by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2014

 

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand was born December 5, 1927, at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. He was the youngest of three children of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej and his commoner wife Princess Srinagarindra.  At the time of King Bhumibol’s birth, his father was studying medicine at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

King Bhumibol had two siblings:

• Princess Galyani Vadhana (1923 – 2008), married (1) Colonel Aram Rattanakul Serireongrit, had one daughter, divorced  (2) Prince Varananda Dhavaj, no children
• King Ananda Mahidol (1925 – 1946), unmarried, King Bhumibol’s predecessor on the throne

In 1928, King Bhumibol’s family returned to Thailand after his father received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. On September 24, 1929, King Bhumibol’s father Prince Mahidol Adulyadej died of kidney failure at the age of 37. Prince Mahidol Adulyadej did much to improve medicine and public health in Thailand and is considered the father of modern medicine and public health in Thailand.

King Bhumibol began his education at Mater Dei School in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1933, King Bhumibol, his mother, and his siblings moved to Switzerland where he attended Ecole Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande in Lausanne Switzerland. In 1934, King Prajadhipok, King Bhumibol’s uncle, abdicated and as he had no children, King Bhumibol’s 9-year-old brother Ananda Mahidol became king. The family remained in Switzerland and regents were appointed to take over the duties of the young king. King Bhumibol completed his secondary education at the Gymnase Classique Cantonal of Lausanne and received a baccalauréat des lettres (high-school diploma with a major in French literature, Latin, and Greek). King Bhumibol began studying at the University of Lausanne but returned to Thailand in 1945 when World War II ended.

In his childhood, King Bhumibol began two hobbies that would become lifelong passions. At the age of seven, he received his first camera and after that wherever he went, his camera went also.  Some of his many photographs are displayed at the King Bhumibol Photographic Museum. In 1942 at the age of 15, King Bhumibol became a jazz enthusiast and started to play the saxophone. He was an accomplished jazz saxophone player and composer, playing Dixieland and New Orleans jazz. The King also played the clarinet, trumpet, guitar, and piano.

 

On June 9, 1946, King Bhumibol became king at the age of 18. King Bhumibol’s brother King Ananda Mahidol was found shot dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in law at the University of Lausanne. The circumstances of King Ananda Mahidol’s death have never been fully explained. At the end of the mourning period, King Bhumibol returned to Switzerland to complete his university studies.

• Unofficial Royalty: The Mysterious Death of Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand

During his university days, King Bhumibol frequently visited Paris and it was there that he met his future wife Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of the Thai ambassador to France. In October of 1948, King Bhumibol Adulyadej had a serious car accident on a road near Lausanne, Switzerland, and lost his right eye and wore a prosthetic for the rest of his life.  Sirikit visited him frequently during his hospital stay and decided to attend school in Lausanne so she could get to know the king better. The couple became engaged on July 19, 1949, and married at Srapathum Palace in Bangkok, Thailand on April 28, 1950, just a week before the king’s coronation. After the coronation on May 5, 1950, the 22-year-old king and the 17-year-old queen returned to their studies in Lausanne, Switzerland. The couple had three daughters and one son:

• Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya (born 1951), married and divorced American businessman Peter Jensen, had two daughters and one son, their son was killed in the 2004 tsunami
• King Maha Vajiralongkorn (born 1952), married (1) Soamsavali Kitiyakara, had one daughter, divorced  (2) Yuvadhida Polpraserth, had five children, divorced  (3) Srirasm Akharaphongpreecha, had one son, divorced  (4) Suthida Tidjai
• Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (born 1955), unmarried
• Princess Chulabhorn Walailak (born 1957), married Virayudh Tishyasarin, an Air Vice Marshal in the Royal Thai Air Force, had two daughters, divorced

King Bhumibol’s coronation was held on May 5, 1950, at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. On Coronation Day, King Bhumibol’s consort was made Queen of Thailand.  On June 9, 2006, King Bhumibol celebrated his 60th anniversary as the King of Thailand, becoming the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s health declined in his later years. The King resided at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok for several years.  He left the hospital in August 2013 but returned intermittently until 2015 when he returned to the hospital permanently.

 

On the occasion of his 85th birthday, December 5, 2012, King Bhumibol made an appearance on the palace balcony. Hundreds of thousands of Thais waving flags crowded around Bangkok’s Royal Plaza to witness a rare public appearance by their revered and ailing king. Queen Sirikit did not attend. She has not made public appearances since suffering a stroke in July of 2012.

 

King Bhumibol Adulyadej died on October 13, 2016, at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, at the age of 88, following several years of illness.  At the time of his death, he was the world’s longest-reigning current monarch, having reigned for 70 years and 126 days.  The King’s son, Maha Vajiralongkorn was proclaimed King of Thailand following a period of personal mourning.   Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, did not want to be immediately named king to give the nation time to mourn his father’s death.

The King’s remains lay in state from October 16, 2016, until the cremation ceremony on October 26, 2017.  While the King’s remains lay in state, foreign dignitaries paid their respects.  The public square Sanam Luang was used as the cremation ground and on February 27, 2017, the construction of an elaborate, temporary crematorium began. The cremation took place on October 26, 2017, thirteen days after the first anniversary of the King’s death. On October 29, 2017, the royal ashes were enshrined at the Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit.

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