Forty-Five Week Funeral

Just when you think political squabbling will send Thailand into a death spiral, along comes a reminder that the country can in fact unite. This weekend’s cremation of the king’s older sister, an event that involved more than eleven months of preparation, slowed things down and made everybody proud to be part of a country with a distinctive culture.

TV channels showed nonstop footage of the parade and pomp, gluing lots of people to their sets and leaving the streets quiet. Protestors too seem to have taken a break, in order to watch the tunics and the trumpeters.

I caught only a few minutes of the broadcasts, while eating a late breakfast in a restaurant. Reports I read in newspapers today told of the king lighting the funeral pyre, accompanied by traditional funeral songs, while the nation collectively hushed.