The king was upset with the choosy behavior of his daughter, so he sarcastically asked if all the men in the city had come to be chosen. Then he was informed that there was one more ugly man living outside the city. To ridicule his daughter, he called Sang Thong (who was now known among the people as Ngor) to the palace to be selected or rejected.
Sang Thong mocked at court.
Beyond the King’s expectation, the youngest princess suddenly developed a liking for Ngor. Since they were born to be husband and wife, she saw Ngor as a handsome man with a golden body and fell in love with him. The reason this happens is explained in the text: Because Sang Thong and Princess Rochana knew each other in their past lives and had made great merit together.
The hand of Kamma (karma) in Southeast Asia folklore
Invisible to western readers are the machinations of kamma determining interpersonal relationships and more superficial attributes like a beautiful face, wealth and power. Broadly speaking, in folklore narrative, asian readers and hearers will automatically know that good-looks and prestige come from the merit one has accumulated from living virtuous past lives.