A well-known Thai historian points out that the practice of standing for the Royal Anthem in Thai theatres was adopted from Britain about a hundred years ago, and was long dropped by the British people.

Dr Charnvit Kasetsiri, a historian and former Rector of Thammasat University, said that in the 1910s, the early days of cinemas, when the showing of a movie was finished in Britain, the image of King George would be projected onto the screen, and the anthem ‘God Save the King’ would be played.  The practice came about when England wanted to promote nationalism and loyalty to the monarchy, under the motto ‘God, King, and Country’.

At that time, Britain was fighting Germany in World War I, and the King of England had to behave like a real English one, changing his family name from the German 'Saxe-Coburg-Gotha' to the English ‘Windsor’.

The practice was strictly observed in Britain, and was forced in the British colonies worldwide, including India, Malaya, and Burma.

The practice was continued until the early reign of Queen Elizabeth.  It was dropped in late 1950s and early 1960s when students of Oxford and Cambridge did not comply and protested.  They walked out the cinemas after the movies finished.  Authorities and cinema owners tried moving the anthem before movies, but to no avail. 

The practice was adopted in Siam, now Thailand, by the British-educated Thais and cinema owners.  Initially, the anthem was played after movies, while adverts preceded the movies.  In 1970s, the anthem was moved to precede movies as it still does today.

Charnvit understood that nowadays the practice had been dropped in all European countries, as well as former colonies.

Somsak Jeamtheerasakul, also a historian from Thammasat University, argued in the Same Sky web-board that the practice in Siam did not begin with movies, but traditional entertainments, especially Likay or musical folk dramas.  When movies, a new kind of entertainment, came in, the practice was applied to them as well.

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