the picture in every house

it is no exaggeration that almost every single house in thailand display at least a picture of the royalty. to say that thais respect the king is an understatement.

paul m. handley, the author of "the king never smiles" put a counter argument about the halo that surrounds the king's image. i must say that it is quite well-argued, but whether it is constructed or not, it is hard to deny that the king is the unifying force of the country. minorities in the south, who did not go to school to receive what some would charge as the "propaganda", but are discriminated against by other ethnic thais, feels that they are "subjects of the king" but do not belong to the thai government. when illegal migrants in the north wants to show their gratitude to the country for hosting them, they do it by showing respect to the king, not the thai government.

of course, there are many different pictures of the king. the most common ones are him holding on to a map, with a camera slinged around his neck, consulting the people, giving suggestions or inspecting the royal projects aimed at improving the lives of the people.

but this is my favourite of them all, where he greeted a leper with such affection.



"ที่ของข้าพเจ้าในโลกนี้
คือการที่ได้อยู่ท่ามกลางประชาชนของข้าพเจ้า
นั้นคือคนไทยทั้งปวง"

"my place in the world
is to be with my people
- all thai people"

in celebration of his 81st birthday