August 12th marks the Queen's birthday, and the national holiday of Mother's Day in her honour.
The Thais have a deep reverence for the royal family that is unparalleled in the first world countries.
The portraits of the queen started coming up a week ago all over the city. In her youth, she was a stunningly beautiful woman.
Above her beauty, though, are her accomplishments. As a promoter of religious tolerance and a major patroness of silk arts, she had played an influential role in reviving the art of silk weaving in Thailand.
She turns 76 tomorrow. The television stations are devotely following her activities the past few days. Ever major building, evening MBK, has a portrait of her. The smallest such portrait could not have been less than 15 feet tall.
Now, that's a whole definition of larger than life.
In the meantime, while the rest of you in the States are dragging your feet to work, I'll say "Happy Mother's Day" enjoying the freedom of my first Thai holiday off.
Photo from Wikipedia.com.
To exemplify how the Thais feel about their royal family, says Thailand's gold medalist Prapawadee Jaroenrattanatarakoon in women's weightlifting: I did it. This gold medal is for all Thais. I’ll present it to Her Majesty the Queen when I return home on the occasion of Mother’s Day.
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