 Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX of Thailand His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej (ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช, Phumiphon Adunyadet), King Rama IX of Thailand (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.
King Bhumibol was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States, as the youngest son of Mahidol Adulyadej Prince of Songkhla (son of king Chulalongkorn) and Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara. 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 dès lettres (high-school diploma with major in French literature, 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:
One of the King's grandchildren, Bhumi Jensen, was killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. People celebrating King Bhumibol's birthday by lighting candles and singing During the early years of his reign Bhumibol had little power and was little more than a ceremonial front for the various authoritarian regimes which had run Thailand since the military coup of 1932. Nevertheless 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 King Bhumibol asserted himself by making it clear he favoured an end to Thanom Kittikachorn's military regime and the establishment of democracy.
King 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, King Bhumibol has become identified as a hero of democracy, adding greatly to his already enormous prestige. Having ruled for more than 50 years, few Thais can remember or imagine any other head of state. King 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.
King Bhumibol is also an accomplished Jazz musician, and was awarded honorary membership in the Vienna Institute of Music and Arts at the age of 32. In addition, he is also a painter, a photographer, and a best selling author.
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