Thais exuberantly celebrate their King’s 60th year on the throne, 2006. Photo from European Photopress Agency.
“I’m not standing for the King,” the German man behind me snapped. “I’m standing because I want to.”
A few hundred passengers, awaiting trains in Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station, had risen with the opening chords of the national anthem. Expats, locals and tourists faced a giant portrait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
It was my first day in the country, so I did not have the European gentleman’s conviction – I only straightened my legs because everyone else did. Should I place a palm over my heart, or knock fingers against my forehead in salute? Was the King alive, dead or simply resting after a kidney-stone removal?
Photos of this 85-year-old monarch adorn daily objects, from clocks to pencil holders.
But after living in Thailand for several months, I’ve come to recognize his (does the King deserve a capital H?) image and influence over the country. Known as a reformer who loves his people, they’ve responded by adding “The Great” to his name.
And while many visitors arrive in Bangkok with little more than a faint idea of Full Moon parties and southern islands, Thai respect for their King is a huge part of the cultural experience.
Here are a few important ways to show respect:
- Don’t say anything that may be mildly misconstrued as condemning. The recent death of a Thai prisoner, serving a 20-year sentence for defamatory text messages, has thrown this Free Speech issue into the public press.
- Don’t deface anything that has the King’s head; this includes standing on a coin with your dirty foot, or folding the baht bills to make the King’s mouth smile or frown.
- Don’t lick stamps that feature the King’s bespectacled stare.
- D0 wear yellow on Mondays, to celebrate the King’s physical passage into sovereignty.
- Do stand up when the national anthem is played in public buildings (transportation stations, movie theaters) or over public communication systems (radio, tv, Buddhist temples).
- Don’t hang anything on your wall higher than the one (or 10) calendar(s) of the King, which over-inundate every loyal Thai household.
- Do celebrate all royal birthdays (the King has a family, after all) as public holidays.
- Don’t illegally burn or buy an illegal copy of any patriotic DVDs, especially those portraying the royal family.
- Don’t purchase or sell copies of The King Never Smiles, an unauthorized autobiography of his 66-plus year reign. One US citizen, caught translating online portions of the text into Thai, was arrested – 5 years after posting them on his blog.
- Don’t report me for that lowercase ‘h’; even badly-placed Facebook “likes” that appear degrading can be cause for jailing.
Surely letting the King sit outside, with a broken leg, is highly offensive?… Mae Hong Son province, Thailand.
Kelli Mutchler left a small, Midwest American town to prove that Yanks can, and do, chose alternative lifestyles. On the road for five years now, Kelli has tried news reporting and waitressing, bungy jumping and English teaching. Currently working with Burmese women refugees in Thailand, she hopes to pursue a MA in Global Development. Opportunities and scenes for international travel are encouraged on her blog, www.toomutchforwords.com.
