27 NOVEMBER 2002
Thailand's much loved King Bhumibol Adulayadej has shot to the top of his country's best sellers book list with a tale about his dog Tongdaeng, whose name means Copper in English.

Publishers in Thailand are rushing to print more copies of The Story Of Tongdaeng, which is written in both Thai and English and focuses upon the arrival of the mixed-race hound into the royal household. Sales are predicated to top one million.

In the book, King Bhumipol recounts the 1988 arrival at the palace of his faithful pet – who he describes as "a common dog who is uncommon". Writing that Tongdaeng was obviously unhappy on the journey to her new home, he goes on to say: "Although the person who had brought her gave her milk and cakes, she did not stop crying. Strangely enough, when she had been presented to His Majesty she stopped crying and crawled onto his lap as if to entrust her life to his care and fell fast asleep."

Despite her humble beginnings the animal also shows what the 78-year-old monarch describes as "gratefulness and respect", an approach which differs from that of those who "after becoming important people might treat with contempt someone of lower status, who should be treated as the object of gratitude."

His comments are being interpreted in some quarters as a reference to government figures who, once in power, neglect the interests of those who put them there in the first place. There have been several recent scandals over politicians in both Thailand's governing and opposition parties being accused of misappropriation of funds intended for the country's poor.

While the Thai monarch has a purely ceremonial constitutional role, his views are highly respected, and millions are turning to his latest literary effort in search of inspiration.