Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as King Rama IX, is dead. The Thailand royal palace announced at 6.58pm that the King died at 15.52hrs, today, October 13 2016 in the room he has been staying in at Siriraj Hospital off and on since 2009. He was 88-years-old, had ruled the Thai throne for 70 years, and reigned through 17 coups.
King Adulyadej last granted a public audience to mark the 64th anniversary of his coronation in 2013. In September he was seen by those keeping a vigil for his health when he made a brief visit to a Siriraj Hospital shop. Prior to that he was seen in February when he travelled between the hospital and his Bangkok palace where he spent several hours.
At Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital where he spent much of the past decade the the long lines of well-wishers who have maintained a daily vigil over the years has swollen, replaced by those who prayed and held hope, by a sea of faces in mourning, many who regarded the king as a living god refusing to believe he is dead.
The writing was on the wall last Sunday when the Royal Household Bureau issued a bulletin in which it said his doctors had now sought formal permission for the king to stop performing any official duties– a clear sign that the Regent, former Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda should take over.
The ninth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty, which first began ruling Thailand, or Siam as it was known in 1782 following the founding of the city of Bangkok. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whose name translated from Sanskrit means “Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power”, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 5, 1927, the youngest son of HRH Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla.
Educated in Lausanne, a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva, King Rama IX graduated from the University of Lausanne with a degree in law and political science.
Enlarged photographs of King Bhumibol Adulyadej are found throughout Thailand
Webmaster
Enlarged photographs of King Bhumibol Adulyadej are found throughout Thailand
In 1948 he lost his right eye in a motor vehicle crash after he drove into the rear of a truck in Switzerland. It was while recovering in hospital that his previous acquaintance with the woman who would later become his wife and the royal consort, Mom Rajawong Sirikit Kitiyakara, flourished.
After completing his overseas studies in the wake of the premature death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol (King Rama IIX), Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended the throne on May 5, 1950, his wife of one week and the former royal consort became Queen Sirikit at the same time.
The two had four children: Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, and Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Walailak.
Revival of The Chakri Dynasty Glory
King Bhumibol Adulyadej met with US President Barack Obama in 2012
Photo: Courtesy White House /Pete Souza
King Bhumibol Adulyadej met with US President Barack Obama in 2012
It was during the rule of military strongman General Field Marshal Sarit Dhanarajata, who King Adulyadej appointed as Military Defender of the Capital in 1957 following a coup that replaced military dictator Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram, that the glory and traditions of the past Chakri Dynasty kings was revived, including the practice of crawling in front of royalty during audiences, the royal-sponsored Thammayut Nikaya order of Buddhism, and the royally-patronised ploughing ceremony.
A frequent visitor to Thailand’s far-flung provinces, perhaps King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s finest qualities was his ability to empathise with his subjects irrespective of whether they were a Bangkok urbanite or a rural subsistence farmer.
A Solutions Focused Monarch
Thailand Celebrates King Bhumibol’s 85th Birthday on December 5, 2012. Video uploaded to YouTube by AouTaiTipJaakSahWon
Throughout his 70 years, four months and five day reign, King Bhumibol Adulyadej showed that he was able to grasp the challenges facing the people he ruled and either singularly or in consultation with others devise solutions to those challenges.
One such solution to a problem was the establishment of the Distance Learning Foundation (DLF) which began broadcasting the national education curriculum from the so-called The King’s School in the grounds of Wang Klaikangwan Palace in Hua Hin in 1995.
His concern over the nutrition levels of Thai citizens also saw him fund the establishment of an experimental dairy farm in 1962 inside the grounds of Chitralda Palace, his Bangkok residence, which formed the foundation of the Thailand dairy industry.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s generosity knew no limit’s endearing him to a segment of the population that up until then few others from the capital had paid much attention to. While on village tours, among other things, he encouraged his accompanying private (r