Yesterday was the Queen’s Birthday and by that virtue was also the nation’s Mother’s Day, a holiday for most, except for people who work in the hospitality business like myself 
. Interestingly, the King’s Birthday in December is also Thailand’s Father’s Day. The queen made a televised speech and almost every newspaper paid tribute to her with front, almost-full page coverage. This is yet another piece of culture missed by the wondering backpacker.
On a similar note, on Wednesday I had a slight problem communicating with the hairdresser and I ended up with a shaved head. My hair hasn’t been this short since swimming in college and with my receding hairline, I’m not sure I’ll ever enjoy long hair again! Note to barbers: if you can’t understand what a customer is saying, DON’T START OFF SHAVING THEIR HEAD! To add insult in injury the “trim” cost me 150 baht, double the going rate.
I also watched a Thai movie the other day called Tom Yum Goong starring this Jet Li type action actor named Tony Jaa. He’s Thai and this is his second blockbuster motion picture. His new movie is the hype in Thailand and has been the talk around town. The movie has an underlying theme of Thais helping Thais fight criminal gangs of other Asian nationalities. To a certain extent the movie and its star is sort of a national icon, they’re proud of a Thai receiving international stardom. Anyway, the theater was packed like I’ve never seen before. Interestingly, the police were searching purses and bags for camcorders and video recording equipment to prevent illegal copies. It’s nice to see Thai’s protecting intellectual property, albeit it only for their own films!