A lighter side of His Majesty the King's personality is reflected in a series of anecdotes compiled in the book, Thi Sud Khong Hua Jai, published by Kantana Publishing.
As His Majesty the King was in his car on the way to Don Muang Airport, due to return to Switzerland, he heard a loud shout.
"Nai Luang [Your Majesty], don't desert your people!"
In his heart, he answered, "If the people do not desert me, how can I desert them?"
Strangely enough, 20 years later, he found the man whose voice cried out to him. He was a soldier then, but had since left the army to farm the land. He expressed his gratitude to the King for not deserting his people, and explained that when he shouted those words, he was feeling desolate and anguished to see the King leaving the country. He was afraid the King would not come back because he was fed up with it, because it appalled him.
He was so pleased to have the chance to greet the King again, and said, "You probably don't remember me. I was the one who shouted to you not to desert your people."
"So it was you?"
"Yes, sir. I saw you looking so desolate, and I was afraid you wouldn't come back. So I shouted out like a madman."
The King answered, "Well, that's what reminded me of my duty, and made me come back."
- From the souvenir photograph book produced by Her Majesty the Queen and distributed to well-wishers at His Majesty the King's birthday in 1968.
From Anat Bunnag: Royal Page and Photographer
Once when King Ananda Mahidol was still alive, the present King — who was then a prince — showed a photograph of a battleship to his courtiers and asked if anyone knew which ship it was and where it was taken.
Everyone there sat in complete silence except for one soldier who answered immediately that it was the royal battleship Sri Ayutthaya. Correct, said the prince. But the location showed only sea and sky with a few fluffy clouds. The background in the picture stumped everyone, and they all wondered how he had been able to take this picture. The location showed it was obviously at sea, but the prince had never been to sea accompanied by the ship Sri Ayutthaya.
In the end, everyone gave up. The prince said, "I took it in this room," and pointed to the games room.
Everyone looked puzzled, so he took them in to show them. The truth was revealed: on the shiny table top stood a model of the battleship Sri Ayutthaya. Next to it was a photograph of clouds in the sky. The shiny surface caused a reflection of the ship that made it look as if it was on the sea. Everyone had to accede to the prince's skills in taking the table-top photograph....
From Fuen Boonyaparatyuth, former Pathumwan district chief, registrar of the royal wedding
... Their Majesties the King and Queen signed a marriage register just like any other married couple.
Their wedding registry was specially designed with a dark yellow lambskin cover. The centre was brown leather with gold lettering saying "Wedding Register". The wording inside was exactly the same as any ordinary wedding register.
His Majesty is truly a democratic monarch. He followed all the proper regulations regarding the marriage licence; he submitted a request to sign the marriage licence away from the district office, complete with a 10 satang duty stamp, and he paid the 10 baht fee according to the regulations....
From Dr Sumet Tantivejkul
Once His Majesty the King was visiting villagers in the Northeast of the country not too long ago. It was getting dark, but His Majesty was still inspecting the villages, walking through the rice fields. A villager was waiting to welcome His Majesty there, and His Majesty stopped to ask him about how he earned a living, how his rice cultivation was coming along, how many thung (bucket) of rice he harvested per rai, whether he was still growing rice, and so on.
The man answered, "I'm not farming now, because my arm is hurt." (He had one arm in a bandage).
His Majesty asked him, "What happened to your arm?" He answered, "I fell off a bridge." With concern for the man, His Majesty continued, "And what about the other arm? Is it all right?"
The villager answered right away, "The other arm didn't fall down."
From Thanpuying Genlong Snidvongs na Ayudhya, Lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty the Queen
This was during the exhibition Kao Klai Thai Tham, or the BOI Fair 1995 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne on Feb 17, 1995. After visiting various booths, Their Majesties the King and Queen arrived at the Sony (Electronics) booth, which had been decorated as an undersea world utilising the latest Magic Vision technology simulating 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Visitors could see the marine creatures swimming by; smaller and more colourful fish would practically swim up to you. What's more, there was a sign saying that if anyone managed to catch a fish, they would receive a television set.
All of us tried to catch it with our hands, but it was useless because they were just figments of light technology.
But His Majesty the King said, "I've caught one," and held up his camera for me, saying, "It's in here."
Sony had to present His Majesty with a television set as they had announced.
- From the book Tham Pen Tham by Thanpuying Genlong Snidvongs na Ayudhya, published by the Katavethin Foundation to mark His Majesty the King's sixth-cycle birthday on Dec 5,1999.
By Thaworn Chanaphai
Many years ago during a flood in southern Thailand, the district of Hat Yai, Songkhla, suffered the most damage. That was the time when the then Communications Authority of Thailand installed a new teletype machine in His Majesty's study.
One of the courtiers told me His Majesty would stay up late into the night, watching the news coming in on the teletype machine to keep abreast of the flood situation in the South.
With deep concern for the people, His Majesty sent a message through the teletype machine by himself, asking Hat Yai whether the water had receded yet.
Not realising the question had been sent by His Majesty the King, the answer _ which was sent via the teletype machine about two or three in the morning _ was rather surly.
"Why on earth are you asking these questions so late? People are trying to sleep," said the answer, not forgetting to add at the end, "The water has receded."
By Manrat Srikaranond, Or Sor Wan Suk Band
At the New Year's Eve party which His Majesty organised for his courtiers on Dec 31, 1994, His Majesty gave me a glass of honey mixed with lime so that "my voice would be in good condition" to conduct my duties as emcee as well as sing the song Rak (Love).
That was the first time for me as emcee, and as it turned out, I talked far too much. I only found out later that the honey and lime drink His Majesty graciously gave me was in fact brandy and lime.
From Mom Chao Bhisatej Rajani, Director of the Royal Projects
This anecdote of 1970 deserves to be mentioned because it means a lot to the hilltribe villagers and offers a good lesson for high-ranking government officials to walk in His Majesty's footsteps, so to speak.
One day His Majesty visited Doi Jom Hod village in Prao, Chiang Mai. The Lisu tribal chief invited His Majesty to "Come and visit my house."
His Majesty followed the chief into his house which was made of bamboo covered with a thatched roof. He laid out his mattress for His Majesty to sit on, then poured out some moonshine liquor into a cup which, by the looks of the black stains, had rarely been washed.
I immediately felt concerned because normally His Majesty would never drink out of a dirty cup (unlike me). So I whispered to him to pretend to drink, then to pass the cup to me to get rid of. But His Majesty drank it himself, throwing it back in one gulp.
Later he said to me, "Never mind. The alcohol was so strong the germs are all dead."
From Pol Gen Serm Charurat, Chief of the Royal Police Force and Member of the Or Sor Wan Suk Band
"It all stemmed from the fact that His Majesty wanted me to blow the sound of a rooster in the song Klai Roong (Near Dawn). The song has a flute introduction, followed by His Majesty on the trumpet making the sound of a rooster, "Cock-a-doodle-doo". His Majesty probably indulged his sense of humour about this rooster sound, and wanted to surprise me with the sound of roosters when I woke up."
In accordance to His Majesty's wishes to keep Pol Gen Serm in the dark about this matter, the entire operation was conducted in absolute secrecy. The people involved, as well as the 70 roosters, had to wait under the mantle of darkness.
"When they arrived, the delivery team didn't want me to find out, so they checked what time I went to bed. They parked the car outside, and asked the security guard whether I was in bed yet. By chance that night I went to bed extra late. The delivery people started getting nervous. When I finally went to bed, they contacted each other by radio." As a result, the next morning, Pol Gen Serm's entire house was overrun with 70 roosters. "I learned later that in fact, His Majesty wanted to send over 200 roosters to match the stock prices at the moment!"
- From an interview with Pol Gen Serm Charurat by Pojamarn in Lips magazine, issue 10, first week of December 1999.
From Dr Sumet Tantivejkul
One day His Majesty went to Khao Khor to open a monument. After the ceremony, His Majesty wanted to return to the palace to change his shoes to prepare for a trip into the jungle. We hadn't had lunch; no one had had any lunch. It was already two in the afternoon. During the 20 minutes for His Majesty to change his shoes, we thought we would be able to have a quick bite to eat.
We rushed to the canteen, only to find the staff who had not accompanied His Majesty had already finished off the food. There was only a bit of fried rice left at the bottom of the pan, and three or four fried eggs. We grabbed it anyway. Then we saw a plate of fried rice just like what we were having, with one fried egg slammed on top and a thimble of fish sauce on the side. My friend was ready to go for it. A Royal Page warned, "You can't have that. It's the King's. His Majesty asked me to get it for him."
Just think of that. Fried rice from the bottom of the pan. I almost cried; His Majesty ate exactly the same food as we did.
- From an interview with Dr Sumet Tantivejkul in the column "In His Majesty's Footsteps" in Style magazine, May 29, 1987.
(The story, written by Usnisa Sukhsvasti, was first published in Bangkok Post's Outlook on June 27, 2012.)