Roadside poster of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej draped with national flag and royal colours
The monarchy in Thailand is revered by all Thais and people will simply will not tolerate any lack respect towards any members of the royal family past or present Criticism of the king and royal family is not just frowned upon in Thailand it is against the law a punishable offence that is taken very seriously As an example to underscore the importance of this issue in 2002 two journalists from the Far Eastern Economic Review published a short article about the relationship between Thaksin Shinawatra the country s prime minister and King Bumibol Adulyadej As a result of the article the journalists were threatened with expulsion for contravening Thailand s tough lèse majesté laws Bhumibol Adulyadej born December 5 1927 officially styled the Great Thai Maharaja and also known as Rama IX is the current King of Thailand His name Bhumibol Adulyadej means Strength of the Land Incomparable Power 1 Having reigned since June 9 1946 Bhumibol is the world s longest serving current head of state and the longest serving monarch in Thai history 2 Although Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch he has several times made decisive interventions in Thai politics including the 2005 2006 Thai political crisis Bhumibol has been widely credited with facilitating Thailand s transition to democracy in the 1990s although in earlier periods of his reign he supported military regimes Most recently he endorsed the military junta which overthrew the elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the September 2006 coup
Size: 3413px × 5120px
Location: Krabi Province, Thailand
Photo credit: © MediaWorldImages / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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