Unlike Western monarchies, Thailand’s historically possesses an entirely different social contract between its head of state and the people. Despite superficialities cited by dishonest Western commentators to portray the Thai people as subservient – like prostration and a prayer-like gesture known as a “wai” – much of the symbolic respect Thais exhibit toward their king is identical to that which they exhibit toward their own parents, including both prostration and the “wai.”
http://journal-neo.org/2016/10/13/thailand-the-truth-before-the-storm/