With the mourning period for the elder sister of His Majesty the King - HRH Princess Galyani Vardhana, who passed away early January 2008, being extended unofficially to a period 100 days, the Post spoke to a number of government and private employees on the island, who professed they were eager to show their love and respect for the princess by donning the mourning garb for the stipulated period.

Khun Jatsada Jongpaiboonpatana director of Vachira Hospital said, “I would love to wear black or white clothing 100 days as a mark of respect for HRH. I felt so sad when I heard the news that she had passed away. She was a great support for the people of Phuket, visiting the state many times and playing an active role in bringing medical facilities to the local people. She spent a lot of her time training volunteers so that they may continue her work in helping the people. She was a source of inspiration to me, always making me work harder for the people. I will keep her projects here at the hospital going and will do my best to carry her purpose on.”

Khun Patchnee Panson, teacher at the Muang Talang School, said about the mourning period for the Princess HRH Galyani Vadhana,“I am really pleased to do this because this is the one thing that I can do to pay respect to our beloved Princess and I don't mind dressing in black whether for fifteen days or a hundred. This is after all part of Thai culture, it is the way we pay respect to and pray for those who have passed away.

“This is a huge loss for Thai people. The princess began many projects to support the poor. When she went to visit the people, she brought with her volunteer doctors to check people's health. She set up the Por Or Sor Wor - the Mother's Medical Volunteer Foundation to help support the poor who live in remote areas. This is just one of great things that she did for us,”
she explained.

The mourning period of 15 days announced by the government and Bureau of the Royal Household requested mourners to dress in black and for entertainment venues to keep noise levels down. Hundreds of concerts and programmes around the country have also been canceled in the wake of the tragic death of the Princess.

There has been some debate on the island as to how the ban on noise levels may affect the entertainment business, and Post reporters spoke to the owners of various establishments across the island to get their comments. On the whole, the bars-owners and workers have expressed satisfaction that, as one owner put it, “it has been left up to us to decide what to do. We have only been asked to do what we can, there has been no force. In my opinion, 15 days is alright but I think that if the restrictions continued over 100 days, we will lose some customers, and our business would be affected adversely.

“Tourists come to Patong to hang out and have fun, and if they can't we will lose income for sure,” said the proprietor of a bar opposite the the Jungceylon, Patong, “The first three days after the Princess passed away Patong was rather quiet. The number of tourists remained the same, what was different was we didn't have loud music on and were also careful not to play too much 'fun music'.

“I always pay my respects to HRH princess as the one of great Princesses of our Kingdom,” he said. “I felt really sad at the passing away of the Princess, who has done so much for us and like all the other people who loved her deeply, I do mourn for HRH...but my business is my only source of in come and I need it to go on.”

The ladies working at a bar near the Amari Hotel said, “We do pay respects to the Princess and mourn for the lost of her HRH. The first 2-3 days we had no music at our bar, but we still had customers. When tourists enquired about the reason, we told them what had happened and they were really understanding.” The ladies agreed that so long as they were allowed to play music, even if it wasn't too loud, they expected to do business as usual.

Another bar-owner, this one in Phuket city, near Seng Ho bookstore expressed her grief at the passing away of the Princess. “I was devastated when I heard the news. She made me feel proud to be Thai, with all her work for the poor. I will be happy to shut down the music in my bar, and hope that my customers will understand and support me. If it affects my income, then so be it.”