Long Live the King (by Laura)

December 5th, a full moon night, was the King of Thailand's official birthday. He was 79 and it is also 60 years since he was crowned. The King is revered throughout Thailand (notably far more so than our Queen in the UK and similarly to other countries in the Far East), principally for his benevolence and ability to connect with his people (see above, a typical array of national and sovereign yellow flags).

He was born on a Monday (which signifies yellow) therefore on the day itself and in the run up, a large majority of people were wearing yellow t-shirts and had yellow flowers in their hair. In the north we have also seen entire fields planted with yellow flowers.

On the day, there were large pictures of the monarch on every corner (similar to small shrines you might see in India- see right), no alcohol was served (as this was the King's wish) and the local children led a parade through the streets (see left and below).

After the recent coup, it was reported that the Thai people were waiting for a sign from the King that he approved of the move, before they accepted it peacefully. Apparently, some also suspect that he may actually have been behind it, seeing it as the only way of ensuring that the nation could start afresh and put an end to the increasing level of perceived corruption in Thaksin's (the ousted PM) regime.

The King is the formal Head of State; however, as in the UK, he has no formal powers.

The Crown Prince, who is about 50, is the next in line to the throne, but is said to be increasingly unpopular - there are abundant rumours about possible corruption and drugs.

We have also encountered a level of cynicism in expat "farang" opinion about the country's devotion to their sovereign - it is apparently dangerous to criticise the King in public, he is incredibly protected in the press and by a number of different laws and a number of politicians have been denounced for comments, however innocuous, made in Parliament.

So it is unclear to us as to whether the acts of devotion are through a genuine respect and reverence or through the desire to demonstrate this in public. However, the presence of a figure who has such an ability to unify a country and potentially to stabilise, is clearly of huge importance to a people who do not yet fully trust their government or military.

Laura