Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends
Thai King's iPods
Thailand certainly has been in the news as of late, and not for Apple related topics. Be that as it may, MacNed.nl of the Netherlands has some pictures of a special commemorative iPod nano that the King of Thailand has made. He had 9999, a Thai lucky number, of these special nanos created to celebrate his 60th year on the throne.Each nano comes in a special box which contains a case, a letter of authenticity, and the iPod. I wonder when American politicians will get wise are send the voting public an iPod or two.
Update: As pointed out in the comments, these iPods commemorate the King's reign, but he, himself, didn't play any part in the manufacture of said iPods. Think something along the lines of a Franklin Mint plate only instead of a plate it is an iPod.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Kyle Nilson said 7:12PM on 9-25-2006
I wonder how much these'll sell for now that he got overthrown.
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Ben said 7:17PM on 9-25-2006
Kyle, uh, he didn't get overthrown. The Thai Military with the blessing of the king over threw the Prime Minister. The King is still the king and is loved and respected in Thailand.
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Pieter said 7:18PM on 9-25-2006
It really stinks that he bought them before the new nanos came out...
Now he'll have to buy 9999 replacements, since we all know the old
ones are "obsolete".
Plus, think about how much more fossil fuel will be spent, depleting the o-zone, because he didn't buy the new nanos.
Some sad days for the Thai aristocracy...
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Sejuru said 7:18PM on 9-25-2006
Prime Minister Thaksin was ousted in a military coup - NOT the King.
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diulei said 10:07PM on 9-25-2006
Royalty has absolutely no place in modern society.
Imagine all you could do with the money wasted on them.
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Nate said 10:18PM on 9-25-2006
Long live the King's iPods.
9999 is a Chinese lucky number. Most of Thai culture's origin is Chinese in nature. The Forbidden City in Beijing originally had 9999 separate rooms, for instance.
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geekmorgan said 11:01PM on 9-25-2006
Wow. What a way to disctract your loyal subjects.
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Chris Stevens said 11:25PM on 9-25-2006
9, pronounced jiu in a third tone is a homophone of jiu (4th tone) in Mandarin Chinese meaning longevity... hence the desire of kings in China and by extension Thailand for that sentiment.
In an Asian society such as Thailand there is a huge relevance to having a king. It is this consistency that allows Thailand to function as a reasonably civilized nation without the self interest of politicians taking over.
Good on him for buying the iPods, Thais really do love him and he provides a wonderful sense of continuity and stability to the only Asian country that has never been invaded and occupied.
A lot of Thai culture may have come from China, but as someone who lives in the dump they call modern China, Thailand is a lot nicer place. Fortunately I am going there on Thursday- if i see one of the iPods I shall of course report back!
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K28 said 11:27PM on 9-25-2006
#6
No, in thai the number nine pronouce (KHOW) which also means "step (forword)" in thai language.
iPod never support thai language, is this one do?
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Kyle Nilson said 11:33PM on 9-25-2006
Apologies, me is a dumbass. :(
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K28 said 11:51PM on 9-25-2006
Oh. and also this king is no. 9 king of his family. We call him RAMA 9.
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Zach Hale said 12:41AM on 9-26-2006
Yeah these things really are neat. I just got back from a month in Thailand this summer and saw a ton of these things around. They are really pretty nifty.
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rawitatpulam said 3:51AM on 9-26-2006
As someone who lives in Thailand and knows well about this special edition iPod.
The iPod has nothing to do with his majesty the king himself. It was made by some organization, namely IT CITY and Apple Thailand (my apology if there's any other name that I failed to mention) to celebrate his 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne.
Many other companies are selling other products, T-shirts are probably the most common nowadays (when you come to Thailand todays, you may see a lot of people wearing Yellow T-shirts, especially on Monday). So the iPod contributed to the event and this special year is rather not unexpected.
It's one of the way people do business todays.
Repeat: His majesty the King himself has absolutely nothing to do with this.
Also, in modern Thailand, the royal family has nothing, absolutely, to do with political issues and politics in general. Rather their hold a special place in every heart, a symbolic figure that describe our entire nation and nationality. Something I cannot possibly describe in words in any language I know of.
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Long live the King said 6:42AM on 9-26-2006
As thais I would like to thanks to rawitatpulam. I read these comments and feel very sad that you all miss understanding us but I can't do anything because my english isn't very well (as you can see now). rawitatpulam right about everything. and may i add a little more that all of our culture didn't have origin from Chinese. We have a lot more if you come here you'll know. And we love our king very much, it hurt our feeling that you guys think that he's some thing like Louis16th. He did so much for us. Please study about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej or http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/ and for a record a lot of us hate Thaksin and we glad about the coup.
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SK- said 11:41PM on 9-26-2006
I'm Thai and I confirmed everything that "rawitatpulam" posted. His Majesty the King has nothing to do with this. He also no need to buy this iPod. The company who run this promotion/campage give the 9999 number to him.
His Majesty the King also has nothing to do with Political issue and Taksin.
I Repeat: His majesty the King has nothing to do with Political issue and Taksin.
He is always in our Heart and his position is above everybody/everything.
Long Live the King.
You want to know more about our King, Please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej
http://www.kanchanapisek.or.th/
Long Live the King.
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Adam said 10:38AM on 9-26-2006
Do one of you Thai guys know how much these iPod Nanos go for? My Thai wife would love one and she would be the envy of our local Wat (Thai Temple). Also, if you know someone to buy one from by internet or phone?
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macFanDave said 8:47PM on 9-26-2006
I wonder when American politicians will get wise are send the voting public an iPod or two.
Well, when Bush decides to throw the Security Level to Red in, say, October 2008, declare martial law, suspend the Constitution and declare himself dictator-for-life, we may get a few commemorative iPods at each decade of the Bush dictatorship. You might want to start checking your mailbox around January 2011, but I suspect that everyone who is going to get one already knows who they are.
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Kray said 4:10PM on 9-26-2006
Adam - I'm not sure about the Nano version but the regular (VDO 60GB) version cost 13,500 bahts or around US$360.
http://www.macdd.com/h_price.html
I don't think they take mail (or internet) orders. Also, it might still be hard to find on eBay if any. But if you guys know someone in Bangkok to won't be hard to get one.
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FC said 5:07PM on 9-27-2006
Yeah right.
"I Repeat: His majesty the King has nothing to do with Political issue and Taksin."
But he still has the responsibility of speaking up.
Anybody knows what is the minium order to make custom-made nanos?
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rawitatpulam said 12:34AM on 9-28-2006
Short answer to #19
He did several times to Thaksin, only to see the supreme ignorant of the former prime minister to the King's advices and words.
Thaksin would be much better off, if he had listened.
By saying the king has nothing to do with politics and political issues doesn't imply, by any mean, that he does not care and doesn't mean he ignores the issues.
I'm confidence that every Thai old enough would remember the Bloody May, May 1992. If he wasn't there to help the nation out, it might turn into one of the bloodiest civil war in our history.
He also responsible for over 3,000 national projects, ranging from scientific research and development of biofuel to rural and urban development.
Before this thread become an unnecessity political discussion involving one of the figure I know Thai people will die defending, I propose we rather not bring the king of Thailand into the further discussion. Let's focus on the iPod.
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