Who is there when one needs hope, inspiration and courage to overcome one of life's crises?

For many Thais, the definitive answer is His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has literally handed them "new lives" in desperate times.

"I couldn't sleep, I wept for so many nights, I had lost all hope but then, suddenly, my thoughts went to His Majesty," said Useng Zalaemae, 64, through teary smiles.

In 1993, he and many neighbours in Ban Patateemore, part of Pattani's Sai Buri district, lost all of the sea bass they had raised in baskets floating in a local river because an irrigation station polluted the waterway.

"The sea bass meant so much to us, they were our hope and our livelihoods. We borrowed money from a cooperative to start raising the fish," the elderly man said.

In the depths of Useng's despair, the King entered his thoughts, bringing him a sliver of hope in seemingly hopeless times.

"I thought that only His Majesty would be able to help me," said Useng.

One day, Useng made a decision to personally relay his problems to the King, who was scheduled to visit a nearby district.

Because he was not a fluent Thai speaker, preferring his native blend of Malay and Thai, he took along a dead sea bass as a prop when he spoke with His Majesty.

"With confidence, I joined well-wishers waiting to welcome the King ... But when His Majesty arrived, I simply couldn't utter a word," Useng said.

"I just sat there, shivering and choking on my tears, with the sea bass in my arms.

"It was like that for nearly half-an-hour when finally His Majesty found out what had happened to me, other people had to tell him" he said.

Useng said the King then asked him how many fish he had lost, how big they were and how much he could have sold them for.

"Very soon, His Majesty the King gave myself and seven of my neighbours 1,000 young sea bass each, fish food, nets and some cash," Useng said.

And, he said, His Majesty launched a project entitled "Crying Fish" here.

The project, managed by the Pattani coastal fishery station, has provided assistance and advice on the best fish species to farm and how to manage and maintain optimum water quality.

Today the project has 85 participants.

His Majesty also visited Pattani to follow up on the project's progress and again Useng found himself crying in His Majesty's presence.

For Useng, the memories of His Majesty chatting with him warmly remain vivid to this day.

"His Majesty asked me about the project, my debt repayments and my children.

"His Majesty also said jokingly, 'Well, take good care of the fish! Don't make them cry again'," Useng said.

For the past 14 years, Useng has personally presented sea bass to His Majesty every year - sometimes via Her Majesty the Queen.

"And every time I pray, I pray that Allah blesses Their Majesties the King and the Queen," Useng said.

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Reaping plenty in the North

Walking through crops on his farm in the Kingdom's North, 52-year-old Surachai Morakotwijitkarn says he will be eternally grateful for His Majesty's kindness.

He says because of the King's kindness, he has been inspired to help others.

People call at his farm almost every day to see how Surachai manages his pigs, fish and frogs and walk among his garden beds laden with vegetables,

decorative plants and fruit trees.

And all this on an area of 1,200 square metres.

Some days as many as five groups of people visit his farm for to learn about how he does things.

"I've managed to brave my way through the darkest days because of His Majesty. So now, I want to help others.

"Even though I'm still in debt, I know I am now on the right path and head-

ing for a better future," he said.

"I have found true happiness in life," Surachai said.

Surachai said he was once a cloth vendor, who had lived carelessly and wrongly believed that money alone could keep his family happy. "I had sold clothes in various flea markets, I had travelled to many provinces ... I was never home.

"But when I did make it home, I came with lots of money for my family," he said.

Surachai said the easy money allowed him to indulge in going out and gambling.

He never realised such a lifestyle was problematic until 1997, when the country's economic crisis stopped him in his tracks.

"Sales were less brisk and I had more and more stock and bigger and bigger debts.

"But instead of changing myself for the better, I gambled all my available cash on lotteries and I lost it all," Surachai said.

In 1999, Surachai's darkest days began because his string of moneylenders seriously began demanding their money back.

"I was under huge stress. It was so bad that at one point I wanted to die.

"I pulled out a gun, but before I shot myself in the head, my oldest daughter intervened," the now-happy father said.

After his daughter discovered his suicidal tendencies, his wife and his parents talked the desperate Surachai out of killing himself and reminded him of the need to exercise his conscience.

"It was lucky for me there was a royally initiated project near my house.

"I went there to recover my livelihood and learned how to raise frogs," he

said.

Surachai later invested Bt2,800 to raise frogs in October of 1999.

Although his venture flopped, Surachai did not give up.

"My brother gave me a book about His Majesty.

One I had read it, I was so moved, and found the courage to go on," he

said.

Part of the book read: "Unlike any other palace on Earth, the Chitralada Palace and Suan Chitralada is brimming with experimental fish ponds, paddy fields, dairy cattle, mills

"It is no overstatement to say there is no gap between His Majesty and the farmers of Thailand, because His Majesty has worked on the farm."