Tourists who find themselves in Bangkok on a Monday, may be startled and confused by what appears to be a sea of people clothed in the color yellow. On the SkyTrain, on the streets and in businesses yellow is the color everywhere you look. What does it mean?

The color most people associate with royalty is purple, but that is a western perception of color. In Asia, yellow is the color most commonly associated with royalty.

The days of the week in Thai are named after ‘god’ planets and each are associated with a specific color. Thais believe that wearing the color of the day brings good luck.

Yellow in Buddhist tradition represents Monday. Monday happens to be the day of the week King Bhumibol was born. The Thais revere their King in a way that is sometimes difficult for foreigners to understand. At the movies a video about the King is shown before the start of a film and everyone must stand while the video and music play to honor the King. The Thai King must be respected at all times. One foreigner was even sentenced to ten years jail time for defacing the King’s image by spray painting a poster of him.

In 2006, in order to commemorate the King’s 60 years on the throne (he is currently the longest ruling monarch on the throne) ,and to show their respect and love for the King, the Thai people started to wear yellow shirts every Monday.

If you want to fit in with the locals when traveling to Thailand, follow this color chart:

Sunday = Red, Monday = Yellow, Tuesday = Pink, Wednesday = Green, Thursday = Orange, Friday = Blue, Saturday = Purple