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HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great
The world celebrates His 60 years of ‘Righteous Rule’
Peter Cummins
Pattaya Mail
Special Correspondent
Photos courtesy
of the Bureau of
the Royal Household
2006 is a year of many celebrations for the Thai people: the Diamond
Jubilee of His Majesty the King’s accession to the Thai Throne, on
Coronation Day, the fifth of May, 2006 and the 56th anniversary of the
marriage of King Bhumibol to Queen Sirikit, on 28 April, 2006.
The whole nation - in fact, much of the world - is focusing on the 60
years of rule of the world’s longest-serving Monarch, His Majesty King
Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great, the Ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty.
Foreign monarchs and their representatives from 25 countries will join
the official celebrations on June 12 and 13 and HM the King himself will
host a dinner reception at the Chakri Throne Hall in the Grand Palace as
the grand finale of a historic and happy occasion. Hereunder is the
listing of those foreign dignitaries who will come to Thailand to honour
our King.
In the plethora of awards, citations and accolades which have flowed in
to honour the King, on this auspicious occasion, one of the most recent
– and one which, to a certain extent, sums up His Majesty’s 60-year
rule-has been from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary-General, last week awarded His
Majesty the UNDP’s first-ever “Lifetime Achievement Award” in
recognition of His Majesty’s total dedication to improving the lives of
even the least of his subjects.
Called the “World’s Development King” by the Secretary-General, “The
King’s visionary thinking has gone beyond the borders of Thailand.” He
has supported environmental conservation, sustainable use of natural
resources and encourages the use of appropriate agricultural techniques.
“The King has advocated a sufficiency economy,” Kofi Annan continued,
“living strictly by his Oath of Office” pledged 60 years ago: “We will
reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese
people” and, in all the years which have passed since that auspicious
day, the concept of “righteousness” has dominated his reign.
In fact, the King has constantly revered the age-old Buddhist concept of
‘Kingship’ as defined in the Sutta Pitaka of the Tripitaka in which a
King is defined as Mahasammata - a King of Righteousness.
List of Monarchs and their
representatives to join the celebrations for the 60th
Anniversary of His Majesty’s Accession
to the Throne
Foreign monarchs and their representatives from 25 countries around the
world will join the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of His
Majesty’s accession to the Throne on June 12 and 13, 2006. They are
listed as follows:
12 Monarchs/Heads of State
* His Majesty Preach Bat Samdech Preah Baromneath Norodom Sihamoni
of Cambodia
* His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar
* His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait
* His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan
* His Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan
* His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah of
Brunei Darussalam
* His Majesty Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Syed Putra
Jamalullail, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong XII of Malaysia
* His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco
* His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg
* His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho
* His Majesty King Mswati of Swaziland
* His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
13 Representatives
* His Royal Highness Prince Henrik, the Prince Consort of Denmark
* His Royal Highness Crown Prince Tupouto’a of Tonga
* His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
* His Royal Highness Prince Willem-Alexander, the Prince of Orange of
The Netherlands
* His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa of Bahrain
* His Royal Highness Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium
* His Royal Highness Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of
Bhutan
* Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Salma Bennani of Morocco
* Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain
* His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan of the United Arab
Emirates
* His Royal Highness the Duke of York of the United Kingdom
* His Serene Highness Prince Hans Adam II of Liechtenstein
* His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Taimour Al Said of Oman
Development for the people
The King was born on Monday, the fifth of December, 1927 at
the Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, Massachusetts named, at that time,
as “Baby Songkhla” by the hospital staff, for there was not an official
name for the future King.
Over the five cycles of his reign, the King has steadfastly implemented
the principles of ‘righteous rule’, embodying good kingship in his own
life and example and often speaking out against the affliction of the
evils so clearly spelled out in the Buddhist philosophy - evils and
afflictions which seem to have become progressively worse in the past
tumultuous years.
Several years ago, His Majesty went to the Hua Hin airfield in Prachuap
Khiri Khan Province to visit the Royal Rainmaking Research and
Development Institute. But he did not go alone; rather, he took a group
of students with him, to inspect the royally-initiated rainmaking
project. The King patiently explained the mechanisms and complexities of
the system to the youngsters from the Klai Kangwol School.
“Such a project as this helps alleviate drought and water shortages
often critical in such dry provinces as Prachuab Khiri Khan and many
other rural areas,” the King pointed out to the enthralled students.
His Majesty’s ‘outing’ with these schoolchildren again under-scored his
concern about the efficacy of his numerous development projects in
reaching out to even the least of his subjects. This occasion was a
little reminiscent of an event four years earlier. Then, the King was so
intent upon his dedication to the people through his “middle way” - the
Buddhist philosophy of balance, inter-relatedness and self-reliance -
that he escorted a group of journalists to visit the Huay Hong Krai
Centre which acts as a model for catchment area conservation for the
north.
The fact that it was His Majesty’s only press trip for many years - and
has not been repeated since - indicated the importance that he attached,
in that case, to the sites where the farmers can observe the ongoing
research, and choose whatever is most suitable for their needs and
localities.
According to the observations of one member of the media accompanying
the King at that time, “While international development literature
devotes much space to formulating projects aimed at ‘people
participation’ and beneficial end-results for the intended recipients,
His Majesty had been working according to these guidelines - before the
development community even thought of embracing them.”
The King established five other Royal Development Study Centres - or, as
they are better known - “Living Museums” - situated in the roughest
terrain in their respective regions. These centres are the locale for
experiments in reforestation, irrigation, land development and farm
technology which are conducted to find practical applications within the
constraints of local conditions, geography and topography. His Majesty’s
aim is to restore the natural balance, to enable people to become
self-supporting.
The first centre organized was that of Khao Hin Son, in the rocky area
of Chachoengsao’s Phanom Sarakam District. Here, the centre studies how
to turn the barren soil, caused by deforestation, back into fertile land
again. Other centres are located at strategic places around the Kingdom.
The Pikul Thong Centre at Narathiwat studies the swampy, acidic land of
the southern-most region. The Phu Phan Centre in Sakhon Nakhon studies
soil salinity and irrigation in the country’s biggest region, the
Northeast, which suffers from endemic drought. The Krung Kraben Bay
Centre in Chantaburi examines the rehabilitation of mangrove forests and
coastal areas following massive destruction. The Huay Sai Centre in
Petchaburi studies the rehabilitation of degraded forests and shows
villagers, in their turn, how to protect the forests.
When he was in doubt, the King would fly over a particular area, armed
with aerial photographs and maps of the terrain, noting features as they
passed underneath. And, being a good photographer himself, he also took
his own pictures, later to juxtapose them on area charts, to obtain a
complete and detailed image of the specifics which helped his planning
of various development projects.
His Majesty’s insightful approach to local prevailing conditions has
enabled him to improvise new theories for agricultural development, to
provide guidelines for educating farmers on self-sufficiency, and to
solve problems of goitre by feeding iodine into salt roads at strategic
points.
In all these works, His Majesty has promoted a simple approach using
environmentally friendly techniques and utilizing moderate amounts of
locally available resources. For example, before environmentalism became
a major force in the development equation, His Majesty was using vetiver
grass to prevent erosion, controlling ground water level to reduce soil
acidity, and seeding clouds with simple materials such as dry ice, to
produce rain.
A ‘Simple’ approach
The King’s philosophy to development problems has been to
“keep it simple” - relying on an intimate knowledge of Nature and her
immutable law, such as using fresh water to flush out polluted water or
dilute it through utilization of normal tidal fluctuations. The
ubiquitous water hyacinth too can be ‘harnessed’ to absorb pollutants.
The results of any development, the King asserts, must reach the people
directly as a means of overcoming immediate problems, translating into
“enough to live, enough to eat”, while looking at a longer-term result
of “living well and eating well.”
His Majesty compares this to using “adharma” (evil) to fight evil,
observing that both pollution and the water weed are a menace, but they
can be used to counteract each other, thus lessening the damage to the
environment.
The King himself practices this ‘simple approach’ and brings a
down-to-earth approach to which the people can readily relate. He
studies and deliberates exhaustively on the particular project and then
reveals his thinking in short, easy-to-grasp titles. The very simplicity
belies the profundity of the philosophy, for each title reflects a much
deeper insight into a given problem and often, at the same time, hints
at the mode of operation to be employed.
A major working principle has been a true knowledge of and reliance upon
the immutable laws of Nature in solving problems and resolving abnormal
conditions, such as using fresh water to flush out polluted water, as in
his analogy “good water chases bad” referring to the hyacinth/water
pollution problem in the Chao Phraya, for example.
The King undertook the establishment of the Royal Development Projects
in 1969, primarily as a means of arresting the opium growing and
deforestation caused by the hill tribes’ slash and burn agriculture and
to improve their standard of living. The first was established at a
Hmong village on Doi Pui in Chiang Mai Province and now has spread to
Chiang Rai, Lamphun and Mae Hong Son. Over the years, the Projects have
been instrumental in the conversion of the poppy fields being turned
into groves of temperate fruits and vegetables.
Under the dynamic direction of the King’s close colleague, Prince
Bhisadej Rajani, who is the Director of the Projects, operating from his
base at the Chiang Mai University, there are currently four research
stations, 35 Royal Project Development Centres which incorporate some
300 villages, comprising 14,000 households and approximately 90,000
farmers.
The Royal Development Projects Board, under the Office of the Prime
Minister, also serves as the secretariat for the Chai Pattana Foundation
which is directly responsible for the work related to the royal
development projects. Now, more than three decades later, the results
can be seen in the new life which has come to many of the mountain
villages. Greenery has returned to once-denuded forest areas and barren
hills and the opium cultivation, a cause of extreme national concern, is
virtually a past era.
“The key to the success of the Project lies in His Majesty’s
guidelines,” explains Prince Bhisadej. “They focus on obtaining
knowledge, through research, avoiding bureaucratic entanglements and
swift action to respond to the villagers’ needs, while promoting
self-reliance,” he adds. “The effectiveness of this approach has been
applauded internationally.” For example, in 1998 the Royal Project won
both the “Magsaysay Award for International Understanding” and the Thai
Expo Award for attaining the quality standard of Thai Goods for Export.
The King’s own views are that development must respect different
regions, geography and peoples’ way of life. “We cannot impose our ideas
on the people - only suggest. We must meet them, ascertain their needs
and then propose what can be done to meet their expectations,” the King
pointed out recently.
The King’s ideas are in direct contrast to the bureaucracy’s wish to
impose standards from the top down, with the inflexibility inherent
therein. “Don’t be glued to the textbook,” he admonishes developers
“who,” he said, “must compromise and come to terms with the natural and
social environment of the community.”
Thus, on the very eve of great celebrations to honour his 60-year rule,
it was most appropriate that the Secretary-General of the United Nations
visited His Majesty to bestow the United Nations Development Programme’s
“Life-time Achievement Award”.
We at the Pattaya Mail, the Pattaya Blatt and the Pattaya Mail on TV
reverently join the rest of the Kingdom and the millions from overseas,
in congratulating His Majesty on his stupendous achievement: ruling
justly for 60 years.
Long Live the King.
(The Pattaya Mail will present a full story on the week’s activities in
the next issue, Volume 14, # 24, 16 June 2006.)
Pascal introduces the Provencale Pig to the Chaine des Rotisseurs
Miss Terry Diner
The latest Chaine de Rotisseurs dinner was held at the Casa Pascal
restaurant, with hosts Kim and Pascal Schnyder welcoming the members and
guests with a slew of shot glasses as the “Degustation des cocktails
maison”. A well thought out and different way to ensure the guests were
in the mood for another of Pascal’s innovative dinners.
 Peter
Malhotra (left) Charge de Presse and Hugh Millar (right) Charge de
Missions of Bailliage de Pattaya presents certificates of appreciation
to Prathan Intrakai (above) and Jurirat Karnkaew (below) for their
exceptional care and service.
And if you think they were just any old cocktails, the Chaine diners
sampled Kir Royal with Cassis Star ice, Pina Colada Cappuccino, Bellini,
Cold Vodka Espresso, Mini Campari Orange, Passion Fruits Tequila with
Spiced Tomato Gazpacho (Wow!), Sake Fizz with Green Tea Ice Foam and a
Mini Blue Hawaii. These came with mini-snacks which were just as
appealing, including date stuffed with cheese mousse, Nori Maki with
tuna and salmon sashimi, potato blinis with smoked duck breast, shrimp
cocktail or a vegetable stick with mint yogurt dip, tomato salsa dip,
guacamole dip.
 After
the meet and mingle the diners were seated and the first of the seven
courses arrived, a seafood aspic with caviar mousseline and basil cream,
being a combination of salmon, scallops, prawn and lobster. To
complement this dish, the first of four wines was served, being a
Rawson’s Retreat Semillon Chardonnay 2003, from the Penfold’s winery in
South Australia. This is a very good wine, and quite a full-bodied
white. Well worth looking for in your local wine supplier.
The second course showed the foresight of Pascal, being a salad of
truffles with Gingko and pine nut kernels. With Gingko nuts being very
difficult to source in Thailand, his wife Kim brought the precious
ingredient back from Korea, for this Chaine dinner. It is claimed in
Korea that Gingko is used as a digestion aid and for its ability to
suppress the effects of consuming wine and to recover from illnesses. It
is also used as a kidney yang tonic that increases sexual energy. At the
next Chaine dinner I will endeavour to find out if the members also
noted these effects after the second course!
There was a change of wines at this point, to a South African
Sommerbosch Sauvignon Blanc which continued through the Tian of prawns,
kuri (Japanese cucumber), capsicum and tomato sherbet, a layered
concoction which needed to be eaten together, to appreciate the full
flavour.
 The
guests all, without exception, applauded the efforts of the very well
drilled service team.
The next course I thoroughly enjoyed, being a Carpaccio of goose liver
and veal tenderloin. Casa Pascal has become very well known for Pascal’s
handling of goose liver, which has become one of the restaurant’s
specialities, and the taste was superb. I must admit that I returned to
the Australian Rawson’s Retreat, even though the French Les Gondats de
Marquis de Terme Margaux 2000 was being offered with this course.
The main course, which by tradition has to be a roast (“Rotisseurs” in
French being “roasters”), was another of Pascal’s innovative culinary
efforts, which I was fortunate enough to experience at a private tasting
a couple of weeks previously. The suckling pig is stuffed with the meats
plus various mushrooms and carrot and roasted in the skin and then
sliced and served accompanied by a Bordeaux style gravy. This was a very
rich and European style of dish, which one could imagine was presented
to the original “rotisseurs” in 1248 AD, at the time of the formation of
the culinary group.
Continuing in the ‘rich’ manner, the next course was a fabulous warm
Vacherin Mont d’Or cheese, which was served soft and molten, and into
which you mixed chopped spring onions and walnuts. Washed down with a
robust Chateau le Croix de Pez Saint-Estephe 2001. As a combination of
wonderful tastes and aromas, this would be hard to surpass.
While there was yet another course, with roasted fig and roulade of
mango, I took the opportunity to wander amongst the tables and speak to
the guests, who were all, without exception, applauding the efforts of
not only Kim and Pascal, but also the very well drilled service team.
It had been another excellent Chaine des Rotisseurs dinner, and with
local Bailli Louis Noll (Mata Hari) back at the top table, and the
humorous remarks from the “Charge de Mission” Hugh Millar (Symphony) to
spice up the wonderful food, it was with regret we left Casa Pascal
after his valet service retrieved our motor cars and pointed us in the
direction of our home (perhaps to try the efficacy of the Gingko nuts!).
Guests mingle before the big event. All were
in praise of Kim and Pascal’s continued excellence at Chaine de
Rotisseurs dinners, a true reflection of the quality of their
restaurant.
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