King Bhumibol Adulyadej

In many Thai towns a clock tower marks the center of the city. Specially for Tourists this clock towers are very helpful for their guidance. We´ve been quite amazed, as we´ve been to Chiang Rai/Nordthailand and recognized that the old and ugly clock tower has been removed and will be replaced with this beautiful Thai architecture. Picture: The new Chiang Rai clock tower Not completed yet, You can guess how it will look, when it´s been finished. The new Chiang Rai clocktower is... Read Full Story

… or Happy Birthday, King, in English. Or hap-bee bird-day, Kin .. in Thai/English pronunciation :-) Today is the 80th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. King Bhumibol is also the world’s longest reigning monarch having reigned for 61 years. His Majesty was actually born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (where his father was studying medicine at Harvard at the time) and this makes him the only US born monarch in the world. I was lucky enough to be in Thailand for the King’s birthday... Read Full Story

BANGKOK (AFP) - Hundreds of well-wishers gathered on Sunday outside a Bangkok hospital where deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej was recovering after treatment for poor blood flow in the brain. The 79-year-old king was taken to Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital around 9:00 am (0200 GMT) Saturday after he "experienced a weakness on the right side of his body," the royal household said in a statement. Scans revealed a minimal cerebral ischemia on the left side of his brain, meaning part of his... Read Full Story

Thailand celebrated King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 80th birthday Wednesday with festivities, prayers and a nationwide effort to wear yellow, the color that symbolizes devotion to the world’s longest reigning monarch. Tens of thousands of people in yellow shirts, waving yellow flags packed the streets around the Grand Palace in Bangkok where the King made a rare public appearance from the balcony of his ceremonial Throne Hall, only the sixth such appearance in his 61-year reign. Dressed in a gold... Read Full Story

Did you know? The Thai greeting “Sawatdee” was invented during the Second World War. Before that, people greeted each other by asking if they had eaten yet. The longest place-name in the world is the full name for Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand: KRUNGTHEP MAHANAKHON BOVORN RATANAKOSIN MAHINTHARAYUTTHAYA MAHADILOKPOP NOPARATRATCHATHANI BURIROM UDOMRATCHANIVETMAHASATHAN AMORNPIMAN AVATARNS ATHIT SAKKATHATTIYAVISNUKARMPRASIT, meaning: “The land of angels, the great city (of... Read Full Story