Imagine Times Square New Year’s Eve, Trafalgar Square any Sunday, Red Square at New Year’s and you still won’t be able to imagine Bangkok on the King’s Birthday, unless you put all those people and all those squares together. It was an amazing and awesome site at the same time.
Were you ever in a wave of people just pushing you along with nothing much you could do about it? I was outside the palace at about 3 pm when the King was just arriving for birthday ceremonies and the crowd was rushing to see his Royal Highness (I was more interested in the car frankly, but all I can tell you is that it was big and white!) .
Surprisingly, no-one was killed or trampled and I found a safer spot, I would like to say on higher ground, but there is no higher ground in Bangkok since it is built on a swamp. However, across from the palace there is a huge park with lots of room ( you would think) for wandering about.
Now fast forward to the literally millions of people assembling at night around 8 when the official ceremonies at the palace were over and the King was leaving with his entourage away from the palace. When his car passed, the night sky was lit up with flashes and there was an audible gasp from the legions of Thais who revere the King and came to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Can you imagine a million people, period, but a million people all dressed in yellow shirts, Monday’s colour, since the king was born on a Monday. In his old age, the king seems to be playing with us and is dressing up in all sorts of bright colours. When he went to visit his sister in the hospital a few weeks back he wore pink and by the next morning, every corner stall was selling pink shirts. He has also worn both red and purple recently but for some reason, that trend did not happen overnight, but perhaps by the end of the month.
At precisely 7:02, the time of his birth, everyone lit a candle and sang national songs. I can’t imagine this happening like this quite anywhere else in the world. There were huge screens set up around the park and palace and people were watching the ceremonies, singing and quite enjoying themselves. I had to get Sylvia from the airport at midnight and feared I might never get there if the fireworks and festivities kept up for much longer. I negotiated with a motorcycle for 50 baht to take me to the nearest BTS, no mean feat considering the millions of cars in the way, but as he weaved his way through the traffic, scraping my knees and his own on the buses and cars he scooted between I yelled at him that if he went cha cha, slowly slowly, I would give him 100 baht but there was so much noise, he did not hear me and I am still shaking from the experience. In a ride at the exhibition, you know that although you may be scared, you are going to survive it. I was thinking what would happen if I got killed and Sylvia was waiting at the airport for me at 12 at night and I did not show up?
Were you ever in a wave of people just pushing you along with nothing much you could do about it? I was outside the palace at about 3 pm when the King was just arriving for birthday ceremonies and the crowd was rushing to see his Royal Highness (I was more interested in the car frankly, but all I can tell you is that it was big and white!) .
Surprisingly, no-one was killed or trampled and I found a safer spot, I would like to say on higher ground, but there is no higher ground in Bangkok since it is built on a swamp. However, across from the palace there is a huge park with lots of room ( you would think) for wandering about.
Now fast forward to the literally millions of people assembling at night around 8 when the official ceremonies at the palace were over and the King was leaving with his entourage away from the palace. When his car passed, the night sky was lit up with flashes and there was an audible gasp from the legions of Thais who revere the King and came to celebrate his 80th birthday.
Can you imagine a million people, period, but a million people all dressed in yellow shirts, Monday’s colour, since the king was born on a Monday. In his old age, the king seems to be playing with us and is dressing up in all sorts of bright colours. When he went to visit his sister in the hospital a few weeks back he wore pink and by the next morning, every corner stall was selling pink shirts. He has also worn both red and purple recently but for some reason, that trend did not happen overnight, but perhaps by the end of the month.
At precisely 7:02, the time of his birth, everyone lit a candle and sang national songs. I can’t imagine this happening like this quite anywhere else in the world. There were huge screens set up around the park and palace and people were watching the ceremonies, singing and quite enjoying themselves. I had to get Sylvia from the airport at midnight and feared I might never get there if the fireworks and festivities kept up for much longer. I negotiated with a motorcycle for 50 baht to take me to the nearest BTS, no mean feat considering the millions of cars in the way, but as he weaved his way through the traffic, scraping my knees and his own on the buses and cars he scooted between I yelled at him that if he went cha cha, slowly slowly, I would give him 100 baht but there was so much noise, he did not hear me and I am still shaking from the experience. In a ride at the exhibition, you know that although you may be scared, you are going to survive it. I was thinking what would happen if I got killed and Sylvia was waiting at the airport for me at 12 at night and I did not show up?
As you can see from the pictures, Bangkok is also a city of contrasts. As I waited for the fireworks and king's exit from the palace I wandered over to Wat Bowouniwet and saw a Buddhist ceremony which you can see from the pictures. It was a sea of tranquility compared to the crowds milling around the Grand Palace. This sort of stark contrasts has become the norm for me in Thailand, especially Bangkok.
Maybe next year I will watch the festivities on television, but for this year, it was an experience not to be missed.! Off to the airport to pick up Sylvia. Hopefully her flight will arrive on time. Guess I better check.
Maybe next year I will watch the festivities on television, but for this year, it was an experience not to be missed.! Off to the airport to pick up Sylvia. Hopefully her flight will arrive on time. Guess I better check.
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