City of contrasts

[The_Traveler]

Bangkok is overwhelming to new visitors. It is hot, noisy, crowded and confusing. People live on the streets and are, to a great degree, ignored by the passersby. This was taken in 2007 on Sukhumvit (a crowded main avenue that is shadowed by the Skytrain.

It is obviously Monday and the people in the background are obviously Thai or Thai residents.
And how is that possible to know?

The days of the week in Thai are named after ‘god’ planets and each are associated with a specific color. Thais believe that wearing the color of the day brings good luck.

Yellow in Buddhist tradition represents Monday. Monday happens to be the day of the week the late King Bhumibol was born. The Thais revered their King in a way that is sometimes difficult for foreigners to understand. At the movies a video about the King is shown before the start of a film and everyone must stand while the video and music play to honor the King. The Thai King must be respected at all times. One foreigner was even sentenced to ten years jail time for defacing the King’s image by spray painting a poster of him.

In 2006, in order to commemorate the King’s 60 years on the throneand to show their respect and love for the King, the Thai people started to wear yellow shirts every Monday.

 

[JoeW]

Very impressive juxtaposition of elements in one culture/country.