Word: queene
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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With one important exception: the lush and smiling realm of Their Majesties King Bhumibol (pronounced Poom-ee-pone) Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit, which spreads like a green meadow of stability, serenity and strength from Burma down to the Malaysian peninsula-the geopolitical heart of Southeast Asia. Once fabled Siam, rich in rice, elephants, teak and legend, Thailand (literally, Land of the Free) today crackles with a prosperity, a pride of purpose, and a commitment to the fight for freedom that is Peking's despair and Washington's delight. The meadow inevitably has its dark corners, notably the less...
...Tune on Broadway. The early years of royal rule in Bangkok were quiet. Both the King and Queen learned to paint, and some of their canvases adorn the walls of Chitralada Palace. The King perfected his considerable skills as a saxophonist and composer; one of his tunes, Blue Night, made the Broad way scene in Mike Todd's 1950 production Peep Show. The royal couple had four children, three girls and a boy, Prince Vajiralongkorn, who is now studying in England, prepping for Rug by school and kingship as Rama X. And like his ancestors, Bhumibol in the tenth...
...first big test came in 1957, when he tacitly supported Army Chief Sarit Thanarat's takeover as Premier. Partly in gratitude, partly to rally public support for his own rule, Sarit consciously set out to build up the image of the tall, spare King and his comely Queen. He soon found the maturing King to be far more than a complaisant figurehead. When the World Court awarded a frontier temple to Thailand's traditional enemy, Cambodia, Sarit was ready to refuse to hand it over. Bhumibol said the court's order would be obeyed...
...more from the cup of corruption than is normal even in the Thai tradition of doing business cum government, harvested close to $140 million, kept some 100 "minor wives" (i.e., mistresses). The King, in contrast, is something of a Buddhist puritan, as well as being totally devoted to his Queen-a monogamousness almost incredible in Siamese monarchs. His grandfather, for example, had 92 wives...
...then a good many things have changed as royalty has evolved over the centuries in Thailand. Obligatory prostration before the person of the King has long been abolished, and though no Thai would think of touching the King or Queen in normal circumstances, it is unlikely that they would let either of them drown-as happened to a 19th century Queen of Thailand. The royal barge sank after a collision, but no one dared offer a helping hand. When occasionally it was necessary to execute a royal personage, he was put inside a red bag, to avoid touching...