3 - Meeting of the Kings

Summary

One endearing image of the Thai-American Cold War diplomacy features an image of two ‘kings’ – Bhumibol Adulyadej, the king of Thailand, and Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, on the set of the movie musical G.I. Blues. The meeting took place during King Bhumibol’s state visit to the United States in 1960. His stopover in California was often described as an extended family holiday, therefore being denied its significance as an ingenious diplomatic spectacle. It was this image of the two kings inside the soundstage of Paramount Studios that helped to secure Thailand’s diplomatic allegiance and the future of its monarchy. This chapter traces historical accounts and different perspectives presented in the visual documents of the royal tour of the United States. It focuses on an image captured by a Hollywood photographer, Nat Dallinger, to illustrate how the Thai-US post-war diplomatic event relied on the Hollywood’s ‘dream machine’ to establish itself as an epicentre of goodwill, prosperity, and power. The chapter also proposes that the 1960 diplomatic event, despite its internationalist outlook, was meant for the Thai audience, and its image of diplomacy formulated a ‘mirror stage’ of the Thailand’s post–Second World War identity.