Text Type: News Article                                                                                                                                                                                                                Date Completed: 15/10/2017

“Remembering Thailand’s beloved King Bhumibol,” is a news article written by a media company, Al Jazeera. The article tells the story of King Bhumibol, the beloved Thai King who ruled Thailand for 70 years; my King. He was known as the father of the nation, the symbol of national unity and dedication; without him, Thailand wouldn’t be a modernized, prosperous country like today.

The ideas that are strongly expressed in the news article are dedication and giving back to society. From King Bhumibol’s 70-year reign, Thai people have learnt a lot, but one of the things that are highlighted is, by working tirelessly, dedicating the entire lifetime to society and leading a humble and exemplary personal life, the country has successfully accomplished so many of its goals, and this was done through one man. Before King Bhumibol’s reign, Thailand could be seen and described as a “jungle-like country” there were no roads in rural places, and it was difficult to travel from one place to another. When King Bhumibol visited a rural village for the first time, he had to carry a map, walking through mud and trees as there were no signs to indicate where he was going. This resulted in over 3000 royal projects, including the Rain-making project, which he developed himself to solve the drought issue and help improve the quality of underprivileged people’s lives. I learnt from this article that, even though, most of us probably can’t devote our entire life to society, we can do little things at a time to improve something we believe is wrong such as giving spare change to the poor, or volunteering for charitable organisations, you don’t have to be rich or powerful to give back to society and make a difference; our little change and helping hands can mean a lot to other people.

Another thing I learnt was that people, like all of us, cannot stay in this world forever, when we die, we will soon be forgotten, unless we have offered something to the world. Our minds and bodies will be gone, but the only way that people will remember us is through thought, by the good that we did. Like with King Bhumibol, he passed away last year, but the good things he had done for the country will never be forgotten. “We will not see anybody work for the country as hard as him and we will never see Thai people love and respect anybody as much as him.” This quote helps me understand the power of kindness and giving. Without kindness amongst our society, it would have certainly fallen apart. Kindness inspires great happiness, faith in humanity and surpassing quality.

My belief on this article is that the ways in which the king helped Thailand cannot be questioned nor can my greatness be expressed towards him. The effects that he had on today’s society are massive and have made Thailand what it is today. By doing what he did, it meant that it made the country somewhere that could be accessible and able to be lived in. The changes that were made are what gave Thailand its name and meant that the people could honour him and feel proud about their home and what was achieved when King Bhumibol was alive. It meant that although there may have been a great amount of money spent, which affected the political side to Thailand, and its wealth in its economy, it made the place better and essentially put it on the map to become known to the rest of the world. The society of Thailand has changed over the years, as it has grown and more and more people wish to visit it and see what it has to offer, but think about it, the small achievements of one man, grew into bigger and bigger accomplishments to turn around what used to be there, to what is there now. Without these changes the society would be much more diverse and the population would not be as big as it today. Personally, I feel proud and free feeling, knowing that this beautiful place is what I call home. Some people may not understand the beauty of it or the way that I and all other Thai people live, but to me it makes me happy knowing that my King saw something he wanted to change, and did these things out of the kindness of his heart to give us what we have and cherish each and every day.

 

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