HM KING Bhumibol Adulyadej had spent so much time working in the strife-torn southernmost region that he could speak the local dialect fluently.
Dilok, or Abdullah Siriwallop, a Muslim who used to serve as an interpreter for the royals, said His Majesty travelled extensively in the deep South for more than three decades in the hope of reaching out to people and making their lives better.
“He visited his people, rain or shine,” Dilok recounted with tears in his eyes. “Despite travel difficulties and dangers involved, he never backed off.”
The much-loved, deeply-revered monarch stopped his working trips only after his health began to fail. On October 13 this year, he passed away peacefully at the age of 89 at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
Dilok was working as a teacher when he was recruited as an interpreter for His Majesty the King in 1973. Locals in the far South mainly use the Malayu language in their everyday life.
According to Dilok, His Majesty had not relied solely on interpreters in the region – he tried to learn the language so that he could communicate directly with his people.
“He wanted to reach out to his people, understand them and develop the country for them,” the interpreter said, his voice shaking with emotion. “The King was apparently happier when he could directly communicate with people. In the end, he hardly needed interpreters because he became fluent in Malayu himself.”
Every day with His Majesty was impressive, Dilok said, pointing out that he had witnessed firsthand the King’s caring concerns for Thais.
“But the most memorable moment was when His Majesty and his team were heading to the Toh Moh Temple in Narathiwat’s Sukhirin district,” Dilok recounted.
He said the King had been scheduled to preside over the opening of an event there but run-off water from mountainous areas cut off access to the village where the temple was located.
Officials urged the King to cancel the trip because there was no safe way to reach the temple, he said.
“But His Majesty instructed his team to check with local leaders first as to whether people had already gathered at the temple to meet him,” Dilok said. “And the answer was that thousands of people had been waiting for him since 6am.”

“Raging torrent”
Dilok said the answer apparently made the King think hard, and all officials present were under stress.
“His Majesty then got back into his car and said he would drive across the Sai Buri River,” Dilok said. “I must emphasise that back then torrents of water were very ferocious.”
Dilok said all officials, shaking with fear, agreed to drive through the river too because they understood the King’s need to care for his people.
“That’s when we got an historic picture. The picture shows the King’s car driving through raging torrents of water,” he said.
Dilok said while in the deep South, His Majesty had also worked hard to try to solve the problem of acid soil because it affected the quality of crops and resulted in a low crop price.
“He had tried to tackle so many problems,” the interpreter said.
In 1973, the King also gave money from his own pocket to help finance the construction of Buket Tanyong Mosque in Narathiwat. Locals call this mosque “The King’s Mosque” until this day.
“I don’t want anything else in life. Working for the King was my biggest honour and biggest blessing,” he said.