Word: bhumibol
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Europe to the Old Testament authority which Emperor Haile Selassie, the seemingly indestructible Lion of Judah, still exercises in Ethiopia. Royal trappings run the same range-from the furled umbrella that Denmark's King Frederik carries to go shopping, to the nine-tiered umbrella throne of King Bhumibol of Thailand. The champagne-and-chorus-girl monarch is gone or going; uncrowned dictators or oil millionaires are much freer to be glamorous wastrels these days than are kings...
...Even in Malaysia, where a new king is elected every five years, or in Laos, where the King sits largely helpless but pleasant above war and factions, the monarchy provides at least a semblance of unifying tradition-plus something to talk about. In Thailand, it is immensely important. King Bhumibol Adulyadej seems all but divine to his Buddhist masses-an impression enhanced by the tradition that people must approach him crawling along the floor on hands and knees. But he is really a modern monarch, using the ancient ways and rituals to carry his country forward. Theoretically...
...start of the first Asian Inter national Trade Fair in Bangkok. Set up by the Thais, but nursed to fruition by the same Bangkok-based U.N. Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East that inspired the formation of the ADB, the fair opened with Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej releasing 2,509 pigeons - one for each year of the Buddhist era. The King then joined his beautiful wife, Queen Sirikit, for a swing through 250 acres of fairgrounds in a yellow Rolls-Royce...
Though Johnson had been briefed on the myriad restrictions surrounding the King, he kept forgetting himself. Several times he strode ahead of Bhumibol while courtiers paled and sucked in their breath. At Chulalongkorn University, where Johnson, wearing a translucent academic gown trimmed with orange and yellow, received a silver-framed honorary Doctor of Political Science degree, the President crossed his legs with one foot pointed at the King; Thai officials felt faint, for the foot is considered the lowliest part of the body...
When the President's turn came to play host to the King, he summoned Jazz Saxophonist Stan Getz from the U.S. to the affair, held in a borrowed royal banquet hall, as a special gesture of appreciation for the elaborate, if subdued welcome that he had received. Though Bhumibol has played his saxophone and clarinet in swinging sessions with other U.S. jazz groups, on this occasion he sat back and enjoyed the show...