Thailand's Olive Tree

I'm reminded of Tom Friedman's book, the Lexus and the Olive Tree, when walking through a crowd of people all dressed in black for the Princess Galyani Vadhana's funeral. She's the King of Thailand's older sister and she passed away on the day that I arrived in Bangkok.

I never realised that tradition was so important for the Thai people and it was really evident in how well they revere their royalty. The Guardian reported that the government is spending $9 million on the funeral. There's a 15 day mourning period and company meetings, new years events, and corporate trade shows have been rescheduled or canceled.

Having grown up under British Commonwealth rule, I doubt we'd ever have any major mourning periods if anyone other than the Queen died. I can't see my country closing down for 15 days if Charles passed away. Nor the UK for that matter.

The value of a royal family as cultural/spiritual leadership helped Thailand get through military coups and the latest political meltdown with former Prime Minister Thaksin. I was told not to mention his name too loudly. Apparently he doesn't have that many supporters in Krabi and the police or military tends to detain people that talk about him. But with all the strife, I can see why you'd rather put your faith in a king than in a president.