Thailands Ladies
 

I find it sad that when I asked if the King had only one queen I was told yes but he also had 17 ladies who are officially recognised, indeed a painting was on display in one of the Palaces of his women including the Queen.

It seems to me they set the example to the young ladies of Thailand who sell themselves, afterall are they doing anything different, would they be with the King if he was a Tuk Tuk Driver ?

Are you sure somebody's not pulling your leg here John? I've never heard this before. In fact all I've ever heard is that the present king is a very sober-minded, conservative, highly principled family man. Part of the reason why he is so revered by Thais is because he's not a womaniser and is devoted to his wife and family. And one of the main reasons many Thais are opposed to the idea of the prince ever becoming king is because of his womanising. Thais don't consider this appropriate behaviour for a monarch.
As for the painting on display in one of the palaces of his women including the Queen, I’d say who ever told you that is trying to be funny. I’m sure they are portraits of royal family members – there are many various members.

I agree, Tex. I think John has been led astray. I, too, expect he saw a portrait of the whole royal family.

Somebody's leg has been pulled -- this is absolute rubbish.

i agree....it was only with the birth last year of the prince's son that the playboy prince was well accepted back by the king...he had not been well liked by the people either....

the maiden princess seems to be the favorite and the one who carries out many of the royal duties these days...

John,

You should check your facts before posting this kind of crap.

might this fellow john and steves be one in the same?

And when in Thailand, you should also be aware that such "crap", as hanuman put it, is a criminal offence...The thai peoople revere the King and pearls such as "..if he (the king) was a Tuk Tuk Driver..." can cost you 5 years in the famous Bangkok Hilton (no, not the 5 stars one...).

5 years is prison is the better case...
if you say such thing and the wrong people hear you - even your dentist will not recognise your body...

be carefull, don't mess with the King's respect...

No, I don't believe john44 is that jerk ricksteves, john has many thoughtful posts and I think we should cut him some slack. Someone told him a story and, not being familiar with Thai ways, fell for it. We've all made these kinds of mistakes in the past so lets just correct him and leave it at that.

I agree with Laurie - the person who is in the wrong is the person who told John a tall story about the King of Thailand.

Also, bear in mind that John is from the UK (I think) where critical discussion of our Royal Family's antics is practically a national sport, and this is the case in many other European countries too where the royal families are frequently featured in the glossy gossip mags

You're probably right Laurie but I don't really see how this post has anything to do with travel and I can't understand why Fodors is not erasing it.

As a Thai it's quite insulting to me to read this kind of stuff but at the same time it gives me a great pleasure to read all the responses from all the regulars here.

I`m so glad to hear it isn`t true. I just read a whole book on the King, and nothing like this was ever mentioned, only his devotion to the Queen.

Just last week there was a small piece in my newspaper: Somebody from Norwegian diplomatic (!!!) stuff in Thailand had got a prison sentence because he insulted the royal family in some way. No diplomatic immunity when royal family is involved.

Hanuman, this is very travel related because now people can correct stupidities like the one in John´s post, and people who travel to Thailand can understand that the respect for royal family is very real.

I was in Hua Hin just a couple of months ago, and my hotel was right next to the summer palace. Earlier it was possible for tourists to visit the palace, but not anymore. The reason: King stays there more and more, because he prefers the peace and can concentrate in cultivation of plants, the thing that is very dear to him.

I think the present king is a very wise and righteous man. Very symphatetic. I was there during his birthday, and there was an interwiew in the local magazine. The king was asked why people can not critizise him. He answered that critizism is just fine, he appreciates it. If critizism wasn´t allowed, he would place himself above other people, and that he doesn´t want to do, because he is not a god. Critizism fine, insulting no. And the type of suggestion as in John´s post is insulting.

I agree entirely with laurie & bella and see no need at all to be hostile towards john44. It strikes me that john44 isn't very familiar with Thailand and some smart-ass has played a joke on him. This was why I explained the situation to him in a friendly manner in my earlier post.
What disturbs me far more is benkok's post that some Thais would hack someone to pieces over such a remark - you make Thais sound like a bunch of savages, or like the Muslim fanatics we see on TV running around Iraq.
All the Thais I’ve met & known over the past 3 decades would tactfully but firmly point out to somebody foolish enough to make such a remark, that they must not say these things.

Texasslim,

I totally agree that John was probably misled SO HOW ABOUT AN APOLOGY? Sorry is only five keystrokes and it would do a lot good to people like me.

Perhaps john44 doesn't log in every day like some of us and hasn't yet read all the posts - he hasn't posted on fodors for a few days.

As the above poster said, cut the man some slack. John44's posts may be insulting, but the implicit aggression within some of these responses is inappropriate for this type of forum also. Manners cost nothing.

Hi TexasSlim...

Thai people are like any other population in the world...
Some are nice, some are greedy, some are happy and some are criminal...

I didn't mean that all Thai's will kick your @#$ if they hear you speak bad things about HM the King, and i'm sorry if you got this impression.

Another thing you should understand (and i'm saying that with the experience of a soldier in the IDF for 3 long years) - What you see on TV is usually much bigger than the actual reality. Unfortunately, it's usually those few "fanatic" people that make all the mess and noise...
Wants to say – even thou it’s hard to believe, there are criminal acts, violence, murderers, mafia and sick bustards among Thai’s…even if they are operating in back allies (and they don’t…)
We should be happy that the majority of Thai’s are the honest, caring, loving people we all know.

the response I got from a thai person was that the prices may be the one with 17 ladies not the king.
There is no love for that guy. but I wonder what would happen if he did become king would the Thais have to revere him and us farang have to show respect or bite our tongue when mentioning anything about the new king.?.
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hanuman. your my man. but I don't think john should post an apology. maybe he should post "I was a retard to believe that crap" but not anything formal. as some have said talking junk about the royal family or anyone in power in the west is just a game, we hold no unconditional respect for the rich and powerful unlike Thais seem too.

lol how many toes did I just step on. oh well nothing new.

Orgy,

The Thai people just got rid of one of the richest and the most powerful Thai person in history - Thaksin! Albeit, he might come back but most Thais definately will not take this kind of leadership and we would probably do the same in a monarch is unjust and abusive. So when you say "we hold no unconditional respect for the rich and powerful unlike Thais seem too" I don't think that is true at all.

The richest Thai businessman is not Thaksin, he is infact so low key that now body in the West know that he was the founder and owns Red Bull