We had been traveling throughout the country of Thailand for about three weeks and we had seen pictures of him and the royal family throughout the country. At every major intersection in every city, in businesses, and in private homes. They are everywhere. The King is deeply revered and his death was met with much anguish and tears among the countrymen. He had brought them from an agrarian society to a modern society of cities and infrastructure. He brought them into the 21st century and built them into a country based on business and tourism, not just agriculture.
Tribute to the King at the hotel.
We really didn't know what to expect of our time here with the now absent ruler, so we were a bit dubious at first. We had heard that everything would shut down for a year of mourning. Then we heard it would be only for 100 days of mourning. There would be no alcohol sales during this mourning time. Businesses would be closed. Would we be able to go to the grocery store, or get food at a restaurant? No alcohol? God forbid! Would their be throngs of Thai people wailing in the streets? Would our hotel close down and kick us out? We wondered about all of these possibilities and the media was fueling it all with sensational reports with all sorts of scenarios and this was definitely uncharted waters for us and all of Thailand. They said there would be no music played in public, and all entertainment would be cancelled. Everyone should wear either black or even white clothing to signify mourning. They published "how to" articles explaining what to wear, how to act, and even one about how to dye your clothing black using charcoal. Tourists were told to act accordingly, respectfully, and dress modestly. Which I found pretty amazing that they would even attempt this because the women wear most scant, tiny, smallest of string micro bikinis and the men are in the smallest, tightest speedo types that both sexes leave little to the imagination of what anyone is packing under any of their garments. We wondered if we shouldn't just scrap our Thailand plans and head to Bali. We decided to give it a few days, ride it out and see what happens.
The Google screen in B&W to honor the fallen King.
What did happen was the King died on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were very quiet. Coincidentally the last day of Buddhist lent was also Sunday and that was a deeply religious holiday here, so most of those things we feared (no businesses open, no alcohol sales, nothing to do) came true, but it was a nice interruption to the frantic pace of street life that is Phuket. The streets were quiet and the people constantly selling tuk tuk rides, tailored clothing, and food weren't out selling their wares. There weren't even many tourists out in the streets. Our hotel staff dressed in all black which seemed very odd in a tropical climate with temperatures in the low 90s. There were black and white sashes hung on the exteriors of businesses. There were temporary shrines with flowers set up in the hotel lobby and around the town. But other than those things, it was pretty much business as usual. I'm sure that they had to get back to the status quo quickly here in Phuket because tourists would be canceling plans, going elsewhere, and the economy would suffer. I'm sure that since the King was such a business friendly ruler he would have wanted things to get back to normal quickly so his people could take care of themselves, and that's a pretty good King to have.
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