Two years pass but love strong as ever

King Bhumibol Adulyadej spent 70 years creating a legacy of hope and unity that the Thai people will never forget, writes Nattaya Chetchotiros

Today marks two years since King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away on Oct 13, 2016. Thais, nevertheless, still hold the memory of their beloved king dear to their hearts. Spending 70 years on the throne, King Bhumibol was regarded as a guiding light, a unifying figure and the heart and soul of the nation.

Despite the late king no longer being with us, he left behind a legacy that never ceases to inspire and motivate people.

He maintained a constant presence in the lives of Thais and developed a close bond with them as he worked with tireless and selfless devotion to help his subjects.

A hard-working monarch, he visited countless villages across the country, and patiently listened to his subjects’ plight. To help them, he initiated thousands of development projects modelled on his sufficiency economy principles and his “New Theory on Agriculture”.

Tongthong Chandransu, a noted scholar on royal affairs and former PM’s Office permanent secretary, told the Bangkok Post that King Bhumibol will always have a place in the hearts of Thais.

“Two years have gone by, but Thais’ memories of the late king remain vivid. What the king did for the benefit of his people has been preserved and cherished,” he said.

For Mr Tongthong, October has become a very important month.

This month, Thais now observe two major events related to two of Thailand’s most loved and revered kings — King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, and King Bhumibol, Rama IX, the grandson of King Rama V.

King Chulalongkorn Day, which falls on Oct 23 every year, marks the passing of King Rama V, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Day, which falls on Oct 13, is a new addition to the calendar to observe the passing of King Rama IX two years ago.

It is now hard to find anyone who had first-hand experience of when King Rama V passed away in 1910.

“But with the loss of King Rama IX, Thais of the present day can empathise with how people were overwhelmed with grief when King Chulalongkorn passed away more than a century ago,” Mr Tongthong said.

Graduation ceremonies were also an opportunity for Thais to come into close contact with King Bhumibol as each graduate received a degree from the king himself, according to Mr Tongthong.

King Bhumibol bestowed degrees upon university graduates for the first time in 1950, and continued to personally hand out degrees to graduates from various institutions for almost 50 years.

This was hard work as it took hours for the late king to give degrees to all the graduates who attended in large numbers at each graduation ceremony.

And the king always concluded each ceremony with a speech which emphasised the need for graduates to act in the best interests of the country.

“Still, no matter how hard and onerous the task was, the late king realised that he could make his people happy by personally handing out degrees to them, so he never gave up doing it except when he was ill or went abroad,” Mr Tongthong said.

The last graduation ceremony which saw King Bhumibol bestow degrees was held at Chulalongkorn University in 1998.

At the time, he was already taking on fewer public engagements because of age and declining health. After 1998, his children were assigned to bestow degrees at various universities on his behalf — a practice which continues today.

The fruits of the late king’s efforts to improve the well-being of his people also live on.

The Thai-Danish Dairy Farm and Training Centre in Muak Lek district in Saraburi province is a prime example. It is the country’s first dairy farm and a collaboration between the late king and King Frederick IX of Denmark after King Bhumibol visited Denmark in 1960.

“When I go to a supermarket and see milk products under the Thai-Denmark brand, it reminds me of how visionary the king was,” Mr Tongthong said.

He added that several popular products and enterprises that are linked to the late king’s sustainable economic development serve as a vivid reminder of his ingenuity and kindness towards his people.

Farm produce, fruits and vegetables that are the result of the late king’s sustainable economic development are now readily available to Thai consumers, such as under the Doi Kham brand.

Doi Kham Food Products Co was established in 1994 by the Crown Property Bureau (CPB). The company was founded in response to the King Bhumibol’s suggestion of a need for a business unit to buy produce from the Royal Project Foundation and farmers in Chiang Mai at fair prices.

Doi Kham produces a variety of farm products — among them fruit juices, jams, honey, mushrooms and dried fruit. Doi Kham products are known and praised for their high quality and reasonable prices.

The company has processing plants in Fang district of Chiang Mai; Mae Chan district of Chiang Rai; and Tao Ngoi district of Sakon Nakhon. There are currently 30 Doi Kham shops operating nationwide.

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kreangam told the Bangkok Post that the second anniversary of the late king’s passing is especially poignant.

“During his long reign of 70 years, the late king left an indelible mark on the country, and the memory of the monarch remains etched in Thais memories,” said Mr Wissanu.

“That the king himself handed out degrees to graduating students, or provided bathing water for royally sponsored funeral rites demonstrates the personal touch that made his people feel special,” Mr Wissanu added.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said that he has travelled to the provinces to visit people across the country and found one thing in common in every house he visited.

“Wherever I go, I always see pictures and portraits of King Rama IX taking pride of place on the walls of every household.

“This shows that Thais still sorely miss the late king and their bond remains as close as ever,” the former prime minister said.

The late king’s development initiatives on education and agriculture have now become works of reference and the speeches he delivered on various occasions remain relevant and timeless, Mr Abhisit said.

“For me, I take inspiration from his sufficiency economy philosophy and his speeches on various occasions and I adopt them as an approach to my work,” Mr Abhisit said.

Key Pheu Thai Party figure, Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, told the Bangkok Post that even though the late king is no longer with us, what he did for his people, particularly residents in Bangkok, remains clearly visible in their everyday lives.

Khunying Sudarat said residents in Bangkok and surrounding provinces still benefit from King Rama IX’s royal initiatives aimed at tackling traffic congestion.

They include the Bhumibol bridges which are part of the royally initiated Industrial Ring Road project aimed at facilitating the movement of goods from Bangkok Port to industrial areas in Samut Prakan and other provinces.

The sluice gate on Klong Lad Pho in Phra Pradaeng district of Samut Prakan province is also one of the late king’s flood projects to ease Bangkok residents’ flood woes.

Suriyasai Katasila, deputy dean of Rangsit University’s Social Innovation College, urged political parties to adopt and incorporate the late king’s sufficiency economy principles into their policies and national reform agendas.

“Many have taken up the late king’s sufficiency economy principle, yet few have taken it seriously enough,” Mr Suriyasai said.

The late King left an indelible mark on the country. WISSANU KREA-NGAM DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER