Today is my King Birthday....Long live the King.
Early life
King Bhumibol was born at the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. He was the younger son of HRH Prince Mahidol Adulyadej and Mom Sangwal (later Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara Boromaratchachonnani). At the time of his birth, he was known in Thailand as Phra Worawongse Ther Phra Ong Chao Bhumibol Adulyadej (พระวรวงศ์เธอ พระองค์เจ้าภูมิพลอดุลยเดช) , reflecting the fact that his mother was a commoner. Had he been born a few years earlier, before his uncle King Prajadhipok passed a law allowing children of a prince and a commoner to be called Phra Ong Chao (a prince of a lesser status than Chao Fa) , he would have been called Mom Chao (the most junior class of the Thai princes) , as were his older brother and sister. His name, Bhumibol Adulyadej, means "Strength of the Land, Incomparable Power".
Bhumibol came to Thailand in 1928, after Prince Mahidol obtained a certificate in the Public Health programme at Harvard University. Bhumibol finished his primary schooling at Mater Dei school in Bangkok and then left with his family in 1933 for Switzerland, where he received his secondary education at the ?cole Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande in Chailly-sur-Lausanne. He received the baccalaur?at des lettres (high-school diploma with major in French literature, Latin, and Greek) from the Gymnase Classique Cantonal of Lausanne. He was studying science at the University of Lausanne when his elder brother, Phra Ong Chao Ananda Mahidol, was crowned King of Thailand in 1935. King Ananda Mahidol then elevated his brother and sister to Chao Fa status, the most senior class of the Thai princes and princesses. They came to Thailand briefly in 1938, but returned to Switzerland for further study in Lausanne, remaining there until the end of World War II in 1945.
Royal projects
Bhumibol has been involved in many social and economic development projects. The nature of his involvement has varied by political regime.
The military regime of Plaek Pibulsonggram (1951–1957) suppressed the monarchy. However, during that period Bhumibol managed to initiate a few projects using his own personal funds. These projects included the Royal Film and Radio Broadcasting Projects.
In the military governments of Sarit Dhanarajata and his successors (1958–1980), Bhumibol was reportrayed as the "Development King" and the source of the economic and political goals of the regime. Royally-initiated projects were implemented under the financial and political support of the government, including projects in rural areas and communities under the influence of the Communist Party of Thailand. Bhumibol's visits to these projects were heavily promoted by the Sarit government and broadcast on the state-controlled media.
During the civilian governments of General Prem Tinsulanond (1981–1987), the relationship between the Thai state and the monarch was at its closest. Prem, later to become President of Bhumibol's Privy Council, officially allocated government budgets and manpower to support royal projects. Most activities in this period involved the development of large scale irrigation projects in rural areas.
During the modern period (post-1988) , the structured development of the Royal Projects reached its apex. Bhumibol's Chaipattana Foundation was established, promoting the Localism in Thailand theory, an alternative to the export-oriented policies adopted by the period's elected governments.
Credit from : Thaigoodview.com
