Tributes to the King

Thailand - as I see it. 

Every few miles, or kilometers in Thailand, one can see a tribute to the King.  Huge billboards are colorful, crisp and usually gold in color.  There are little pagodas, small signs of the King, overhead bridge concrete structures every so often.  Some of the pictures are of the King and his wife.  In the movie theaters we watch many previews of movies to come, usually modernistic and quite violent previews.  But I will discuss movie theaters in another blog.  I wanted to tell of the movie of the King, before the feature film.  Music is played and everyone stands and watches a movie of the King and Thailand.  The movie, the national anthem, shows how everyone works together, is friendly, and loves Thailand.  We see soldiers, nurses, doctors, police, teachers, football players, and children playing together. The song is beautiful and many sing along.  Everyone is reverent, all stand up and noone moves for the two or three minutes.  The music stops and all sit and get ready for the show.

The King is a handsome man and a perfect example for the people to look up to.  In every restaurant, bar, hotel, home and any other building, one sees the King on calendars, framed pictures, and posters from long ago.  There are not too many pictures of the present as he is getting older.  I mentioned that to my son, who said that I should not say that.  Everyone only says good about the King and does not say that he is getting older.  He is held in the highest regard by all at all times.  An interesting side note is that when you go into a large store like a Home Depot, there seems to be more workers than customers.  Thailand is a service oriented country and all workers are there to serve you well.  The King sets standards of excellence and the people show it in their daily lives.
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