Tom Potisit
Fashion photographer and founder of Tom Potisit Photography
His impact
He inspired me to be selfless and to think of others. He also inspired me to keep learning new things everyday and to use that knowledge to help others whenever I could. Even being the most important man in the country, he was always down to earth and always treated others with compassion. He always put the country and his people first and that is truly inspirational.
How he inspired us
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was a man of many talents. He was a sportsman, a music man, a scientist and a photographer. He used photography to help improve the lives of the people. In a speech he gave at The First Annual Bangkok Art and Photography Event 2007, he said, “Use photography to create value for society. Art can help improve the country.” His speech has moved and inspired me to this day to use my photography to help address important issues that need attention.
The fondest memories of him
When I visited Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2011 I got a chance to learn about his childhood (the king lived with his family on and off in Switzerland from 1933 to 1951). I was told that the young king often built his own toys and played with them outdoors. He had a small boat and he dug into the earth to create a small canal (similar accounts are told in Chaonai Leklek Yuwakasat or Little Princes
- Young Kings written by Princess Galyani Vadha- na). Knowing this has had a great impact on my perspective of him. It foreshadowed that he had a great responsibility ahead of him and would later become a developer king.
His legacy
He will always be remembered as the central heart of Thai people. The king who was kind and very much loved by his people. The king who dedicated his life, even as a royal, to nonetheless work for his people. The father of the nation who inspired us in so many ways. The guiding light we can always look up to as a role model to live our lives.