I had of course awoken to this Lidy-ism, and dutifully dragged myself out of bed and over to the darkened window. Looking out, I said: "Yes, they're cleaning the streets. I'm going back to bed."
But they weren't doing it yesterday." she protested. "No," I said, "It's probably the monthly street cleaning. Goodnight."
In due course, I awoke from my disturbed sleep, showered and shaved and, looking forward to another almighty breakfast, boarded the lift to descend to the dining room.
The dining room appeared more crowded than usual and Lidy pointed out the many Thai Army Officers breakfasting this morning. There were a lot. In fact the dining hall contained enough army personnel to start and finish WW III.
It was then I twigged something was up. It wasn't just the army's presence, but the security personnel manning the lifts and doors, police everywhere and a red carpet being attached to the marble floor. At first, I thought it was a gracious gesture from the Thai government to acknowledge our presence and how our prolific spending had helped the Thai economy. I decided to go and thank the hotel manager and tell him he really didn't need to go to all that trouble when a couple of Singha beers would do.
He looked shocked and, while bowing deeply from the waist, told me: "Regretfully, the decorations are not in honour of yourself, but in honour of a Royal visit by HRH Princess Ubolratana Rajakanyathe of Thailand."
Well, a Royal visit eh? Lidy asked one of the security people for the time of the visit and we were told 1600 HRS. We decided to load our camera batteries and so, following some sightseeing and luncheon and, with cameras at the ready, we joined the throng of Thai people waiting patiently for HRH's scheduled arrival at 1600 HRS. 1600 HRS came and went, so we went to ask the chap who had given us the first arrival time and he said HRH was delayed in Bangkok but had boarded the 'plane, was on her way and should be at the hotel by 1800 HRS. It is a big deal when a member of the Thai Royal family visits, drawing a large contingent of army, police, security agencies together. In fact I wager there were more security and uniformed personnel in the hotel than there were guests and hotel staff. A thirty piece brass band had arrived and was tuning up and I took some location shots.
The red carpet had been fixed to the floor and had been covered with canvas so our mortal feet would not soil it prior to HRH stepping onto it. The hotel entrance had been sealed off, leading to some humerous moments when a couple of busloads of tourists rolled up to enter the hotel, with security shepherding them hurriedly through the front doors and along the canvas covered carpet to the reception area.
One lift had been commandeered for HRH's use and had been refurbished during the day with new carpet, bunting and flowers. It was guarded by security and the remaining lifts groaned under the weight of the extra traffic.
Finally, the moment arrived. The lobby was crowded with Thais, Lidy had positioned herself strategically against a column so she could see above the throng (not difficult for a westerner, as Thai's are of a smaller stature). I had taken up a position outside the lobby so I could see HRH arrive. This in itself caused a minor security stir as it appeared I was the only member of the public outside the lobby. One of the security people came over to what appeared to be a rather large Military Police type with shiny helmet and even shinier shoes and the MP then slowly shuffled to be between me and where HRH would alight her car.
About five minutes before HRH arrived, another security person sidled up to me and in the politest way said: "Sir, you may not take photographs of HRH The Princess." "Wot!" I said, "I can take photographs of the Queen of Australia, what is the problem?" "I'm sorry Sir, it is a security risk. No cameras are allowed."
Can you see Lidy against the pillar on the left?Bugger! after waiting around for two hours, We couldn't even take a photo.
Suddenly a Highway Patrol car screeched into the front of the hotel, red lights flashing and headlights blinking and disgourged a military officer which caused all and sundry waiting on the hotel portal to bow and 'wai'. I assume he had flown in with the Princess and had been rushed from the airport to get to the hotel to ensure all was well before HRH arrived. About five minutes later, the band started up and another police car with flashing red lights arrived and then within another minute or so, HRH's motorcade arrived. She got out of the car and spent a minute with the officials waiting on the hotel portal. My MP moved closer to me and I got the hint and went inside with Lidy. My MP followed and stood nearby.
Suddenly, people were walking quite quickly into the hotel and I tried to pick out the Princess. She could have walked straight past me as she was dressed in black as were (I assume) her ladies-in-waiting. I identified the Princess because as she walked past, the crowd of Thais who had been waiting bowed so deeply their foreheads nearly hit the floor.
And then, just as suddenly, she was gone. Not a wave or a smile, simply a quick twenty steps and into the lift. That was all. No photo's, save this one from her website:
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