Long Live The King

On December 5th, we celebrated the 87th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as Rama IX (the ninth king of this dynasty), and affectionately referred to by Thais as po kong prathet (พ่อของประเทศ)   which means Father of the Country. Many Thais wear yellow all month long in The King's honor (yellow is the color-of-the-day for Monday, the day on which The King was born). The King was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts while his father studied at Harvard,  he is the only living monarch to be born in the United States. In 1946, when he was only eighteen years old, Rama IX began his reign, and has been on the throne for the better part of the past century (over 68 years). He is currently the longest-serving head of state in the world, the longest reigning monarch in Thai history, and for the vast majority of the Thai population, he has been the only reigning king of their lifetime.  (Side note for history buffs, the history of the Siam/Thai throne is quite interesting, right down to the series of events that led to Rama IX's ascension.)
 

The King is greatly revered in Thailand, the level of respect and admiration that people hold for him was described to me by a Thai colleague as compared to what many Westerners may feel towards a modern-day Jesus Christ/Mother Theresa/Princess Diana/Michael Jackson, all in one person. The King is most known for his kind heart and his generosity; he is also an artist, photographer, accomplished musician, and very intelligent; he holds patents for his invention of rain cloud makers, he has been involved in social and economic projects and has made tremendous contributions in the medical and agricultural reform of the country; he led the country into its democratic state; and everyone agrees that he is quite handsome. The King's portrait can be found in just about every home, school, office, business place, market place, courtyard, and major street intersection across the country. Despite laws that prohibit anything (spoken or written word, forms of art, music, movies, etc) that may be deemed as insulting to the throne, the love that Thais have for their King seems to be quite genuine. 

 

This year, the King was unable to make his much anticipated birthday address due to doctor's orders. It was stated that he is not in fact ill, but rather recovering from recent illness and medical procedures. The King's health has been declining for the past several years and everyone hopes persistently for his improved health and wellness. The King is truly loved and has done a tremendous lot for the country and for the people throughout his reign, understandably, most Thais cannot imagine a Thailand without the beloved King and I cannot imagine the state of *indescribable emotion* that the country will be in if when he is  no longer with us. To the King, and for the sake of the people, I join the country to sincerely wish him many more birthdays, and the best of health, strength, and sound mind to the very end of his days.

 

 
 
This year, the King's birthday fell on a Friday, there were various activities throughout the week, however my time was spent primarily in the schools. On Thursday, I spent my morning at school and the afternoon at a cultural/agricultural exhibition/festival in my district, then Friday, which was a national holiday, was all about preparing for the evening's ceremonies. Below are some pictures that from the festivities that I attended in my district.


With Kru Toi at our community's booth

 

A troupe from our community dressed in traditional gear for the opening performance

The leader of our district and his team at our booth to inspect and judge for the competition



Some items from our booth



Produce grown and decorated in our local villages

Such lovely arrangements!



And guaranteed deliciousness :-)

 


Different strains of rice



Craft items, clothing, and purses for sale, all locally made



More clothes and a photo display of various community events

We also brought fish from our pond at the local government office where we've been raising fish and frogs

Teachers passed through with their students to check out our display and identify the various plants and fruits

Our Nayoke/Mayor collecting the prize, our booth won FIRST PLACE!!

  

With one of my school directors, We are #1!

The leader of our district opening the day's events

 

District leader doing a demonstration of the afternoon's first activity.
First you shake the rice grains off of the stalks

Then toss the stalks over to your partner

Now let the games begin! I called it "The Rice Games"

Stalks are separated to be rebundled for feed



Rice is mortar and pestle'd out of the husk



Then the husks are sifted away

Check it out! I don't think we placed in this competition after the rice was weighed, but I sure learned a lot!

 

They told me to give it a try. But I wasn't fast enough or strong enough apparently lol

I was resigned to taking pictures and having my hand held

 

The stage all set for the evening's events



With Pii Baow, our community development officer,
who has recently been assigned as my counterpart.

Pii Baow and Pii Noi (my host mom) assisting the Nayoke/Mayor
in paying homage to the King

 

Paying homage to the King on behalf of our community


 

Government officials, community leaders, and other representatives from every
community/subdistrict lined up to pay respect to The King

Once everyone had gone, candles were lit and national songs were sung

Officials from my community

All officials were dressed in various forms of traditional Thai-wear

The candles were all placed onto this sand table. This is part of Buddhist merit making ritual,
and usually when I see this, I think of it as resembling a giant ash tray,
but this night, it most certainly resembled a giant birthday cake

All of the tributes to the king

And then the performances began



Performers from the secondary school in my community




Maw-lam-sing -- regional song and dance -- performed by our local government office.
We won SECOND PLACE!

 

The celebration was wonderful, and lasted well past my bedtime, but it was incredible. As Father of the Country, The King's birthday also doubles as Father's Day in Thailand. The Father's Day aspect of the day seemed to have been overshadowed by all of the celebrations of the King's birthday though. I believe that some schools had ceremonies, but I was not able to witness any this year. Nonetheless, I wanted to close off by giving a Father's Day shout-out to all of the father's reading my blog, especially my own! 

Happy Father's Day Daddy!
Thank you for your love and support.