It was a brief encounter, purely written by chance, but it would change Teerapot Haji-ar-were's life in a way he never expected. The Pattani native believes it was sheer luck that sent him into the path of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej that day nearly 40 years ago during a royal trip to the Deep South, and that led him to become the King's interpreter between Thai and the local Jawi language for 30 years.
"It was September 1979," said the 72-year-old schoolteacher. "I still remember that day clearly."
Riding home on his motorbike from Sai Buri Islam Wittayalai school in Pattani, Teerapot saw a royal convoy passing. The police told him that His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen were on their way to visit a Buddhist temple, and Teerapot quickly rode home and asked his wife to join him in receiving Their Majesties.
"But my wife told me to bring Teacher Sanan and she'll follow by herself afterwards," Teerapot recalled. Teacher Sanan, who ran a nursery in their town, had polio and was going blind with glaucoma. He had always wanted to meet His Majesty in order for a chance to be treated.
"I had to carry him into the temple," Teerapot recalls. "Coincidentally, right when I stepped into the temple's front entrance, His Majesty came through the back. He walked up to me and asked what was wrong with Teacher Sanan."
Explaining to His Majesty of his friend's predicament, the King told Teerapot to sit Sanan down so he and his medical team could examine him. As Teacher Sanan was examined, royal staff members started interrogating Teerapot. How does he know Sanan? How are they related? Who he is? What's his job?
"Teacher Sanan was a Buddhist while I am a Muslim," said Teerapot. "They took note that we were able to live in harmony with each other." As more and more locals gathered around the temple, storm clouds gathered and it started to rain.
His Majesty The King, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Teerapot Haji-ar-were stop to talk with locals on a bridge in Narathiwat.
"His Majesty came to me and informed me that he wanted the local Muslims to take shelter inside the temple. He asked if there were any religious restrictions in doing that," said Teerapot.
"I informed him it was okay. So he told me to announce to the people to take shelter, and he'll take shelter with us as well. Once inside, he began talking to the locals inside the temple. [The locals mostly spoke Jawi] and by coincidence, I became the interpreter."
The rest was history. The next day, a royal convoy picked up Sanan to be sent to Bangkok to treat his glaucoma, and another came to pick up Teerapot at his house, bringing him to the King's residence in the South.
"I was escorted to a receiving area, and was questioned some more by a staff member," he recalled. "Then I was told that a royal convoy was about to leave the residence to visit locals. I was told to go with the convoy and to sit in the medical unit. I was so excited as everything was so new to me."
For six days after that, Teerapot followed the convoy. "You don't have to ask about whether I was excited or not. I never thought that I'd be this close to the King in my life."
Each year from then on, when the King and Queen returned, they sent a letter to the MP of Pattani, requesting that Teerapot take days off from teaching to be their interpreter. From 1979 onwards, Teerapot would be by their side for the two months, interpreting, and proudly representing the Muslim community in the South. His Majesty King Bhumibol first visited the South, including the southernmost provinces, in 1959. They would return almost every year to the region where ethnic history and cultural identity, defined largely by Islam and the Malay connection, gave it an impression of a foreign land. Forty years ago, the majority of the population in the Deep South spoke Pattani Malay -- also known as Yawi or Jawi -- and the linguistic difference could add to the sense of remoteness and alienation.
As His Majesty showed throughout his reign, his presence was a unifying figure.
"In the areas of the Deep South, the majority are Thais that follow Islam, and the minority would be Thai Buddhist. They speak Malayu or Jawi, and [they identify themselves more] as Malayu, not Thai. Some of us in the past would call people in central Thailand 'See-Yae', coming from the word 'Siam'. They feel that they're different groups.
"When the King came to the South, he chose to build his residence in Narathiwat, as he saw that [the Deep South] had a lot of problems. Because of the linguistic barrier, there was no communication between government officials, so there was a feeling of being separated."
Teerapot, who received a bachelor's in geography and history at Prince of Songkla University in 1973, recalled that half-a-century ago when the King visited the Deep South, the villagers would call him "the King of Siam".
"They wouldn't say 'our King', " he said. "But His Majesty would go to different villages every year, and people began to see changes. During the first times he visited, there were no projects set in place. He just wanted to get to know the villagers and areas. But within a few years the sign of development began to show. From not being able to grow crops, they were able to. There started to be schools, clinics, roads, electricity. Soon the villagers started saying 'The King of Siam is kind to us'.
"When time passed, HM would visit his projects again to see the progress made, and the villagers who used to sit on the roadside and not care, would stand up and show respect. When people ask, 'Who's coming?', villagers would now say 'Our King'. They don't say 'The King of Siam' anymore. Once the citizens knew that September was the month that he would visit the region, they started waiting for him."
Today some parts of the Deep South are still plagued by conflict. The linguistic difference, though less sharp than decades ago, remains a cultural and political issue. As Teerapot recalls, only some of the Muslims who lived in the South in the 1970s learned Thai while many didn't. Those who did would have an advantage, and those who didn't would finish school at Grade 4 and start working.
"His Majesty knew of this problem and he wanted Thailand to be united. Now the majority of people can speak Thai, except for the older generations," said Teerapot.
Working so closely with His Majesty the King, Teerapot saw with his own eyes how hardworking, loving and extremely detailed His Majesty was in caring for his people's well-being.
"Before he arrived in an area, the King would conduct his own research," he said. "He would try to understand the culture, the customs, the type of jobs people do, the language they speak.
"He would try to dig deep into the local problems."
Naturally, working with such a revered figure would produce challenging and nerve-wrecking moments too. "His Majesty is so accurate in his knowledge of maps and geography. I didn't realise he was that good." Once Teerapot had to go survey a village alone in order to check their watering hole.
"I had to go up a mountain to the village to survey and take photos of the area," he said. "Going back to the royal residence, I developed the photos and wrote a report to give to His Majesty. I recalled the trip to him. I told him I went up this mountain, and once I reached a fork, I turned left to go to the watering hole. His Majesty, who was looking at his map the whole time told me, 'No, you didn't turn left, you turned right'. I wasn't sure at that point so he told me to go again the next day with a soldier to check the route. Turns out he was correct."
Working for three decades with His Majesty the King, Teerapot learned a great deal of lessons in perseverance, living sufficiently, and most of all, empathy.
Now retired and living in his hometown of Sai Buri, he still remembers all of his experiences with His Majesty vividly. "Deep down, when I look at the photos of His Majesty, it feels like he is still with us -- that he's not gone yet. Looking at each picture, the events seem like they happened yesterday. Every event and every word that he said to me still echoes in my ears."
