This was the decade when His Majesty the King’s development projects were fully formulated, particularly with the full support of the new prime minister, Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, who was head of government for eight years, and Dr Sumet Tantivejkul, who gave up a diplomatic career to help the King on his royal development projects.
Despite severe bouts of illness, His Majesty was working harder than ever, extending his upcountry visits long into the night, and often working on alone through the night studying and analysing data to find the best course of action while his entourage rested. He often drove his own car or walked on these visits in order to better understand the terrain.
His understanding of localised problems came from listening to the villagers. "Villagers are your teachers," His Majesty explained. "You must learn from them first, about their way of life and culture, and then use your knowledge to complement the work, and in advising them."
The Royal Projects helped hill tribe villagers replace opium crops with commercially viable crops such as peaches, apples, strawberries and Arabica coffee.
Often travelling on foot through dif cult terrain, Their Majesties visited all the remote corners of the country and initiated development projects to help the people lead sustainable lives.
In 1979, the first of many "Living Museums" was opened at Khao Hin Son, Chachoengsao province, as a research and development centre. "These centres are like natural living organisms," His Majesty once explained. "They actively demonstrate the conclusions of development research and model ways that people can adapt our findings and use them to make a living."
Khao Hin Son’s rugged and rocky terrain served as a model for restoring deforested landscapes and turning them into arable farmland. This was followed in close succession by the Huay Hong Krai Centre in Chiang Mai as a model of catchment are conservation for the North, the Pikul Thong Centre in Narathiwat which offered a case study on the ecology of the swampy, acidic land typical of the southern region, the Phu Phan Centre in the northeastern province of Sakon Nakhon which studies soil salinisation and irrigated reforestation in a drought ridden area, the Kung Kraben Bay Centre in the coastal province of Chantaburi which is devoted to the study and rehabilitation of degraded mangrove forests and coastal waters, and the Huay Sai Centre in Phetchaburi which studied the rehabilitation of devastated forests and offered strategies to help villagers benefit from forest resources while becoming forest protectors themselves.
The key principle of these Living Museums was the restoration of ecological balance that would allow the local people to work on the land using folk know-how and become self-supporting. This principle of self-reliance and moderation was constantly brought up in His Majesty’s speeches during the 1970s, and formed the basis of what was to become known as “Sufficiency Economy” and “New Theory” in the 1990s.
The Royal Projects helped hill tribe villagers replace opium crops with commercially viable crops such as peaches, apples, strawberries and Arabica coffee.
On His Majesty’s trips upcountry, he was usually accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen as well as his children. Working in tandem to His Majesty was HRH the Princess Mother, whose own projects helped to target those who were even farther beyond the remote villagers visited by Their Majesties, particularly in the border areas under the supervision of the Border Patrol Police.
Constantly at her father’s side was HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, who acted as His Majesty’s personal assistant on these development projects.
The year 1982 was a big one for the people of Bangkok as they celebrated the Rattanakosin Bicentennial, marking 200 years of the founding of Bangkok as the capital of Thailand and the inauguration of the Chakri Dynasty. One of the most prominent projects undertaken to mark this event was the restoration of the Chapel Royal, Temple of the Emerald Buddha, with HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn as the project chairperson.
The six-day event was highlighted by the Royal Barge Procession from Vasukri Pier to the Grand Palace where Their Majesties paid homage to the past kings of the Chakri Dynasty. On subsequent days there were ceremonies to pay homage to Phra Siam Devadhiraj, the Guardian Deity of Bangkok, as well as the monument of King Rama I, the founding monarch of the Chakri Dynasty. A state banquet was held at Government House.
Another elaborate royal ceremony took place in 1985 for the funeral of Queen Rambhai Barni of the seventh reign who passed away the previous year. After the death of her husband, King Prajadhipok, in England in 1941, Queen Rambhai Barni played a strong supporting role in the Free Thai Resistance Movement during the Second World War, and only returned to Thailand in 1949 at the invitation of King Ananda Mahidol. She often helped carry out offic