With Thailand now in the middle of an official mourning period following the passing of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej last month, tourist arrivals who haven’t been paying attention to world news may be quite surprised at what they see. Everywhere you go, people are dressed in black and white.

I can’t speak for Bangkok, but here in the northern city of Chiang Mai I’d estimate that well over 90% of the people you see around town are outwardly observing the mourning period to some degree. Many people are dressed completely in black. The majority are wearing some combination of black & white clothing, with shades of gray included. And those in uniform, such as students and 7-Eleven employees, are displaying small black ribbons pinned to their chest or sleeve.

Surprisingly, even many tourists have followed suit. The Tourism Authority of Thailand released a set of recommendations for tourists during

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