The king sees student demonstrators as either paid or manipulated (with echos of how the amart speak of those who vote for pro-Thaksin Shinawatra parties). A Life’s Work manages to transform the king as supporter of the military regime into a political savior and democrat. It was the opening of palace gates to students fleeing the military’s guns that made the legend of the student-supporting king. However, the prediction that a far right government would be “disastrous for Thailand” seems reasonable. On 5 November 1976, Cole writes about the current political situation.