Inside several Chanthaburi shops, I spotted two hanging pieces of paper, with writing, lay out in curious patterns, and a vertical alligator. These weren't cutesy decorations, but deadly serious talismans, there to ward off evil and reel in good fortune.
Anyone who has visited a Thai restaurant anywhere is likely to have seen a framed photo of King Bhumibol. Ruling for 70 years, he died with a fortune of $30 billion, the most of any royal worldwide. In Bangkok, Chonburi, Rayong and Chanthaburi, I saw his likeness everywhere. Since it's illegal to criticize the king in Thailand, of course you'll only see adulation, but still, no one is coerced into displaying ten images of Bhumibol on a wall, such as I saw in a small store.
My Thai beer buddy, Somchai, said that Bhumibol was deeply concerned about agriculture. He investigated different types of rice, introduced new methods of growing it and visited farmers regularly to hear their concerns. The king even invented the chaipattana aerator. A low-cost buoy with propellers that oxygenates bodies of water, it's in use all over Thailand. Thai agriculture was revolutionized by Bhumibol, Somchai stressed. Packing and exporting longans, my friend and his wife own two cars and have two daughters in college. Thailand's per capita income is fourth highest in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore, Malaysia and oil-rich Brunei.
Bhumibol's detractors can point to his association with a series of military strongmen and implicit endorsement of coups against elected leaders. Anti-democratic mobs wear yellow shirts to show their loyalty to the king.
Born in Cambridge, MA, Bhumibol spent most of his youth in Switzerland. At 18, he became king only after his older brother had died, from a bullet that may have been fired by Bhumibol himself, accidentally. This incident resulted in the wrongful convictions, then executions, of two hapless pages and a senator, plus the permanent expulsion of a prominent leftist, Pridi Banomyong, from Thai politics. With a love for Bach, jazz, ballet, fast cars, yachting and Paris, the thoroughly Westernized Bhumibol was reluctant to leave Europe, so it took him nearly four years to return to Bangkok to cremate his brother and be crowned, in elaborate ceremonies fraught with occult meanings.
Ignoring the taboo of never looking down on a king's head, American journalists at the coronation climbed on trees to get better shots, and one caused great offense when he loudly snapped his fingers, during a moment of silence, to get Bhumibol's attention. As a photography aficionado, perhaps the Divine Feet, Supremacy, Divine, Highest Indra, Great, Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power, Overlord of the Land, Overlord Rama, Overlord of Mankind from Chakri, Siamese Ruler, the Overlord, Supreme Holy Shelter understood and forgave these simian antics.
In East Asia, you just don't touch an adult's head or buttocks, but if a Japanese or Korean plays in the Major Leagues, then he'll just have to accept being gayly patted by his teammates episodically. Perhaps the ultimate insult to Thai heads was delivered by the French, when they occupied Chanthaburi from 1893 to 1905. The mirthful Gauls built a jail with a chicken coup over it, and Chicken sh*t Prison can still be seen today, just down the street from a 7-Eleven.
Chanthaburi's most beautiful building is a shrine to King Taksin (1734-82). Born to a Chinese father and Thai mother, he led an army to kick out the Burmese, restored the Thai nation and declared himself king. During a 15-year reign, Taksin fed the poor, dug canals, encouraged Chinese immigration, built up seaports, fostered international trades, snuffed out rebellions, invaded Laos, then finally went mad by declaring himself an incipient Buddha. By meditating and fasting, Taksin believed he could soon fly and turn his blood white. He gave religious lectures to monks, demanded that they worshipped him and flogged those who refused. Capriciously, Taksin jailed or tortured hundreds of other innocents.
Finally, a palace coup eliminated Taksin, and he was either decapitated or placed in a velvet sack and clubbed to death, since royal blood, red or white, should never touch the ground. A third version claims some poor replacement was bagged, so Taksin simply hightailed it to the Himalayas and dwelt in some stinking cave until he kicked the slop bucket at the overripe age of 80.
Around Chanthaburi, I also saw Taksin worshipped in homes and businesses, so Thai still revere this long-dead king for his many contributions to the Thai nation, just as they do with Bhumibol, for their accomplishments far outweigh their flaws.
In late 2014, an 81-year-old historian, Surak Sivarak, was charged with insulting a 16th century king, Naresuan, when he suggested that the long-cherished story of Naresuan's victory over a Burmese king in an elephant duel is likely nonsense. I'm surprised Sivarak wasn't put on trial for defaming the elephant, Chao Praya Prabhongsawadee, as well. Thanks to the mercy of Thailand's new king, the infamously crop top-wearing Vajiralongkorn, all charges were dropped in January of 2018, however.
Naresuan is the subject of a series of six over-the-top films, released in theaters over a nine-year period. The elephant duel alone has its own film.
Thais don't want anybody to chip at their heroes, in short. What a contrast this is to the USA, whose inhabitants are conditioned to doubt, sneer at or tear down all their great men, except one, Martin Luther King. The very concept has become risible. Quite tellingly, one of my commenters has this as her tagline, "Behind every great man is me rolling my eyes and doing the jerkoff motion."
Anyone who has visited a Thai restaurant anywhere is likely to have seen a framed photo of King Bhumibol. Ruling for 70 years, he died with a fortune of $30 billion, the most of any royal worldwide. In Bangkok, Chonburi, Rayong and Chanthaburi, I saw his likeness everywhere. Since it's illegal to criticize the king in Thailand, of course you'll only see adulation, but still, no one is coerced into displaying ten images of Bhumibol on a wall, such as I saw in a small store.
My Thai beer buddy, Somchai, said that Bhumibol was deeply concerned about agriculture. He investigated different types of rice, introduced new methods of growing it and visited farmers regularly to hear their concerns. The king even invented the chaipattana aerator. A low-cost buoy with propellers that oxygenates bodies of water, it's in use all over Thailand. Thai agriculture was revolutionized by Bhumibol, Somchai stressed. Packing and exporting longans, my friend and his wife own two cars and have two daughters in college. Thailand's per capita income is fourth highest in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore, Malaysia and oil-rich Brunei.
Bhumibol's detractors can point to his association with a series of military strongmen and implicit endorsement of coups against elected leaders. Anti-democratic mobs wear yellow shirts to show their loyalty to the king.
Ignoring the taboo of never looking down on a king's head, American journalists at the coronation climbed on trees to get better shots, and one caused great offense when he loudly snapped his fingers, during a moment of silence, to get Bhumibol's attention. As a photography aficionado, perhaps the Divine Feet, Supremacy, Divine, Highest Indra, Great, Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power, Overlord of the Land, Overlord Rama, Overlord of Mankind from Chakri, Siamese Ruler, the Overlord, Supreme Holy Shelter understood and forgave these simian antics.
In East Asia, you just don't touch an adult's head or buttocks, but if a Japanese or Korean plays in the Major Leagues, then he'll just have to accept being gayly patted by his teammates episodically. Perhaps the ultimate insult to Thai heads was delivered by the French, when they occupied Chanthaburi from 1893 to 1905. The mirthful Gauls built a jail with a chicken coup over it, and Chicken sh*t Prison can still be seen today, just down the street from a 7-Eleven.
Chanthaburi's most beautiful building is a shrine to King Taksin (1734-82). Born to a Chinese father and Thai mother, he led an army to kick out the Burmese, restored the Thai nation and declared himself king. During a 15-year reign, Taksin fed the poor, dug canals, encouraged Chinese immigration, built up seaports, fostered international trades, snuffed out rebellions, invaded Laos, then finally went mad by declaring himself an incipient Buddha. By meditating and fasting, Taksin believed he could soon fly and turn his blood white. He gave religious lectures to monks, demanded that they worshipped him and flogged those who refused. Capriciously, Taksin jailed or tortured hundreds of other innocents.
Finally, a palace coup eliminated Taksin, and he was either decapitated or placed in a velvet sack and clubbed to death, since royal blood, red or white, should never touch the ground. A third version claims some poor replacement was bagged, so Taksin simply hightailed it to the Himalayas and dwelt in some stinking cave until he kicked the slop bucket at the overripe age of 80.
Around Chanthaburi, I also saw Taksin worshipped in homes and businesses, so Thai still revere this long-dead king for his many contributions to the Thai nation, just as they do with Bhumibol, for their accomplishments far outweigh their flaws.
In late 2014, an 81-year-old historian, Surak Sivarak, was charged with insulting a 16th century king, Naresuan, when he suggested that the long-cherished story of Naresuan's victory over a Burmese king in an elephant duel is likely nonsense. I'm surprised Sivarak wasn't put on trial for defaming the elephant, Chao Praya Prabhongsawadee, as well. Thanks to the mercy of Thailand's new king, the infamously crop top-wearing Vajiralongkorn, all charges were dropped in January of 2018, however.
Naresuan is the subject of a series of six over-the-top films, released in theaters over a nine-year period. The elephant duel alone has its own film.
Thais don't want anybody to chip at their heroes, in short. What a contrast this is to the USA, whose inhabitants are conditioned to doubt, sneer at or tear down all their great men, except one, Martin Luther King. The very concept has become risible. Quite tellingly, one of my commenters has this as her tagline, "Behind every great man is me rolling my eyes and doing the jerkoff motion."
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