Staff reporters
Born on July 4, 1957, Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn is the
youngest daughter of Their Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great
and Queen Sirikit of Thailand. She has two daughters, HRH Princess
Siribhachudhabhorn and HRH Princess Adityadhornkitikhun.
Princess Chulabhorn graduated from the Faculty of Science and Arts at
Kasetsart University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Organic
Chemistry, First Class Honors, in 1979, following with a doctorate in
1985, being awarded a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Organic Chemistry
from Mahidol University in July of that year, capping off a record of
excellent academic achievement.
(Photo courtesy of the
Bureau of the Royal Household)
In 1986, she was appointed as an Honorary Fellow of
the Royal Society of Chemistry in London and was awarded the Einstein
Gold Medal by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).
The following year, she undertook post-doctoral studies in Germany, and
has since been a visiting professor at universities in Japan, Germany,
and the United States, as well as holding Honorary Doctorates from many
universities around the world.
Her Royal Highness is chairperson of the Working Group on the Chemistry
of Natural Products, a collaborative program between the Japanese
Society for the Promotion of Science and the National Research Council
of Thailand.
HRH the Princess has received international recognition for her
scientific accomplishments, resulting in her appointment to various
United Nations posts, namely special advisor to the United Nations
Environment Program and member of the Special High-Level Council for the
International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction of the United
Nations.
As a result of her experience as a scientist, HRH the Princess became
aware of the difficulties Thai researchers have in obtaining the
necessary funding for their research and so, in 1987, she established
the Chulabhorn Research Institute to provide a new fund-raising agency
for such research.
This institute now acts as a focal point for the exchange of
intellectual and other resources in Thailand, for the purpose of solving
urgent problems confronting the country in areas of health, environment,
and agriculture.
As president of the Chulabhorn Research Institute, HRH the Princess
currently directs many special research projects, including the AIDS
program; a program on restoration and integrated development of the
flood-affected areas in Southern Thailand; seawater irrigation for
cultivation of economic marine species and preservation of the mangrove
forests; a rabies eradication program, with a special project for
accelerated immunization in five southern provinces in Thailand; the
Light for Life Foundation for Epilepsy, Chulalongkorn Comprehensive
Epilepsy Program; Tabtim Siam Secondary School in Surin province; and
the ‘Voice of Dhamma for the Public’ Radio Station in Udon Thani
province.
Through these programs HRH the Princess plays an auspicious role in
improving the environment and living standards of the villagers in a
number of Thai provinces.
Responding as she does to international needs during times of trouble,
on April 12, 2011, Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn graciously
donated 4.64 million baht in cash, plus plastic containers, torches with
batteries and drinking water to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and
Japanese Ambassador to Thailand Seiji Kojima at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, to assist victims of the massive earthquake and tsunami in
Japan.
Thank you HRH Princess Chulabhorn for your lifetime of dedication.
All of us at the Pattaya Mail Media Group join the entire Kingdom in
wishing Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn a Most Happy 56th
Birthday on the fourth of July 2012.
