Last week Tim attended a dedication of a new courthouse that was presided over by the Crown Prince of Thailand. She received the pin in the photograph as part of the ceremony, and had her photo taken with him.
The Crown Prince actually presided over her oldest brother Top's wedding back more than ten years ago. Tim and I were in Thailand, but were not allowed into that part of the ceremony.
Top's wedding was spread out over almost six weeks. There wasn't something going on every day, but there were probably 3 or 4 events over that time span.
One day they went to the Wat Phra Kaew, the temple attached to the Royal Palace and perhaps Thailand's most famous temple, to give offerings to the monks there. Tim and I were in the back seat of car. Usually you have to walk into the temple, but they were making a large donation of food and items so they had gotten dispensation to drive into the temple.
As we started to enter the gate, one of the guards looked in and saw me, the only falang in the the car. He ordered me to get out of the car, and I was required to walk in through the main gate, paying my entry fee as well. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I needed to pay to get in that caused him heartburn, or that he just couldn't abide a damn foreigner getting to ride into the temple in a car.
On the way back out, I just ducked down so I wasn't easily visible and I managed to exit in a car. A small victory perhaps? Hopefully the statute of limitations on "Exiting Wat Phra Kawe in a Car While Falang" have already passed.
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