His word was law and state revenue was his private purse. The king stood at the apex of a vast pyramid of status relations, the Sakdina System, where all had their place in relation to the king and, by extension, to each other. Each individual was given a certain number of sakdina points by the king, which determined their position in the pyramidal structure. As is well known, in practice, leadership in Thailand was quite different, both in Bangkok and in the provinces.