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October is an important month
for us Thais because it reminds us about Her late Royal
Highness the Princess Mother and the beloved great King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V, 1868-1910). It is the month of
birth of the former and the month of death of the latter.
And they have something in common.
They both have been awarded
the prestigious title of World Leader by UNESCO. Thaiways would like to commemorate their countless contributions
towards the country, of which we always feel grateful
to, by summarizing their biographies and meritorious
services here. |
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THE
HEAVENLY
ROYAL MOTHER :
THE
LATE PRINCESS MOTHER |
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| Her late Royal Highness, whose
full title is Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindra Boromarajajonnani,
is popularly called Somdej Ya, meaning the Royal
Grandma, and especially by the northern hilltribes, Mae
Fa Luang, meaning the Heavenly Royal Mother. |
 She
was born on 21 October 1900 as Miss Sangwan into a goldsmith's
family in Nonthaburi province. As she lost both her parents
at the age of nine, she was taken care
of by a lady-in-waiting at the |
Palace and then was adopted
by Queen Sawang Vadhana of King Rama V as a daughter.
She received her elementary education and training as
a nurse in Thailand. At the age of 17, she was sent to
the USA to study English at Emerson School, in Berkeley,
California.
One year later, she went to Hartford, Connecticut, to
further her study at the Northwest School, where she met
her future husband Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, a son of
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). The couple came back to Bangkok
together and got married in 1920.
After that, they got three children: Princess Galyani
Vadhana, Prince Ananda Mahidol and Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej.
They had to move from place to place (both domestic and
foreign) due to the Prince's duties as a doctor. Unfortunately,
during his stay at McCormic Hospital in Chiang Mai province,
the Prince became ill because of overwork. He had to come
back to Bangkok for a treatment and passed away on 24
September 1929. |
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Later, the Princess took her
children to Lausanne, Switzerland, where she settled down
to bring up her children. After King Prajadhipok (Rama
VII) abdicated without an heir in 1935, Prince Ananda
Mahidol became King at the age of 10. However, he died
unexpectedly in 1946. His brother Prince Bhumibol succeeded
him at the age of 19. And at present, he is the longest-reigning
monarch in Thai history, having been on the throne for
56 years. Throughout his reign, he has proved to be a
diligent, benevolent and wise King and probably the hardest-working
monarch in the world, too.
This has been largely due to the strong influence exerted
by the Princess Mother during the King's childhood, which
made him a man of industry, austerity, self-sacrifice,
compassion and high sense of duty.
The Princess Mother passed away on 18 July 1995, making
the whole Thai nation deeply grieved. |
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| On 16 November 1999, UNESCO
honoured Somdej Ya as a "World Leader" in public
service in the fields of education, applied science, and
human, social and environmental development. The Princess
Mother was the first Thai woman to receive such an acknowledgement. |
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| Her work
for the welfare of the poor |
The Princess Mother's deep sympathy
for the poor was shown by her frequent visits to remote
border areas and the three major foundations set up under
her royal patronage:
1. The Princess Mother's Medical Volunteer Foundation
(PMMV) provides the largest volunteer medical service
ever operated in Thailand. Established in 1969, the Foundation
pioneered the development of free medical care for people
in distant areas. At present, the Foundation has a network
of medical teams operating in more than 50 provinces of
the country.
2. The Princess Mother had also been concerned for the
welfare of those serving in the Border Patrol Police units
and their families. She set up the Foundation for the
Welfare of Border Patrol Police in 1967, giving out of
her own personal funds the equivalent of US$ 57,800 as
an initial working fund. The fund has grown substantially
due to public contributions and has played an important
role in the family lives of those in the patrol units.
3. The Mae Fa Luang (The Heavenly Royal Mother) Foundation
was set up in 1972 under the patronage of the Princess
Mother. Its objectives are to promote the handicraft skills
of the hilltribes and to provide market outlets for their
products. As a result, the living conditions of these
people are better than ever before.
In addition, the Doi Tung Development Project is also
a major activity under her patronage. After six years
of the project (1988-1993), about 80% of the forest areas
were improved into a better condition. Opium was no longer
grown in the Doi Tung area. The substitution of fruit
trees and economic crops not only improved the environment,
but also replaced the seasonal opium production and eliminated
shifting cultivation. |
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| All the hilltribes and people
in the rural areas owe the betterment of their well-being
and their future to the Princess Mother for her vision
and initiation of the Project, and the vital role of the
Foundations mentioned above. |
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THE
BELOVED GREAT KING :
KING CHULALONGKORN
(RAMA V, 1868-1910) |
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On 2 November 2001 UNESCO honoured
HM King Chulalongkorn as a "World Leader" in
the fields of education, culture, sociology, anthropology,
social development and communication.
King Chulalongkorn was the grandfather of HM the present
King Bhumibol Adulyadej. He is one of the seven Thai monarchs
who have been honoured as Maharat, meaning Great
King. He was not a warrior like most of his predecessors,
but was a sagacious statesman, a skilful diplomat, an
enlightened reformer and above all, a benevolent ruler. |
| He was born on 20 September
1853 as the first son of King Mongkut (Rama IV). As a
child, from 1862 to 1867, he studied English with Anna
H. Leonowens, whose name became well known through her
book Anna and the King of Siam, and later with
John H. Chandler and Francis George Patterson. |
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| On the death of his father on
1 October 1868, King Chulalongkorn came to the throne
as a minor of 15. The kingdom was then governed by a regent,
affording the young King opportunities to make observation
and study tours of Singapore, Java and India. He also
entered the monkhood for fifteen days before performing
a second coronation in 1873. |
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| His contributions
to his country |
| When he ascended the throne,
Thailand, like other nations in Asia, had begun to suffer
from the expansionism of Western colonial powers. King
Chulalongkorn reacted to the external threat by implementing
a series of extensive reforms, leading this country onto
the road of modernization. For example, the central administrative
structure was revamped by setting up the first Council
of State to assist the King. The first school was set
up in the Grand Palace in 1871, which was followed by
many others in the capital and other provinces. They gradually
replaced the Buddhist monasteries as venues of education. |
| The King also built hospitals,
roads and railways, started the construction of a water
supply system in Bangkok, set up the postal and telegraph
services, improved the army and the navy, founded modern
courts of law, and promoted rice cultivation by reducing
taxes and implementing irrigation projects. |
The greatest service which
King Chulalongkorn did for his country was the preservation
of Thailand's independence at a time when she was surrounded
by covetous imperialists. By cultivating personal friendship
with Emperor William II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas
II of Russia and by keeping an equilibrium between the
contending colonial powers Britain and France, King
Chulalongkorn succeeded in preventing Thailand from
falling prey to either, though not without sacrifices
of territory, including what are today Cambodia, and
Loas, and the four northern states of Malaya, all of
which had been under Thai suzerainty for over a century.
King Chulalongkorn is also
remembered for his benevolence, as was shown by his
abolition of slavery. On his enthronement he issued
a royal decree declaring that all the people born in
his reign should be free. Yet he took no drastic steps
to enforce the liberation of all the existing slaves
at once, as President Lincoln of the United States had
done before him at the cost of a civil war. He had not
taken the last step until 1905, when the number of slaves
in the country had greatly reduced. Thus the slaves
won their freedom without causing bloodshed or any social
upheaval.
Though an autocratic monarch, Chulalongkorn did not
want to be separated from his subjects by placing himself
high above the people. Instead, he made himself easy
to approach by travelling extensively throughout the
country, often in public but sometimes incognito. He
mixed and conversed informally with his people in order
to understand their conditions and aspirations. |
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The King passed away on 23 October
1910. However, he has remained one of the most honoured
and remembered kings of Thailand. The anniversary of his
death has been declared a national holiday, on which college
students, government officials and people from all walks
of life assemble at his equestrian statue in front of
the old National Assembly building in Bangkok to pay homage
to the Piya Maharat-the Beloved Great King.
No matter for how many years the Beloved Great King and
the Princess Mother have passed away, their immense contributions
will remain in the hearts of all Thais forever.
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