It's the 60th anniversary of the day His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand began his reign, and Mr. M and I have spent all week accompanying his boss to ceremonies in honor of the event. In the back row of a series of auditoriums and theaters all over the Tak province, me and Mr. M practice our respective Thai and English skills in whispers, and Mr. M explains what the speeches are about. “He is talking about a program to give every family in the tongol a cow….He is presenting everyone who had a birthday this month a tree, because it is their birthday tree they will take care of it….He is the head monk, I don’t understand what he says, just praying.”
After every event Mr. M says to me, "you are boring." The first few times I took offense, then somehow realized he meant, "you are bored." This is a common error for Thais speaking English, and no one can figure out the source of the confusion. It takes a long time, but I'm able to explain the mistake to Mr. M and he is mortified. “Why you did not say anything?” He asks. “I thought you really thought I was boring.”
The morning of the day of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration, Mr. M tells me that we are to go to a ceremony at a dam named in honor of HM, to witness the release of several dozen giant catfish. I should wear the traditional Thai outfit that his friend loaned me. I smile and try to look excited. Mr. M snickers and promises me that this will be the last ceremony. At the dam there are about 300 people in yellow shirts gathered on the dam looking at a huge portrait of HM. Mr. M and I stand near the portrait and he takes photos of his boss in the front row of the crowd. Within a few minutes we lose sight of his boss among the yellow shirted throng. Everyone moves off the dam and walks down to a large boat--a barge, really. They file on board and a potential World in Brief column occurs to me. SE Asia: Hundreds were killed in Northern Thailand yesterday when a rickety barge capsized during ceremonial catfish release party.
I keep smiling, as it really is the Thai way, while I begin to suffocate in my thick knit of my traditional Thai outfit. Mr. M urges me to get on the boat, then sees that I’m about to cry and lets me stay. Everyone is gathered on one side of the barge taking photographs of the dam with the photograph of HM on top of it. The empty side of it rises slightly off the water. A small blue and white boat motors out in front of the barge and its six passengers stand on one side and photograph the crowd on the barge, then turn and photograph the dam. A crate of giant catfish appears, they are released into the water, and that’s it for me. I begin to sob, full on.
Once the boat and barge are empty again and the crowd is milling around watching the last of the catfish writhe in their crate before being tossed into the murky green river, Mr. M finds me where he left me, leaning on a damp rock. I ask him, through tears and hiccups, if he could buy me some water and soda as my outfit has no pockets and I left my wallet in the truck. That night we go to Mr. M’s boss’s office to eat take out Pad Thai and watch the guests arrive at the Formal Diamond Jubilee Celebration for HM the King on television.
(Taken during one of the ceremonies.)
Narrative and Photo by Ann Raber. Ann can be reached at [email protected]
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