Paper short abstract:

A compulsory colour scheme for mourning the late Thai king turned the nation black/white. This was no mere expression of sorrow, but part of a political colour management using bodies and rituals as its prime material carriers. The paper studies how colours shape the Thai political landscape.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses the colour politics in Thailand in mourning King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927-2016), venerated as divine. Upon the king's demise, the military junta made it mandatory to express grief and mourning when appearing in public space, declaring black and white compulsory colours of mourning. Bodies, (social) media, street decorations, works of art: the entire nation turned black-and-white. It is argued that the obligation was not a self-evident ritualized way of expressing sorrow, gratitude or respect, but is part of broader practices of colour management that uses bodies, arts and rituals as its prime material carriers. Taking the intimidating enforcement of the colour code as point of departure, this paper fleshes out how colours have been shaping the Thai political landscape since the 1990s, when people began wearing yellow and light-blue polo-shirts to express their veneration for the king (yellow) and queen (light blue). With economic and political divisions deepening - culminating in the clash between the so-called Red Shirts ('pro-democracy') and Yellow Shirts ('pro-monarchy') and the eventual end to democracy - the mourning period gave the junta the opportunity to conceal the political tensions by engaging the entire population in black/white mourning rituals, as materializations of the supposed 'unique Thai quality of unison'. One focus will be on the call to the people to grow yellow marigolds for decorating houses, shops, streets, statues, portraits and bodies during the cremation period, such to enable the eventual transition from black/white to yellow, the colour of the sacred (cf. Taussig 2009).