virtue: A New Phase of Buddhist Kingship in Contemporary Thailand

This article examines the shifting modalities of royal authority under Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), whose reign has strategically reconfigured traditional religious ideology, termed as Royal Thai Buddhist Nationalism (RTBN). Recent portrayals have recast Rama X as a dhammarāja, a benevolent monarch embodying Buddhist virtue. Central to this transition is the 904 Royal Volunteer program, ostensibly promoting civic engagement and loyalty to the monarchy through orchestrated public service. Rather than marking a linear progression to virtue, the article presents that the new reign has embraced and shuffled a dual face of the royal governance model, integrating institutional pressure with virtues through symbolic performances of civic engagement under the royal banner. This strategy represents a secularization of royal virtues, shifting moral legitimacy from traditional religious institutions to state-managed civic activities under royal patronage. The study reveals the program’s operations as bureaucratically orchestrated, emphasizing symbolic visibility over substantive public welfare. Ultimately, this recalibration of RTBN reflects the adaptive attempt of the crown to maintain legitimacy amidst contemporary democratic pressures and societal expectations.