[Meerenuch]

Heated discussion!!! Hehehe

Calm down people....

The King of Thailand is held in such high esteem because it is part of Thai culture. Thai people are very protective of their king to an extent that they may even see him as holy and god-like.

Influenced by India and Bhraman tradition, 'the King' is seen as, how shall I describe this, almost like a higher being than a mere human being. He is king by birth right and he was born king because of some superior power/being will it to be so. This is the basic to the Thai culture of holding the king in such high esteem. Some people still believe that the king is literally a higher being from heaven who was born on this earth to manage the country. Also, in the past, Thai kings rule communities with smaller number of people (smaller populations) and could afford to be closer to them. They did have some sort of fatherly relationship with their people. So, Thai people also see their king as a sort of 'father figure' too. And such tradition still exists today.

Whether this is right or wrong, or whether it is in some way just idolising people or not, it is not my place to say.

Personally, I think the present king of Thailand has proven to be very hard working even when he does not really need to be. He travels to places where you would not have thought habitable, meet his people who live in extremely harsh condition and devotes his time to improve their living conditions. He was and still is responsible for lots of projects and schemes to improve the lives of a lot of Thai people over all.

I don't know if you know/remember this but the present king actually put a stop to a few political chaos in his time. I don't know if you know/remember the killing of innocent protesters by the military in Thailand in 'prurt-sa-pa-ta-min' quite a few years ago which forced the king to intervened I won't go into details now or I'll end up writing a book about it!). The King actually asked the two conflicting party leaders to sit in front of him and talk to them, finding out what was wrong and put a stop to the chaos. The discussion was televised all over Thailand and in some part of the world too. I saw part of this and really truly admire his skills in the matter. True, he is the king and could probably force people to just obey him. But he has done more than that.

This is why Thai people are so protective of their king and even an innocent question to this behaviour stir up lots of anger. The present king, in my opinion, has done a lot of things to deserved the respect from his people. I do admire him for many things he said/done. Whether there are any flaws with his ways or characters, I do not know and am not too interested. Personally, I admire him for what he has done and what he is still to do.

Thais see the king as totally different to political leaders (as officially, he doesn't really have political power, more like prestige) for the reasons I have expleained above. If you call the king insane, then I can guarantee a lot of angry Thais at your doorstep. If you really want to 'equal the insult' to George Bush and call Prime Minister Thaksin insane, then I don't think too many Thais will have a problem with you. You are not comparing like with like equating Bush & the king of Thailand. The King is not a political figure, he does not become king voluntarily. He is more of a sentimental figure to Thais and to attack him like you would a political leader would bring unpleasent results indeed.

It is just a cultural issue. One that foreigners seem to have really puzzled over (maybe because they do not have the same sort of institution). I have tried to explain as best I could. But whatever you think, take it from me, for your own safety, don't ever bad mouth the king of Thailand to Thai people or express doubt about him in anyway. It will definitely offend a large number of people. It is a supreme 'no-no' subject. Any negative view of the king of Thailand or any ideas challenging the Thais' view of the king, keep them to yourself for your sake. I know it might go against 'freedom of speech' and whatever, but trust me, you really don't want to go there!