The Thai King

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that, like the United Kingdom, they have a King as well as a prime minister. What's interesting to note is that the king and queen's pictures are ALL OVER THAILAND. Like, everywhere. Road signs, temples, restaurants, etc. etc. - you name it, chances are there's a picture of the king there.

Also interesting is that the pictures are all like 40 years old (the current king, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has ruled since 1946 and is 89!)

Additionally, you're not really supposed to talk about the monarchy. At all. At one point, after looking at a family tree of the king's lineage, we asked Nath if the king's father had been king. His response was "we don't really talk about the King." It was legit a history question. He told us that we would find out more information if, once we left Thailand, we googled the information! We were driving in his car at the time. We asked him if he thought his car was bugged! So interesting!