Long Live the King

The people of Thailand love themselves a king. I am reminded of the monarch every day, his image is literally everywhere. In every house, on every overpass, in every corner of Bangkok his smiling face is shining down on the people of Thailand. Even at the movie theatre there is an ode to the king, a sweet soft song sung in Thai with images of the King back in the day when he was handsome and debonaire. The entire audience puts down their tub of popcorn for a moment and stands up to respect, "Rama IX the Great" AKA.... Phrabat Somdej Phra Paramindra Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej Mahitaladhibet Ramadhibodi Chakrinarubodindara Sayamindaradhiraj Boromanatbophit พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรมินทรมหาภูมิพลอดุลยเดช มหิตลาธิเบศรามาธิบดี จักรีนฤบดินทร์ สยามินทราธิราช บรมนาถบพิตร. Thailand and their freaking long names. In fact, on a side note, the longest place name in the world is the Thai name for the city of Bangkok, which in is 163 letters long:

Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphop
nopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharn
amornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit.

Some interesting facts about this revered man. According to the Guiness book of world records, he holds more honorary degrees than anyone else in the world (136). He is the worlds longest reigning monarch (64 years). He holds several patents on rain making, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, he loves jazz music (Bangkok is full of jazz clubs as a result), he plays the piano, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, and cornet. He is an author of a book about his dog (which for that, I love him the most). The king suffers from lumbar spine stenosis and just celebrated his 82 birthday. Oh yeah, anyone who is charged with insulting, or defaming him can be prosecuted. If proven guilty, the penalty is to be jailed for three to fifteen years. So now I try to say, 'long live the king' at least twice a day.

On Saturday, as I was walking through my favorite art corner of Chatachuk market, I came across these gems of our beloved King. Long live the King!