Last Saturday (August 12), was the 74th birthday of Queen Sirikit, the wife and Queen Consort of Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), King of Thailand. Like her husband, the Queen is immensely popular here in and her birthday is a national holiday. In fact, it is also Thailand's official Mother's Day (which is interesting because Queen Sirikit's birth name was Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara).
For this reason, images of the Her Majesty have popped up all over Bangkok this month and many of them have replaced the images of the King (astute readers of this blog should be able to recognize several of the locations from my July 16 entry entitled "The King and I").
I'm sure that next month most (if not all) of these images will be replaced again with pictures of the King, but for now it's a nice change of pace to see something different in town.
While King Bhumibol's official color is yellow, Queen Sirikit's is blue. For this reason, blue shirts are now sold with the royal emblem on the front for those who wish to honor the queen in this way.
The blue shirts are nowhere near as prominent as the King's yellow shirts, but on any given day you are bound to see a few of them out and about.
I even spotted this interesting vehicle this afternoon. I'm not sure what it is, but it was part of a procession of similar "Queenmobiles" driving down Sukhumwit Road.
It seems that there are no ends to the Thai's fascination with the Royal Family. I am only starting to understand it, but the more I learn, the more it makes sense. When you consider Queen Sirikit's charitable work, her role as the President of the Thai Red Cross (a post she has held since 1956), and her efforts after the 2004 tsunami disaster, she appears to be a remarkable woman and one who always has the best interests of her people in mind.
Happy birthday Queen Sirikit and many happy returns (and long live the King and Queen).
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