In return, King Bhumibol showed the same devotion to his people. His service often took the form of trips around Thailand, pursuing the cause of agriculture or other rural projects.
He won new respect in the early 1990s when yet another coup d'état led to deadly clashes between the military and pro-democracy activists.
As with other crises, he had the power to pull warring parties aside, read them the riot act and stop further bloodshed.
But his reign was not without controversy. In 2003, King Bhumibol supported a war on drugs which led to the deaths of 2,000 suspects.