Thailand is such a country where the king and queen are almost deified and only one step below the Buddha as shown in pictures hung in public institutions, shops and restaurants. The UK, Canada and Japan are examples of the first kind mentioned, while Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Vatican City and Thailand have rulers. A third category exists: Commonwealth Realms where Charles III of Britain is also head of state for 14 countries known as Commonwealth Realms which include Australia and Belize.
In the 1980s on a guided tour of Bangkok we realized how much in respect, nay awe, King Bhumibol Adulyadei and Queen Sirikit were held. You could hardly speak of them. He was Rama IX and she a most glamorous and elegant royal lady dressed in Thai silks or western dress.
Queen Sirikit
The Queen Mother died on Friday October 24 in a hospital in Bangkok from a blood infection since the 17th. She had stayed away from the public eye with declining health issues. She suffered a minor stroke in 2012. The last public photograph was of her 88th birthday with her four children beside her.
Born Sirikit Kitiyakara on 12 August 1932 to a noble Bangkok family, she grew up mostly overseas, her father an ambassador. After WWII she was in France where her father represented Thailand as its ambassador. There she first met young King Bhumibol, who was studying in Europe. The two struck up a friendship, she 15 and he in his late teens. Her comment later was that she first disliked him as he had kept her waiting from five to seven pm at their first meeting.
Their friendship developed to love when the prince was injured as he drove his car and nearly lost the sight in one eye. She visited him in hospital and helped care for him. They married in 1950, just prior to his coronation as King of Thailand where he vowed to rule “with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Thai people.”
They had three daughters and one son, who now is King Maha Vajiralongkorn. King Bhumibol died in 2016.The eldest, Princess Ubol Ratana, was married to an American after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and lived in California. They separated in 2007 and now she is engaged in royal duties back home. The second daughter is Maha Chakri Sirindhorn who remains unmarried and devotes herself to further study. The third daughter – Princess Chulabhorn – has a degree in organic chemistry and is married to a Thai commoner.
In the late 1970s the royal couple’s focus shifted to domestic development and so King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit visited Thai villages often travelling to remote areas, addressing poverty, drug addiction and unrest, The queen was admired for her hands on approach and was named ‘Green Queen’, launching environmental projects such as ’Forest loves Water’ and wildlife breeding centers to promote conservation and protection of endangered species. In 1976, she founded the SUPPORT Foundation to teach rural Thais traditional crafts such as silk weaving, pottery and jewelry making.
Though naturally overshadowed by the king, Queen Sirikit was deeply respected and loved. Over the years however, her role also drew scrutiny as Thailand went through political turmoil. She was once in a while accused of siding with protesters, especially when she attended the funeral of a demonstrator killed in a clash with the police. Criticism was that it was politically symbolic.
Elegant, sophisticated and elite, she was approachable and a powerful figure of service and tradition, a royal whose goal seemed to be to bridge the gap between urban elites and rural people. She sincerely followed this principle. Her birthday August 12 was declared Mothers’ Day in Thailand – a national holiday.
Thus the loss of another Asian woman, powerful yet humane.
(Ref: Article in the Guardian titled: Sirikit, Glamorous Queen of Thailand, who wielded power, dies at 93 by Seth Mydans .”As the wife of King Bhumibol Aludyadei, she travelled the world charming government leaders and the public)
from The Island https://ift.tt/xHVuUeB
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