The King is a much beloved fixture in this constitutional monarchy. He turned 80 on Dec 5th and there were celebrations , speeches, concerts, parades, admonishments and fireworks galore.
The king primarily spends his time in agricultural research, and other beneficial projects for his people. He regularly listens to his people, and instructs his politicians and people to be honest and not lazy, to think of the good of Thailand. Having read several of his speeches in the local paper, he is a healer amongst factions and a stern daddy figure when his kids are being naughty and he is much loved for it all.
The only way to curry favor with the king is to donate money to the charities and causes he has championed. A lot of people say his son is similar in approach to the position, but are concerned about the country's stability at the time of succession.
You might want to look up a bit of the recent political history of Thailand on the web to see how much the King is a fixture in people's lives. He was born on a Monday and "yellow" is the color for Monday--- hence mostly everyone was wearing yellow shirts for his birthday- us included!
The closest thing we have to the wisdom of this king are a handful of elder statesmen who are still all politicians. I would have to say Jimmy Carter ( minus the prejudiced middle east politics), Al Gore (if he were truly educated), and Bill Clinton(if he could keep his pants on long enough to make a point) together would make up less than half of the effectiveness of this King.
A couple of web sites with good info on the king and current politics.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/21A7080E-CD7D-4CA5-911B-AAA7A8B17704.htm
http://www.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/hm_king_bhumibol.html
http://kanchanapisek.or.th/biography/index.en.html
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