No ordinary night in Bangkok: touching down in Thailand as the ‘Land of Smiles’ mourns beloved king
A pall was cast over the city as Thais of every class, political hue and creed began grieving the death of revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Something was definitely different when shortly before midnight on Friday I trooped off Emirates Airlines Flight EK385 from Hong Kong at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
The exposed electrical cables and boarded-up work sites that give that slightly ramshackle and quintessentially Thai impression that the sprawling terminal building will never actually be finished was still there.
Still there also were the always welcoming “sawadee krap” statuettes and the wonderfully lilting public information announcements. But something wasn’t right and it didn’t take long for it to dawn on me what it was.
Gone were the photographs and salutations to the world’s longest-reigning monarch which adorned the halls and walls of the airport. Just a few hours after an announcement by Thailand’s Royal Household Bureau that His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej had passed away his image and that of his wife, Queen Sirikit, had gone. Never has the overused phrase “the King is dead, long live the King” resonated more.
“It’s a bit strange, even unsettling,” said Hong Kong-based French businessman, David Garnaut, a seasoned visitor to the “Land of Smiles”. “Of course, I understand why but it does jar after all these years for their images to have disappeared completely.”
While the hustle and bustle of the arrival hall provided welcome reassurance that life goes on, the surprisingly speedy taxi ride to my modest second home apartment near Bangkok’s other airport, Don Muang, underscored the realisation that this was no ordinary night in arguably Asia’s best-known metropolis.
