While living abroad we feel honoured to share in the Thai culture. We love learning about the traditions, and we especially love sharing that with the kids. Their questions always put us on the spot! You cannot experience a country without knowing more about its people and history.
One of the most notable things about the people of Thailand is how much they love their former king. The love and respect the Thai people have for their former king was something we felt even on our first trip to Thailand four years ago. His people loved him wholeheartedly. This was clear not only because his pictures were posted everywhere but it was clear in the way they spoke about him. He was revered as a demigod who became the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Of course there may be a group of people who don't feel that way about him but around us the love for him seems genuine.
When he passed away, even us as foreigners (or Farangs as they like to call us here) were sad. It was hard not to feel the emotions because all around us people cried, immediately changed their daily attire to black and even more of his pictures dominated the streets, the malls, and every building. Lucky for us who don't know much about him, many places immediately installed exhibits about him. We learned he was an avid saxophone player, we learned he was a photographer, a writer, and a painter, among other things. It was definitely interesting to see how a country came together to show how much they loved their king. They apparently ran out of black ink soon after he passed away because of how much black they were using for clothing, etc.
Just before the one year anniversary of his death, the people were told to wear black again for a good part of October. Although we never got out of the muted colours since last year, now we were back with the black. More images were posted of him around Bangkok and yellow flowers were planted everywhere in preparation for his cremation (yellow is the colour of the king). Thousands of Thais waited days outdoors so that they can get closer to the Grand Palace and see part of the cremation ceremony.
Even though the kids were off the week of his cremation, Mike was requested to stay in town because the Governor General of Canada was coming to attend the cremation ceremonies and so we also stayed in town experienced the city in full morning. On the day of the cremation, the streets were empty (this is unheard of in Bangkok), most places were closed, every single billboard was broadcasting the ceremony and people were glued to their phones or tvs watching. It was a moment in history and we were here to live it. A sad day but also a day for a lesson in history to celebrate Thai traditions and his excellency King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The kids watched the ceremony for most part of the day and then when Mike came home from work we took them for a long scooter ride around the empty city. The roads were clear so we felt comfortable scootering around further than our usual couple blocs.
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