His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States of America, at 8.45 a.m. on Monday 5th December 1927. He was the younger son of HRH Prince Mahidol Adulyadej and Mom Sangwal. King Bhumibol has one elder sister and one elder brother: the late Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana and His Majesty King Ananda Mahidol.
Being the direct grandson of His Late Majesty King Chulalongkorn or Rama V, who was renowned for the great reforms which he made to all institutions of Thailand to bring them up to date and in line with the rest of the West-orientated world, King Bhumibol's ascension to the throne was indeed prophetic and his name – Bhumibol – translates to 'Strength of the Land'.