The King's Birthday

Today, December 5th, is Thailand's King's birthday. Banners and portraits are all over Thailand including Phuket - most highlighting the royal yellow color. The attached pic is one such huge (20+ feet tall) display in which took a small army 3 days to erect in his honor right on Patong beach front. Note "Long Live the King" in both Thai and English. The emblem to the right in the picture is the King's symbol - "coat of arms". All bars are closed. This evening there are intermittent fireworks going off here and there. The Thais love their king very much.