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Tongdaeng, with variant spellings like Thong Daeng ( th, ทองแดง; 7 November 1998 – 26 December 2015), was a female copper-colored mixed breed dog and one of the pets owned by King
Bhumibol Adulyadej Bhumibol Adulyadej ( th, ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; ; ; (Sanskrit: ''bhūmi·bala atulya·teja'' - "might of the land, unparalleled brilliance"); 5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great ...
of Thailand.


Life

The king adopted Tongdaeng in 1998 from the litter of a stray dog that had been taken in by a medical center he had recently dedicated. She was nursed by Mae Mali, a former stray who was adopted by the king earlier. Her name means "copper" in
Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...
.*Seth Mydans
For Dogged Devotion to Etiquette, a Kingly Tribute
International Herald Tribune The ''International Herald Tribune'' (''IHT'') was a daily English-language newspaper published in Paris, France for international English-speaking readers. It had the aim of becoming "the world's first global newspaper" and could fairly be said ...
, 26 December 2002. Accessed 30 December 2015.
A commemorative block of four postage stamps featuring Tongdaeng was issued by Thailand Post in 2006. Bhumibol called her "A common dog who is uncommon", and in 2002 wrote an affectionate biography of her titled "''The Story of Tongdaeng'' (เรื่อง ทองแดง)". The book is commonly referred to as a
parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...
on many social topics. For instance, the King wrote that "Tongdaeng is a respectful dog with proper manners; she is humble and knows protocol. She would always sit lower than the King; even when he pulls her up to embrace her, Tongdaeng would lower herself down on the floor, her ears in a respectful drooping position, as if she would say, 'I don't dare.'" All the names of the dogs owned by the King start with the word "Thong" (lit. gold). The 84-page book, published with both Thai and English text, quickly sold out of its first edition of 100,000 in Thailand. Since demand was so high, the book became an esteemed gift, and was reprinted many times. A statue of Tongdaeng was created for the Royal Crematorium of King Bhumibol. Her chest is adorned with Jasmine motif, a representation of "Mother's Love" as Jasmine or "Mali" is the flower for Thailand' Mother's Day as well as the name of Tongdaeng's adoptive mother.


Protection by ''lèse majesté'' law

Thanakorn Siripaiboon, a 27-year-old factory worker, was charged in 2015 with insulting the King through a "sarcastic" post about Tongdaeng on Facebook, under the ''lèse majesté'' law in Thailand. His lawyer,
Anon Nampa Arnon Nampa ( th, อานนท์ นำภา; , also spelt Anon Numpa; born 18 August 1984) is a Thai human rights lawyer and activist. He is renowned in Thailand for openly criticizing the monarchy of Thailand, breaking the country's tab ...
, informed the ''
International New York Times ''The New York Times International Edition'' is an English-language daily newspaper distributed internationally by the New York Times Company. It has been published in two separate periods, one from 1943 to 1967 and one from 2013 to the prese ...
'' that the charge "had not detailed the precise insult towards the animal". The Bangkok-based printer of the ''International New York Times'' removed the story from the 14 December 2015 print edition of the paper, just 12 days before Tongdaeng's death. He was released on bond after spending 90 days in prison. If convicted, Siripaiboon could have faced up to a maximum of 37 years in prison. His current location and the status of his case are unknown as of June 2018. According to the BBC, a prosecutor said Siripaiboon had posted several photos of the dog on Facebook in a manner which appeared to mock the King, and in addition had been charged with posting the "like" button next to a doctored photo of the Thai monarch, which had been posted by another Facebook user. The case was finally dropped.


In media

A film based on Tongdaeng's biography, ''Khun Tongdaeng: The Inspirations'' (คุณทองแดงดิอินสไปเรชันส์), was released in November 2015.


See also

*
Fufu (dog) Fufu (or Foo Foo th, ฟูฟู; ; 1997–2015) was a Thai dog and air force officer who was the pet poodle of Vajiralongkorn, at the time the Crown Prince of Thailand. The dog was a favorite of the prince, and often accompanied him on royal ...
*
List of individual dogs This is a list of individual famous actual dogs; for famous dogs from fiction, see List of fictional dogs. Actors Advertising * Axelrod, Basset Hound, appeared in commercials and print ads for Flying "A" Service Station advertisements in ...


References


Further reading

* Bhumibol Adulyadej. ''The Story of Tongdaeng''. Amarin, Bangkok. 2004. {{Bhumibol Adulyadej 1998 animal births 2015 animal deaths Individual dogs in politics Lèse majesté in Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej Pets of the Chakri dynasty