The King praised General Surayud Chulanont for the strength of his character and experience.

Surayud is leading a Cabinet which consists of mostly retired technocrats or government and military officials. The average age of the Cabinet is 63. The combined age of its members is 1,600 years.

"Old age can be an advantage in terms of accumulated knowledge and experiences. Young people who look down on the elderly are in fact inferior themselves. Old people who well maintain their intelligence and moral integrity can help the country prosper," the King said.

"But for those who do not know how to make use of their old age, they are just like children mentally. This kind of person can be very dangerous. Their immaturity and inferior feeling about their old age could lead to the fall of the country. It is sad for those who keep regretting about getting old without trying to make use of it. Elderly people can make use of their old age and experiences to help other people and the country. I hope old people with good experiences will successfully work for the nation."

From the outset, Surayud carried an image of "old ginger", in contrast to the "can-do, can-conceal" image of his predecessor, Thaksin Shinawatra. But Thaksin has also been viewed as a young man in a hurry, always moving for a goal that is beyond his reach.

When you try to recall your heroes or the people who have formed a deep impression on you, you immediately have their picture in your head. These pictures in your head are the images. They are either images of youthfulness or elderliness. And the images can be correctly or wrongly represented in your head.

Albert Einstein always had the image of elderliness, of a clumsy professor, with his white moustache and white hair standing up like it had been treated with an electric shock. He made a scientific breakthrough with his Theory of Relativity when he was still in his thirties. Einstein's elderly image outgrew his theory, which remains "young" and powerful.

 Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US president, also had the image of an old man, with his black beard and scholarly look. Many would be surprised to learn that he was assassinated at the relatively young age of 56. By the standards of our age, 56 years -about the same age as Thaksin - is not old at all.

John F Kennedy, the 35th US president, always exuded an image of youthfulness. He was one of the greatest US presidents of the modern age. But he died young, at 46. When Americans think about Kennedy, they think of him as a very young president, almost immortal. But if Kennedy were alive today, he would be 89. He would never have been remembered in the American mind as a youthful and immortal president.

To many, Lady Diana is not yet dead. She is only a sleeping beauty. The image of Lady Diana is one of a young princess waiting for a young prince to give her the breath of life through a kiss.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the world's greatest composers, also has a youthful image. But he too, died young, at the age of 35. But his music is mature and universal; beyond his mortal life, he is remembered like an angel of music who appeared on this earth to give us the gift of his heavenly compositions.

My late father, who died at 82, appears to me in dreams from time to time. In one dream, I always see him in his early forties, when he was young and sporty. He hated to get old. I miss him most whenever I happen to listen to an old song, "Too Young". This song was a favourite in our house in the sixties. The first line of the lyrics is so touching: "They try to tell us we're too young - too young to really be in love."

To me, the sixties represented the age of innocence.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation