Monday, November 26, 2007

Long Live The King



His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadejthe Great was born on December 5, 1927 to Prince Mahidol of Songkhla andMom Sangwan. His Majesty is the ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty and thelongest-reigning monarch in the history of Thailand.

HisMajesty the King is well recognised as the heart and soul of the Thai nation.He is held in high esteem not only by his own subjects, but His Majestyalso commands enormous respect from people in all parts of the world.

Everywhere he goes, people turnup to greet him in hundreds of thousands. The manner in which His Majestyconducts himself, giving his whole heart and attention to the people, immediatelylinked the living symbol of the nation to the people in a bond of mutualunderstanding and personal affection.

The main concern of His Majestyis for the uplifting of the general well-being of the people. Evidenceof this can be drawn from His Majesty the King’s ceaseless efforts to visithis subjects in the rural areas. The aim of His Majesty’s visits is tolearn at first hand about the needs of his subjects.

To obtain such information, HisMajesty has to travel many thousands of kilometres throughout the kingdomand, whenever possible, suggests ways to overcome the difficulties. Thesevisits have led to the establishment of over 1,000 Royal and Royally-initiatedprojects. They are implemented by the relevant agencies of the governmentafter having been given advice and assistance by His Majesty.

His Majesty is the first memberof the Royal Family to be granted a patent for an invention. The registeredpatent is for one of His Majesty’s “Chai Pattana Machines”- the Chai PattanaAerator Model RX 2. The patent rights calf it an “apparatus for water treatment”,which is used for agricultural and industrial purposes and can be seenoperating in many polluted waterways.

Buddhism is the national religionof Thailand and His Majesty constantly shows himself to be a convincedand dedicated disciple of the Lord Buddha. To follow the tradition of youngBuddhist men to go into the monastery for a period of time, His Majestyentered the Buddhist monkhood at Wat Bovornnives on 22 October 1956.
TheConstitution of Thailand, however, does not prescribe the King to be onlythe Defender of the Buddhist Faith, but also to be the upholder of allReligions. He gives equal attention to the protection of all forms of worshipand also to the problems of other religious communities in ThailandHisMajesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great came to the throne on June 9,1946. The meaning of his name is “Strength of the Land, incomparable Power”.Since that date he has reigned over the Kingdom of Thailand as a constitutionalmonarch. At the Coronation Ceremony on May 5, 1950, His Majesty the Kingpronounced the traditional Oath of Accession which stated:

“We will reign with righteousnessfor the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people”. His Majesty’sactions since then have thoroughly reflected those words and have alwaysbeen directed towards increasing the welfare and prosperity of theThai nation.

On his birthday, which is observedas a National Holiday, all his subjects rejoice in demonstratingonce more their affection and loyalty to him. Religious rites are held,houses and buildings are decorated with flags, lights and his portraits.

The whole nation prays to the Holy Triple Gem and all the sacred thingsin the universe to bless His Majesty with good health and happiness andthe strength to carry on his onerous task.

Long Live the king...

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