{"id":98886341,"date":"2016-10-14T15:56:26","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T19:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/?p=98886341"},"modified":"2021-08-04T07:04:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-04T11:04:47","slug":"visiting-thailand-after-monarchs-death-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/visiting-thailand-after-monarchs-death-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Thailand after Monarch&#8217;s Death: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thailand recently lost its monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej. While for many this may seem like the passing of an elderly statesman and important figurehead, it means a whole lot more to the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Over his 70-year reign, he had played the peacemaker in times of civil unrest, he had been a champion of the poor, and he had been a father figure to generations. But there was much more to the adulation he attracted than just these things.<\/p>\n<p>When I was in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/cheap-flights\/thailand-th-deals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thailand<\/a> about 2 years ago, I was amazed at how much genuine affection the people of Thailand had for their king. Every home or business had a picture of him hanging on their walls. And not just pictures in royal attire. I\u2019m talking of pictures of him in casual clothes reading a newspaper or fishing. He was like every household\u2019s lovable grandfather, and was revered as such. I remember one of our Thai tour guides, whenever he spoke of the king would say \u201c<u>My<\/u> King is \u2026\u201d. He is someone the people of Thailand knew, deeply and personally. He belonged to every Thai.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-version=\"7\">\n<div style=\"padding: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background: #F8F8F8; line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50.0% 0; text-align: center; width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/-6_abXLWo8\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A photo posted by Official Thailand Tourism (@thailandinsider)<\/a> on <time style=\"font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;\" datetime=\"2015-12-05T19:23:31+00:00\">Dec 5, 2015 at 11:23am PST<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\" async=\"\" defer=\"defer\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Thailand has declared a year of mourning to honor his death. So what does this mean for tourists who are looking to visit the country?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to know that &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>While most tourist attractions will be open as usual, currently\u00a0<strong>Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace are off limits<\/strong>, as they will be locations for funeral rites and religious observances.<\/li>\n<li>The government has urged <strong>bars and nightclubs to revise their operating hours<\/strong> as a mark of respect for a one-month period, with the final decision resting in the hands of their respective owners. Be flexible and comply with these restrictions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Most of the traditional and cultural events will be taking place as usual<\/strong>, although they may be altered as a mark of respect or the events may be dedicated to the memory of the king.<\/li>\n<li>However, you won&#8217;t have to worry about emergencies: All<strong> transport, banks, hospitals and other public services will operate as usual<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is also a very emotional time for the Thai people, and therefore you need to keep that in mind when in the country. So how should you act?<\/p>\n<p>Remember that &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Travelers should wear <strong>sombre and respectful clothing<\/strong> when in public \u2013 it would be an empathetic gesture that will be appreciated (many Thai people will be wearing black or white as a sign of mourning).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Behave yourself when in public spaces<\/strong> \u2013 refrain from raucous revelry in open spaces.<\/li>\n<li>While questions and comments regarding the Royal Family are okay, they <strong>must be respectful. <\/strong>It&#8217;s important to know that Thailand has very strict <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/L%C3%A8se-majest%C3%A9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">l\u00e8se majest\u00e9<\/a>\u00a0laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[perfectpullquote align=&#8221;full&#8221; cite=&#8221;&#8221; link=&#8221;&#8221; color=&#8221;&#8221; class=&#8221;&#8221; size=&#8221;&#8221;]In Thailand this means anyone who &#8220;defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent&#8221; can be punished with up to 15 years in prison[\/perfectpullquote]<\/p>\n<p>For more news and updates, you can always check out the Tourism Authority of Thailand\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tatnews.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While Thailand welcomes visitors as always, just keep these points in mind if you\u2019re visiting the country in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thailand recently lost its monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej. While for many this may seem like the passing of an elderly statesman and important figurehead, it means a whole lot more to the nation. Over his 70-year reign, he had played the peacemaker in times of civil unrest, he had been a champion of the poor, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":98886345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,69],"tags":[1099,1100,893,408],"class_list":["post-98886341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-travel-tips-intel","tag-king-bhumibol-adulyade","tag-mourning","tag-thailand","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98886341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98886341"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98886341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98908246,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98886341\/revisions\/98908246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98886345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98886341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98886341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onetravel.com\/going-places\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98886341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}