On Being in Bangkok.
Please Pay your Respects to His Majesty the King.
I thought long and hard how to name this story. I narrowed it down to two lines each of them containing the sole of Bangkok. The first one, the one I ended up choosing is a phrase I heard at a Thai movie theatre. Sitting in a comfy soft chars enjoying our popcorn and coke we were stunned to be greeted by soft hymn. The movie screen kept showing photos of the Thai king and the Royal couple: “Please, pay your respects to his majesty the King”. Every single person in a theatre was up standing for about 5 minutes the music played. There were no enforcers. I can’t imagine anyone in North America for whom every person in a movie theatre would leave his popcorn and stand for 5 minutes, maybe the Pope or Archbishop Tutu. Maybe - being a key word.
The amazing amount respect shown by people of Thailand to their king is entirely genuine. The central street features huge portraits of the king and the queen. My mind kept supplying the visions of Lenin statues that used to litter main squares of all Russian cities, but the awe in the voice of the tour guide kept overriding it. Driving through the wide avenue he kept showing us the portraits of a King. A normal bespectacled guy in a suit holding a photo camera was looking from the portrait at the traffic around.
It is hard to imagine the Queen of England dressed up in a normal dress holding
a camera. The King of Thailand is presented as people’s king. He is not
a part of history. He is a part of normal everyday life of Thai people. He is
a keeper of balance, of stability, of unity of Thailand. He deserves the respect
shown to him by his people.
©Lidia Bhaskar, 2003