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Visitors to Thailand are often struck by the number of portraits of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej — usually with Her Majesty Queen Sirikit alongside — that are prominently displayed in homes, shops, businesses, restaurants, places of entertainment, bus stations and airports. Many assume that because these pictures are so ubiquitous, their display must be mandatory.
They soon discover that this is not the case at all. The pictures are displayed out of genuine respect and affection for Thailand’s monarch, and to honour the many services he has performed for his subjects out of compassion and benevolence.
During his 61-year reign, King Bhumibol has touched the lives of his people in a myriad of ways. Although he is often seen in regal splendour, gravely carrying out the arcane and ceremonial side of his duties, he is in a fact a working king in the most down-to-earth sense. Literally thousands of royal projects have been initiated during his reign, the vast majority in the countryside, with the aim of bringing progress and happiness to the lives of ordinary people on a bedrock of sustainability.
An ancient Siamese king was regarded by his subjects as a Chao Cheewit, or ‘Lord of Life.’ Even as a modern monarch, King Bhumibol retains titles that hint of this aura of omnipotence — Paternalistic King, Divine King, Lord of the Land, Man of Great Affairs, Giver of Law, Defender of the Faiths, Upholder of Religions. He is also revered as the font of wisdom, culture, education, health and medicine.
As the “Strength of the Land,” King Bhumibol personifies national qualities and aspirations, setting an example of steadfastness and self sacrifice. It is the fulfilment of a vow made at his coronation in May 1950: “We shall reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people.”
The royal family’s devotion to the wellbeing of the Thai nation is apparent each day. It is rewarded by a genuine reverence for the institution that is rarely seen elsewhere.
In early December and mid August, particularly large pictures of the King and Queen are always displayed outside major buildings and in public areas in celebration of their respective birthdays.
Pictures of King Bhumibol have been even more in evidence than usual in the last two years because of two major milestones — the 60th year of his reign and his 80th birthday.
In June of 2006, the kingdom celebrated the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol’s accession to the throne. One of the highlights of the occasion was a royal address to a huge crowd at Royal Plaza in the administrative heart of old Bangkok.
King Bhumibol’s speech and expression of gratitude to his subjects was instantly transmitted to the furthest reaches of his kingdom. Many in the packed crowd wept openly as they hung upon the words of the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history, revealing a heartfelt bond between monarch and subject that is widespread but private, and often very hard to explain to outsiders.
Indeed, very few Thais today can recall the time before King Bhumibol acceded to the throne. This makes him one of the great constants in the daily life of the kingdom. Single-handedly, he has forged a remarkable and in many respects unique relationship with the people he promised to serve at his coronation.
As a mark of respect, many Thais have taken to wearing the royal colour, yellow, and other colours deemed to be auspicious for various members of the royal family. At major gatherings of royal significance, a sea of yellow prevails.
Such scenes are guaranteed once more on 5 December 2007 when King Bhumibol marks his 80th birthday — yet another milestone in one of the longest reigns in recorded history anywhere.
King Bhumibol became the longest reigning monarch in Thai history way back in 1988, and the world’s longest-reigning, living monarch the following year. He was still only 18 and a student in Lausanne, Switzerland, when he unexpectedly acceded to the throne in 1946.
With the replacement of absolute monarchy by constitutional democracy after the revolution of 1932, the role of the monarch had been reduced to little more than a figurehead. Had King Bhumibol confined himself to that, enjoying life in his palace, the public, knowing the legal strictures placed on his political and administrative roles, would no doubt have accepted his choice as a rightful due. But he had other ideas.
“If people in remote areas are suffering, we cannot simply stay put in this paradise of a capital,” King Bhumibol once observed.
King Bhumibol’s life was influenced by personal observations and events that drew him closer to the day-to-day lives of his subjects. For example, he was ordained a Buddhist monk in October 1956. During daily alms rounds, he came into direct contact with his subjects.
A year before, the royal couple had made a historic journey—the first-ever by a Thai monarch—through Northeastern Thailand. It was an eye-opening foray into country life that revealed many instances of grinding rural poverty. As he toured, King Bhumibol talked with farming families about their aspirations and the challenges they faced.
When he returned to Bangkok, King Bhumibol was inspired. He ordered that ponds be dug in the Chitralada Palace’s extensive grounds. He stocked them with tilapia, a fast-growing fish whose fry could be released into rice fields to mature along with the rice. When harvested along with the rice, the fish provided families with a major source of protein — and at no extra cost. Within a few years, millions of fingerlings had been donated to farmers in a royal project that continues to this day.
Drivers passing the Chitralada Palace, the main royal residence in Bangok, were soon doing double-takes as they glimpsed dairy cows grazing near the palace lawns. His Majesty built a small plant to transform the milk into tablets for distribution in hill villages beyond the reach of dairies. In other model projects, a demonstration forest was planted alongside experimental rice fields. Rice husks were meanwhile turned into long-burning logs, to preserve trees normally processed into charcoal, the traditional rural cooking fuel.
King Bhumibol eventually decided to take a more direct approach to improving rural lives. In the late 1960s, he began working with northern hill tribes, introducing lucrative new crops to wean them away from opium cultivation. Northern Thailand became abundant with produce often never tasted before: mushrooms, broccoli and apples, to name a few. Development lessons learned here have been applied in other parts of the world, most recently in Afghanistan which is still scourged by opium and poverty.
Recognizing that producing food without buyers benefits no one, King Bhumibol established marketing cooperatives, and encouraged the construction of roads to ensure that produce harvested in the hills reached Bangkok and other centres of population the next day. Schools were built to educate youths in more technical administrative tasks, including marketing.
Although he started with the hill tribes, King Bhumibol knew that farmers everywhere needed similar technology. Thus, the northern projects served as experiments for agricultural development in the nation’s other regions.
A keen interest in engineering dating from his studies in Switzerland led him to tackle a key farming issue: water management and irrigation. Photographs of him striding across streambeds and fields, or talking with farmers with a contour map clutched in his hand, have become some of the defining images of the present reign.
Small dams and storage ponds were created in thousands of villages. In the sky above, a squadron of small aircraft was dispatched to seed clouds for rain-making. Aerators designed by King Bhumibol were meanwhile placed in lakes and canals to revitalize stagnant water. In both the air and on land, King Bhumibol enjoys the remarkable distinction of having registered patents in his own name.
These efforts were supported by similar rural enhancement initiatives by Queen Sirikit and other members of the royal family who have inaugurated numerous educational and public service projects. A handful of provincial royal palaces served as bases for rural work with King Bhumibol—the man who could have just as easily been relaxing in Bangkok—spending up to eight months a year away overseeing his projects. Although most have lost count, well over 3,000 royal projects have been initiated during the present reign.
In 1988, King Bhumibol founded the Chaipattana (‘Victory through Development’) Foundation to accelerate rural development by providing supplemental funds and eliminating bureaucratic obstacles. Fund administrators worked with government officials to speed completion of government programmes, especially in economically distressed regions. One of its first projects was to establish an agricultural development centre near Wat Mongkhol Chaipattana in Saraburi Province as a place where farmers and officials could exchange ideas and experiences in rural development and irrigation.
Chaipattana has also granted interest-free loans to projects for occupational development and rural education. The royally initiated Dairy Farm Project in Sakhon Nakhon Province trains specialist farmers using funds derived from domestic and overseas donors.
The impact of King Bhumibol’s work has not been lost on subjects of every walk. As a monarch, he is obliged by tradition to uphold and protect all religions, and he has made special effort to serve all faiths equally. The widespread respect he enjoys is based on an appreciation for all his efforts on his subjects’ behalf as well as a shared pleasure in his many talents as a composer, musician, painter and photographer. In days past, King Bhumibol even broadcast music of his choosing from the palace to his subjects, or responded to telephoned requests.
So those portraits that appear on walls all across the nation have been placed there out of free choice. Even if these may sometimes puzzle sceptical foreigners, they are testament to the genuine and widespread love among Thais for the man who has reigned for over sixty years with righteousness and for the prosperity of his people in both good and dark times.
As the title and lyrics of a recent GMM Grammy music video suggests: “This portrait can be found in every home — whether rich or poor, near of far.”
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