Visual Rhetoric

I have written elsewhere in this blog about the emotional response among Thai people to their king. Their fondness for the king is everywhere visible. On a walk through a park near Mo Chit station I took the bottom two pictures and the top one is from Siam Plaza in downtown Bangkok. Symbolically speaking the king is a visual manifestation of the Thai state. This is a central and very fundamental symbol that Thais support and which promotes a kind of national unity/identity.

In the bottom picture note the sweat dripping from the king's nose. This picture is reproduced everywhere it seems and conveys the connection of the king with his people. The king is noted for being in the streets among the people, caring for them as would a good monk. So, in this picture the king is portrayed close to the people, sharing their lives and frustrations and also the heat.