For most Bhutanese, the highlight will be the introduction of a television station on Wednesday when his majesty addresses the nation from his throne room.

Queen Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk clicked the button to launch an internet and e-mail service following an elaborate Buddhist ceremony. Officials said the service will reach all 20 districts, many of which don't have paved roads.

In a brief speech, the queen said this was the right time for Bhutan to be connected to the outside world. But it would continue to temper modernisation with its traditional values.

Bhutan, squeezed between India and China, has just 600,000 people, most of them subsistence farmers.

In Thimphu, the capital, satellite dishes have begun sprouting on rooftops, eventhough they have been officially banned until now. Many urban Bhutanese had TV sets to watch movies rented from video stores.

The arrival of television will herald tremendous social change, said the country's only newspaper, Kuensel, a weekly."If we are to record the language pattern, interests, sense of humour, values, fashion and behavior of our children now and repeat it six months later, we will see a dramatic difference," it said in a recent editorial.