SIAM: Garden of Smiles

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"The Royal Guards, in their red coats, black pants and spiked helmets, stood as stiffly as guards at Buckingham Palace. But there was a difference. In Siam there is always a difference. Water boys stood by the guards, watching them closely. When they saw a soldier close his eyes and sway, they would rush up, slosh water down his neck and give him a whiff of smelling salts.

"When at last the King came ashore, three small airplanes circled overhead dropping parachutes with bunches of flowers and spraying puffed rice (the gift of greeting) over the town. In a pavilion near the landing stage, the King sat down on his throne and his uncle, the Prince Regent, turned over the powers of the state to him. The King took up the sword of state and thanked the regent. Then, glancing at the Master of the Royal Household to make sure it was all right, the King walked over and exchanged a few words with the British and U.S. ambassadors. He spoke a few words into a golden microphone and stepped into his Daimler, which started with a jerk."

Traditional, You Know. "At intervals during the ceremonies he tried to keep cool by taking showers. On the morning after his arrival the King gave rice to mendicant: (as do all good Siamese householders), took another shower and then went to receive the Candle Blessing at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, a 30-inch figure made of jasper. It sits in a circular room whose walls are covered with murals of scenes from Buddha's life. The murals are as explicit as comic strips, but they have a freshness and a beguiling charm that comic strips have not.

"The King entered followed by a double row of nobles and officers of the guard dressed in the white uniform of the Chakkri dynasty to which Phumiphon belongs. A group of their wives (the King's own wives* used to play this role) stood in a square around the back of the altar, separated from the men on each side by a little fence with an opening in it. Last to enter were three Brahman priests in lacy cassocks, who stood near the door in front of a small table covered with candles and incense pots. When all were in place, conch-shell music came sobbing in through the temple doorways. Phumiphon bowed deeply to the Emerald Buddha, knelt and touched his forehead to the floor before minor statues of the god, and lit candles before each. Everyone sat down.

Flutes joined the conch shells and the music came louder. The Brahman priests were chanting softly. Incense began to fill the air. One by one 15 candles were lit, and in chain they began to pass from hand to hand clockwise through the little opening from the men to the women.

"Three times the chain of candles made the circuit, drums joining the music triumphantly at the completion of each circuit, and then the candles were passed back to the table where the Brahmans blew them out. The ceremony ended with the symbolic cleansing of the King's feet: the chief priest crawled to the King, anointed his shoes with scented water and wiped them with a silk scarf.