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Under the Nine-Tiered Umbrella
Honoring the Thai King
By TERRY McCARTHY
December 8, 1999
Web posted at 7 a.m. Hong Kong time, 6 p.m. EDT
There are few subjects that are more sensitive to write about in Asia than the King of Thailand. The laws of lèse majesté are strict, and have been used against Thais and foreigners alike--in the late '80s a foreign tourist got into serious trouble for trapping a stray 100 baht note with his foot that had been blown off his table by a gust of wind. All banknotes in Thailand have the image of the King, and by putting his foot on the King's head the hapless tourist was committing a crime of unimaginable proportions.
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But as far as we commoners can work out, the King himself is not overly concerned with the elaborate system of deference and honor that encases him. The only man in Thailand who is permitted to walk under the nine-tiered umbrella also seems the least interested in such traditional niceties, merely pursuing his work with his customary dedication. The real sticklers for protocol are the palace retainers, who will stop at nothing to venerate their sovereign. Sometimes this gets taken to extreme lengths.
Some years ago a reporter and a photographer from TIME were accompanying the King on an upcountry trip. It is on such visits to simple country folk that the King has seemed most relaxed, and it was an opportunity for the journalists to see him at work.
The village was in the Northeast where the soil was principally laterite-based, that deep-red powdery earth which turns into something resembling bolognaise sauce during the rainy season. The trip in question occurred after a particularly heavy downpour, but the King was not put off by the muddy conditions. He went ahead with his village visit, followed by his full entourage of palace officials, resplendent as ever in their white uniforms with gold trimmings.
For centuries Thais were forbidden to even look at their King, let alone talk to him, and although since King Chulalongkorn such restrictions have been lifted, there are still many people in the countryside who don't dare raise their eyes to their monarch. So the King passed through the village with most of the inhabitants kneeling respectfully on either side of the mud road.
At the end of the village, however, an old man spoke up from his crouching position on the ground, and the King turned to listen. It concerned the matter of an irrigation canal that the King had promised would be built on a previous visit--the old man felt the local officials had not carried out the task properly. To hear him better, the King squatted down by the roadside...
...at which point, every single courtier, mindful of the ban on anyone occupying a higher position than the King, immediately prostrated himself on bolognaise alley. The King listened graciously to his aged subject, made a few notes and straightened up again to walk off. The villagers were delighted with the visit of their sovereign, and the interest he had taken in their welfare. And the TIME reporters tried very hard to keep a straight face at the sight of the retainers, rising from the mud with their beautiful white uniforms dripping with red gunk.
TIME's recent story on the King
The King and Ire:
During his 53 years on the throne, the monarch has tried to balance the nation's bright face with its sometimes dark reality
Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com
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