Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand

His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX (royal name Phra Chaoyuhua Bhumibol Adulyadej), the Great (born December 5, 1927), has been King of Thailand since 1946. He is the world's longest-serving head of state, and is the ninth king of the Chakri Dynasty.

Bhumibol was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. After a brief period of primary schooling in Bangkok, he left from the age of six with the rest of his family for Switzerland where he continued his secondary education at the Ecole Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande, in Chailly-sur-Lausanne and received the Baccalauréat ès lettres (high-school diploma with major in French litterature, Latin, and Greek) from the Gymnase Classique Cantonal of Lausanne. He received his university education at the University of Lausanne where he studied law and political science.

Upon the mysterious death (possibly murder) of his older brother Ananda Mahidol (King Rama VIII), he acceded to the throne on June 9, 1946. However he first continued his education. His uncle, Prince Rangsit, became Prince Regent, until Bhumibol was officially crowned as King Rama IX on May 5, 1950. A few days before, on April 28, he married Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara, a relative of the royal family. They have four children:

• (Formerly HRH) Princess Ubol Ratana, born April 5, 1951;
• HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, born July 28, 1952;
• HRH Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, born April 2, 1955;
• HRH Princess Chulabhorn, born July 4, 1957.

During the early years of his reign Bhumibol had little power and was little more than a ceremonial front for the various authoritatian regimes which had run Thailand since the military coup of 1932. Neverthless he commanded respect among the Thai people, who view the monarchy in a semi-religious light, and admire his hands-on approach in helping Thailand's rural poor. This he managed by thoroughly touring the various different corners of the country and by installing various medical aid and agricultural projects. But in 1973 Bhumibol asserted himself by making it clear he favoured an end to Thanom Kittikachorn's military regime and the establishment of democracy.

Bhumibol has nevertheless not been a constitutional monarch in the western sense, and has frequently played a political role. In 1976 he supported a return to military rule under Kriangsak Chomanand, and later supported the regimes of Prem Tinsulanonda and Chatichai Choonhavan. In 1992, however, he played a key role in the transition to a fully democratic system when he insisted in a televised confrontation that General Suchinda Kraprayoon, head of Thailand's last military regime, resign.

As a result, Bhumibol has become identified as a hero of democracy, adding greatly to his already enormous prestige. Being at the throne for more than 50 years, few Thais can remember or imagine any other head of state. Bhumibol's image is prominently displayed all over the country, including on every coin and banknote. Thais take any suggestion of disrespect for the King, by Thais or foreigners, very seriously. On May 5, 1987, he received, by popular national referendum, the honorary title the Great.

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