Such respect has much to do with a hands-on mission the royal couple embarked on when the King and Queen ascended the throne more than 50 years ago.

Grassroots projects

The royal couple have rarely left Thailand in the past 30 years, and instead have spent the greater part of their reign crisscrossing Thailand initiating grass-roots projects in a country steeped in endemic poverty. ”Thailand is a small country, and the majority of the people are very poor, and live in the countryside,” says Tawatchai Piyarat, Thai Ambassador to Hungary, “His Majesty has come up with a self sufficiency theory whereby the people can truly share the land. They work tirelessly to increase the standard of living of the people, in every corner of the country.”

THAI AMBASSADOR TO HUNGARY Tawatchai Piyarat

A milestone in King Bhumibol’s reign was a trip he made in 1955 to Thailand’s poorest northeastern provinces, the first ruler to visit this neglected part of the country. With Queen Sirikit, he traveled the region for 22 arduous days, observing the people’s everyday struggles of subsistence. It was here, perhaps, where he began a dialogue on self-sustenance, where the royal family sought particularly Thai solutions to the challenges of what has become a global world and economy.

Promotion of self-sustaining economy

Such a plan involved the promotion of basic necessities like rice and food and the development and marketing of the rich Thai traditional handicraft, gold, silverware and ceramics.

Numerous visits throughout the country resulted in not only in a well-traveled monarch, but one keenly aware of the needs and challenges of the rural poor.

King Bhumibol has expounded the idea that being a self-supporting economy is more important than striving for a regional “tiger” economy. He means self-sufficiency. And by this he believes each family produce its own food, weave and sew its own clothes.

Throughout much of King Bhumibol’s reign Thailand has been governed by a series of military dictatorships. The monarch, who ascended the throne at age 19, has earned the respect of his people over the years for his tireless efforts at social causes.

He intervened on behalf of his people during some of the hardest moments. In 1973, when police and army fired on demonstrating students, killing many of them, the king opened the palace gates, offering shelter to the youth. In similar demonstrations in the early 1990s, following violent actions, the king ordered the two main political opponents to his palace where they were scolded on public television – enough to calm the waters.

Royal projects

Most importantly, King Bhumibol’s reign has been marked by royal projects the result of his visits throughout the country. Fascinated by technical matters, he developed a gun mounting system for a helicopter, a rice mill and a farming system that enables Thai farmers to remain self-sufficient.

The Thai monarchy is truly steeped in the past, and adorned by pomp and ceremony. ”His Majesty and Her Majesty travel throughout the country together well into the night, everyday, visiting the countryside, meeting the people, even deep in the jungle,” continues Piyarat. “The people recognize this, and they are aware that the monarchy will keep in Thailand for a very long time.” ”Thailand and the monarchy, live together,” he adds.

Queen Sirikit’s SUPPORT Program
Thailand’s Queen Sirikit has, on many occasions, presented exhibitions of traditional handicrafts, silk, embroidery, gold and silverware, ceramics, woodcarving and other traditional crafts. She set up a program: SUPPORT, aimed at preserving traditional arts and crafts and alleviating rural poverty. The queen’s championship of rural poor and her patronage and promotion of traditional handicrafts dates underscores the essential concept of the monarchy. SUPPORT was set up in 1976 to provide supplementary income for poor farming families, and help them from being driven from their land by burdensome debt.