This nautical record is matched by a land-based one, the King being the only person to have lit the torch opening the quadrennial Asian Games on four occasions, the last time being in Bangkok in 1998, just one day after his seventy-first birthday.
His Majesty was well known as being highly-knowledgeable about many sports having, at various times, participated in skiing, motor racing, ice-skating, badminton, tennis, swimming and even a little golf.
As the then-president of the Thailand Olympic Committee, the late Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya emphasized when presenting the King with the highly-prestigious honour of The Insignia of the Olympic Order in December 1987, “The Olympic award was made not only to recognize the King’s prowess as a world-class yachtsman, but also to acknowledge the leading role he has played in promoting all sports – in Thailand, in the region and internationally.”
Another Olympic honour was bestowed upon His Majesty in 2001, when the International Olympic Committee presented him with the IOC’s Lalounis Cup.