Thai Airways’ Special 777 Royal Barge Livery

@snory it's impossible to have an article about a royal livery without attracting comment on the royal family! and whilst Ben may have to abide by the Lèse-majesté law if he wants to enter Thailand again, the rest of us don't !

Guys, this blog has been about aviations, miles, and points. Let's keep it that way. There are many other places where you can express your opinion toward the Thai royal family but not here please. In term of livery, it does look nice and kinda set it apart from other planes. I wish many more airlines do the unique liveries that resemble the culture of that country.

@Endre: I guess you may be right that it's mostly propaganda what made up the reputation of the previous king and maybe the biggest advantage รัชกาลที่ 9 had was that wasn't any social media during most of his reign (and the lèse-majesté-laws definitely helped a lot too), otherwise he probably would have been known as the king who most likely killed accidentally his brother. In fact I am rather sure that all the stories circulating around รัชกาลที่ 10 will slowly lead to the demise of the monarchy in Thailand (at least if he stays on the throne for a longer period) and as you said it won't make a difference anyway so why not get rid of the institution? The enormous wealth could be used for a better purpose (and as the current king tightened his grip around the CPB I'm pretty sure it won't be put to a good use during his reign ...maybe he'll buy a few more villas around Munich). One serious problem of Thai society seems to me the blind obedience towards superiors and elderly (together with the principle of เกรงใจ), the total lack of genuine innovation - and in my opinion that attitude favors from the environment in a monarchy like they have in Thailand.

I don’t fully grasp the notion of “ร.10 is nothing like his father” — why should he follow his footsteps? It’s his reign, he does what he thinks is best for the institution. You and I know that most of ร. 9’s deeds are based on propaganda and that the former monarch wasn’t in any way better than the current one. Just look into the fate of Queen Sirikit’s numerous affairs. Even with all its shortcomings I still support this institution over any other form of government. Let’s face it: if TH would become a republic all the corrupt officials would still occupy key positions and the overall attitude of Thais wouldn’t change. Thais suffer from acute meism and no king or president can change this anytime soon — YMMV, though. But yes, the special livery of this particular airplane is stunning.

Endre - My apologies. Though I still think it's rather reprehensible to support an institution that quashes basic human rights and operates like a cult!