I left Vietnam and flew to Thailand and December 5th, the king's birthday. I am not sure who knows what about Thailand, but (understatement coming) the king is very popular.
All Thais love the king. It is blasphemy not to. In fact, I hear it is illegal to step on the paper money because the king’s image is on the bills.
And when I say they love the king, I mean they go all out in support of him. They ask me, “What do you think of my king, what do you hear about our king in your country?” Not the king, but my king. They take ownership of him, treat him as their one of their family, respect and revere him, like nothing I have ever seen before. And with good reason. He is a great man who has done a lot of great things for Thailand in his 60 years on the throne, including helping it remain the only Southeast Asian country that has never been colonized by the west.
(I won’t dare talk about the government here, that’s a-whole-nother-story, we are just talking about the king). He is a great unifying presence in Thailand. And his 80th birthday was on December 5th, so there was a week's worth of celebrations going on to support him. I met my friend Pauline in Bangkok; she had the yellow shirt waiting for me (remember the king’s color is yellow, so on Mondays (and several other days) people wear yellow “long live the king” shirts to show support). Anyway, there were parades, fireworks, candle-lighting ceremonies, and hundreds of thousands of Thais, and a few farang (foreigners) waiting anxiously to see the king ride by in his car. It was so exciting to be a part of this festive atmosphere. Free candles, flags, water, food, etc, were passed out to the revelers, and people cheered when his car finally drove by. I got to see him too! And yes, this is me, marching with the military down the street to the next parade site. So cool! What a world away from the (ick) backpacker scene on Khao San Road.
I next went to visit Pauline’s family up north for a few days – it was fun to be part of a Thai family for a day or two. They are so cute! We went to MK for hotpot, where you cook a big family-style soup at your table. I know some of you think what’s the point if you have to cook it yourself, but I promise, this is fun. We also went around the night markets in search of my favourite desert, mango and sticky rice. Yum. Yes, this has been a food-filled holiday. I need to get back in the gym. Haha.
Then, after a few days back in Bangkok, I came to a quiet beach to do some reading, writing, dvd-watching, relaxing, and basically, nothing. I needed a bit of down time. So here I am. More from me in a few days.
But in case I am a slacker and don’t write for a while, Happy Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, New Year and any other holidays I might be missing.
PS My phone number whilst in Thailand the next few weeks is
ps photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=76270&l=f8c11&id=791230081
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