back seat

Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends

Kickin' in the front seat

Sittin' in the back seat

Gotta make my mind up

Which seat can I take?

The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life.