in tribute to a leader that i really respect

my next few post over the next few days will be as a form of tribute to the king of thailand, in celebration of his 81th birthday on 5th of december.

my respect for him did not come overnight. like all who visited thailand for the first time, i did wonder why is the king so highly revered in the country. it was only through reading his biographies did i understand what he has done.

now some might argue that his eminence and respect given by the thais were done through propaganda. if it was true, do consider the following
1) if what he has done is all fluff, why was he awarded the UN human development award?
2) why did he earn the respect of so many foreigners, including me, who have not read any thing that was written by thais?

i do agree that news about him can be a little bias. but to consider it as "propaganda", like what was written in "the king never smiles", i think it is a little extreme. besides, the book, in its intention to be more critical, was still unable to deny the contributions the king has done for his people. that is the source of my respect for him.



he and his brother fell in love with jazz while they were studying. this is one of his composition