Thailand is said to be inhabited by the friendliest people you’re likely to meet on the face of the earth. But there are at least two things one should avoid doing while traveling in the country, lest you upset them: Crumpling the country’s paper currency, and telling a citizen of Thailand (known as Siam prior to 1939) how much you love the musical The King and I.

Thailand’s legal tender, the baht, bears the portrait of its current—and revered—king, Bhumibol Adulyadej (aka Rama IX). As for the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, which is based on the true story of a British governess hired by King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam in 1862 to educate 58 of his children, Thais believe that the play inaccurately portrays the modernizing, educated 19th-century monarch as an autocratic fool (“When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera”), while presenting Thai culture as inferior to that of the West.

The popular 1956 screen version of The King and I, which starred Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr and won five Academy Awards, and a 1999 nonmusical film adaptation of the story, Anna and the King, with Jodie Foster and Yun-Fat Chow in the title roles, have both been banned in Thailand.

That said, there are a lot of things you will want to do in Thailand, which is filled with fascinating sights, as well as smiling faces. This my wife and I discovered for ourselves when we sailed aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas in January on a 12-day “Exotic Asia” cruise. Our ship arrived at Laem Chabang, Thailand’s largest port, eight days after sailing from Hong Kong across the South China Sea and dropping anchor at four ports in Vietnam. Our last port-of-call would be Sihanoukville, Cambodia, before completing the cruise in Singapore.

It was Joseph Daley, Jr., Rhapsody’s onboard Asia expert, who first cued us in on the Thai people’s relationship with their king in one of his many informative orientation talks held throughout the cruise. “The king is so respected and revered in this constitutional monarchy”—Siam’s kings relinquished absolute power in 1932—“that he seldom makes a comment on anything” related to affairs of state, he said. But on the rare occasion when he feels compelled to speak out publicly on a problem, things change, Daley suggested.

We had an opportunity to observe the Thais’ devotion to their king on one of the many optional shore excursions offered on the cruise. Touring Thailand’s modern, bustling capital of Bangkok over a two-day period by bus, boat and on foot, we saw pictures of the king displayed on posters and banners everywhere—atop skyscrapers, on streets at major intersections and inside hotel lobbies. The king, who turned 80 last December and is the world’s longest reigning monarch (he was crowned in 1946), appears in informal as well as regal settings, doing man-of-the-people things such as playing a saxophone and composing music. In fact, he’s an accomplished musician who in his younger years jammed with jazz greats such as Benny Goodman and Stan Getz.

With 95 percent of the people being Buddhist, religion serves as another unifying force in a country that has endured squabbling political parties, numerous constitutional changes and meddling military leaders in modern times. In Bangkok alone there are some 400 Buddhist temples, with images of the religion’s founder taking many different forms: standing and reclining, smiling and contemplative, fashioned in wood and gold. You’ll also see miniature temple-like structures known as “spirit houses” in the gardens of homes or at other outdoor locations in honor of departed ancestors.

It is at the Grand Palace-Temple of the Emerald Buddha complex where the powerful forces of royalty and religion in Thai tradition come together in spectacular fashion. First built by King Rama I in 1782 and firmly establishing Bangkok as Thailand’s foremost city, the 54-acre compound shelters approximately 100 buildings that display a wide range of Asian and Western architectural and decorative styles.

The actual Grand Palace building that stands today was built in the late 19th century by Rama V and served as the official residence of Thai kings until the middle of the 20th century. Today, it is utilized for major state occasions, including the coronation of kings. Rama V, by the way, is the same member of the large royal family depicted as the young prince in The King and I. Following in his father’s footsteps in promoting Western ties and ideas, he had the palace designed in Victorian style, albeit with a Thai temple-like roof. There’s even a daily changing of the guard modeled after the well-known ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London.

The most dazzling section of the compound is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (officially known as Wat Phra Kaew), where 200 years of Thai history influenced by many Asian cultures (Cambodian, Ceylonese, Chinese, Indian) are on display. Ornate buildings are topped by magnificent spires and domed roofs; walls are decorated with sparkling colored glass and little golden statues of fabulous birdmen, serpents and other mythical figures; elaborate, extensive murals depict the life of Buddha, legendary tales and epic battles.

The most important object at the temple site is the Emerald Buddha itself. Thailand’s most venerated Buddha stands a mere 30 inches in height atop a golden throne. Named for its color but actually made out of a single block of jade, the 15th-century statue is protected at outside entrances to the temple building by gigantic figures of fierce demon guards.

The palace-temple complex lies near the Chao Phraya River, which flows gently through the heart of Bangkok. A motorboat trip on the river, which included jumping-off opportunities for sightseeing and dining, provides a splendid overview of the city’s treasured past and invigorating urban present.

One major stop was at the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun), completed during the reign of Rama III (1824-51). This dramatic temple complex features a central Khmer-style prang, or tower, decorated with seashells and shards of porcelain once used as ballast by boats traveling from China. Rising some 260 feet above the riverbank, the tower was Bangkok’s tallest structure before the coming of skyscrapers and remains the city’s most photographed landmark, in the way the Eiffel Tower symbolizes Paris. We climbed a series of steep steps to terraces for fabulous views of the Chao Phraya River. It was well worth the exertion.

The terraces probably are good vantage points for viewing a procession of royal barges that sail on the river on rare special occasions. That opportunity didn’t present itself during our visit, but we were able to view the fantastically designed boats farther upriver at the Royal Barges National Museum, where they are moored in open sheds. The largest barge on display, 152 feet long and requiring 50 oarsmen to propel, is the one the present king has sailed on in past ceremonial processions. Built in 1911 during the reign of Rama VI, the barge sports a mythical swan figurehead and is adorned with gold lacquer and glass jewels. Other equally elaborate barges exhibited at the museum feature figureheads of warriors, dragons and other legendary creatures.
The boat trip also afforded us glimpses of daily life among today’s ordinary Thai citizens. Vendors ply the river in boats filled with fresh vegetables and fruits for sale. From the decks of humble wooden houses on stilts, women were busy washing their clothes in the river and hanging them up to dry. Our tour boat also passed by lovely new houses, high-rise condos and popular riverside restaurants that have sprung up in the city in recent years.

Beyond the banks of the river, Bangkok remains a fascinating city of contrasts. Some 10 million of Thailand’s 65 million citizens live in this densely populated city, which includes 75 percent ethnic Thais and 14 percent of Chinese ancestry. Here, Buddhist temples share valuable real estate with ultramodern hotel and office buildings as high as 85 stories. Barefoot Buddhist monks in orange saffron robes walk past suited office workers rushing to work in telecommunications fields. And an overhead SkyTrain mass transit system and Express Boat service on the river offer alternatives to navigating Bangkok’s traffic-packed streets filled with trucks, cars, buses and three-wheeled motorized rickshaws known as tuk-tuks (for the sounds they make).

Touring the city on foot in midweek, we were told by our local tour guide, Suda Lantz, that if one was to visit Bangkok on a Monday, you’d see thousands of ordinary citizens wearing yellow shirts and other articles of clothing. That’s because the king was born on a Monday and the color of that day in Thai tradition is yellow. “We love him that much,” Lantz explained.

While the Siamese ruler who hired Anna as governess for his children had some 40 wives, the present modern monarch has been married to but one woman, since 1950. He was actually born in Cambridge, Mass., at a time his parents were studying in the United States. So it’s fitting that he’s on the throne in 2008, the year Thailand—the only nation in Southeast Asia never to have come under Western rule—and the United States are marking the 175th anniversary of the signing of a Treaty of Amity & Commerce, vowing peace between the two nations “as long as heaven and earth shall endure.” It was signed in 1833 at Bangkok’s Grand Palace by representatives of President Martin Van Buren and, in the words of the agreement, the “Magnificent King of Siam.”

No less than Rama IV, the half-brother who succeeded him, this king appears to have been a ruler not to be crossed—or creased.

Notes: For 2009, Royal Caribbean International will repeat its 12-night “Exotic Asia” cruise with a sailing on April 26 from Hong Kong to Singapore that includes Hanoi (Haiphong), Hue (Danang), Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City (Vung Tau) in Vietnam; Bangkok (Laemchabang) in Thailand and Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

Earlier in the year, the cruise line is offering three 14-night “Southeast Asia” cruises, Singapore to Shanghai, China, on Jan. 31, Feb. 14 and Feb. 28. Ports of call for these sailings will include Sihanoukville, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hue, Sanya (China), Hong Kong and Xiamen (China).

Other Asia cruises scheduled by Royal Caribbean for 2009, ranging from 2 to 12 nights, include stopovers in Malaysia, India, Japan and South Korea.

The 1,800-passenger Legend of the Seas will be the cruise ship for all the 2009 Asia sailings.

For more information, visit www.AAA.com/Cruises and www.royalcaribbean.com.