As he celebrated his birthday seven months ago, Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej told his subjects he accepted criticism.
'When you say the king can do no wrong, that is wrong,' he told a nation that still keeps laws banning insults against royalty. 'As a matter of fact there should be criticism, because when we do something we want to know if people agree or disagree.'
Wandering around Bangkok this week, it seemed criticism was the last thing on the minds of Thais, rich and poor, ahead of celebrations starting today to mark the king's 60th year on the throne - the world's longest reigning constitutional monarch.
Thais may be proud of their hard-won, if troubled, democracy, but their pride in the king they believe has nurtured those freedoms reaches into another realm altogether.
Fresh portraits are being hung in shops, noodle houses and homes, and the capital is being emblazoned in royal yellow, with flags rippling from cars, buses and buildings.
Trade in yellow T-shirts marking the event is running so hot that supplies are running out and government officials are investigating profiteering claims.