Bhumibol Adulyadej

Biography

As a baby he was entered in an American hospital’s records simply as “Baby Songkla”: his parents had not yet received a suitable name from his uncle, King Prajadhipok. The name came nine days later and in Sanskrit means “strength of the land, incomparable power”.

He was born on 5 December 1927 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a hospital that is now called Mount Auburn. His father, Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, was enrolled in the public health programme at Harvard; his mother, Sangwan, came from a commoner family. The family returned to Thailand in 1928, and in September 1929 his father died, when the youngest son was not yet two. He briefly attended the Mater Dei school in Bangkok, and in 1933 his mother took the children to Switzerland. There he studied in Lausanne, at the École nouvelle de la Suisse romande and then at the classical cantonal gymnasium, where he received a diploma with a major in French literature, Latin and Greek. In 1934 he was given his first camera, and the interest lasted all his life. In 1942 he became a jazz enthusiast and took up the saxophone. By 1945 he was studying sciences at the University of Lausanne.

On 9 June 1946 his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), was found shot in his bedroom in the palace. The circumstances remained unclear: the official account of an accident was rejected by an investigating committee, and three palace aides convicted of regicide were executed by firing squad in February 1955.

Bhumibol inherited the throne but soon returned to Switzerland and exchanged the sciences for law and political science. His uncle, Prince Rangsit, was appointed regent. In October 1948, on the Geneva–Lausanne road, his car ran into the back of a truck; he injured his spine, half of his face was paralysed, and he lost the sight of his right eye. While he was in hospital he was visited often by Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France, whom he had met earlier in Paris. They became engaged on 19 July 1949 and married on 28 April 1950, a week before the coronation. He was crowned on 5 May 1950 in the Phaisan Thaksin Throne Hall in the Grand Palace, pledging to reign “with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people”. The couple had four children, and their son Vajiralongkorn became the heir. The king returned to Thailand for good in 1951, after finishing his studies.

In October 1956, after the death of his grandmother, Queen Savang Vadhana, he entered the monkhood for fifteen days at Wat Bowonniwet. Queen Sirikit served as regent during that time.

The political role of his reign is described in different ways. In September 1957, when Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat removed the government of Plaek Phibunsongkhram, the king imposed martial law and appointed Sarit military defender of the capital. Under Sarit the monarchy recovered its ceremonies and its public life: the king toured the provinces, visited the United States and Europe in 1960, and his birthday, 5 December, became the national day. In October 1973, when police used force against student demonstrations, he announced the resignation and departure from the country of General Thanom Kittikachorn. In 1976, after the events at Thammasat University, the military put forward candidates for prime minister, and the king chose Thanin Kraivichien. In May 1992, amid clashes and casualties among demonstrators, he received General Suchinda Kraprayoon and the opposition leader Chamlong Srimuang in a televised audience; Suchinda resigned soon afterwards. The 2006 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra is still discussed by historians and journalists: the king made no direct statement, but some observers believed he had tacitly approved of the military. On 26 May 2014, after another coup, he formally appointed General Prayut Chan-o-cha to run the country. Perhaps the most accurate thing to say about this role is that the documents reveal his involvement only in part: the lèse-majesté law left almost no room for public discussion.

Alongside this ran a long programme of work that in Thailand is called the royal projects: irrigation, agriculture, rice, the replacement of the opium poppy with vegetables and fruit among hill peoples, dairy farming, rainmaking. In 1993 he obtained a patent for a waste water aerator, “Chai Pattana”, and later patented rainmaking methods as well. In 1987 he was given the title Maharaj, “the Great King”, and in 2006 the United Nations presented him with its first Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award.

He wrote and translated: he composed a book based on a Jataka tale, “Phra Mahachanok”, and wrote “The Story of Thong Daeng” about his dog. He was a radio amateur with the call sign HS1A and patron of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand. Sailing brought him a gold medal at the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games in 1967, shared with Princess Ubol Ratana. He designed boats in the Moth, OK and International Enterprise classes.

Music occupied him constantly: saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, guitar, piano. His first piece was “Candlelight Blues” (at eighteen), followed by “Love at Sundown” and “Falling Rain”. In all he wrote 49 compositions: swing, marches, waltzes and patriotic songs. He played with Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band; in 1964 the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna made him an honorary member. Manuscripts and printed music of his pieces are held in the Library of Congress. Little is known of his painting.

He died on 13 October 2016 at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, at 15:52 local time. The next day his body was taken to the Grand Palace, and thousands of people lined the route. The cremation took place on 26 October 2017 at Sanam Luang, and his ashes were divided between three temples and the palace.