Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Make no mistake, Bhumibol Adulyadej, also known as "Rama IX", is a heavy player in the scheme of the world and a person of extremes. As the King of Thailand, he is simultaneously the world's richest head of government, the world's longest-serving current head-of-state, and the longest-serving monarch in Thai history. He ascended to the throne after the death of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, in 1946.

There is much confusion about the extent of his wealth. His net worth was estimated at $35 billion USD by Forbes magazine; however, conflicting reports about how the Thai government handles the accounting surfaced and now his wealth is estimated to be between $10 and $20 billion USD.

It turns out that many of the king's assets are managed by the Crown Property Bureau (CPB), which is counted as an agency of the Thai government. And yet the CPB functions very much like a business; it is the majority shareholder of the construction firm Christiani & Nielsen, Deves Insurance - which has a monopoly on government-approved contracts, Siam Commercial Bank, the telecommunications firm Shin Corporation, and other companies. The CPB also has massive real estate holdings; they get to charge rent on the dirt under the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok, the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, Siam Paragon and Central World Tower. Oh, and the CPB is exempt from taxes.

Now, as if the confusion over what money exactly does and does not belong in his pocket weren't enough, the nature of his government is also the source of conflicting reports. He's king, in the line of secession from the Chakri Dynasty, so it's a monarchy. But Thailand has a constitution, a House of Representatives, and a 200-seat Senate, so it's a constitutional democratic monarchy. But then much of the reform of the elected government was overthrown by a military junta in 2006, establishing martial law, so it's a military dictatorship. But martial law has been revoked by January of 2007, a new constitution has been written, and the country was holding elections again by the end of 2007. At this point, all attempts to label the government of Thailand are useless. Most governments recognize Thailand as a monarchy.

An interesting side note is that the Chakri Dynasty also gave us "Rama IV", King Mongkut, who is best known to the English-speaking world as the king portrayed in the Rodgers and Hammerstein stage play musical "The King and I".

What can be pinned down is that Bhumibol Adulyadej was born December 5, 1927, at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He is the son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej. What a Thai prince of the Chakri Dynasty was doing in Boston, Massachusetts, was picking up his certificate in the Public Health program at Harvard University. Bhumibol Adulyadej attended primary school in Bangkok and then in 1933 the family moved to Switzerland, where he finished his secondary schooling at the École Nouvelle de la Suisse Romande in Chailly-sur-Lausanne.

After ascending to the throne in 1946, he has since of course resided in Thailand, although that hasn't kept him from other adventures. For one thing, he has a glass eye - not from a heroic sword duel, but from an automobile accident when he was driving in France. By the way, his brother and former King Ananda Mahidol died in 1946 from a gunshot to the head while asleep in his bedroom, but his death is not officially listed as an assassination. Oh, and he's married to his first cousin once removed, now known as Queen Sirikit. Also, his early reign left him largely a figurehead, under the government of military dictator Plaek Pibulsonggram, but Sarit Dhanarajata overthrew Plaek Pibulsonggram and became the new military dictator, who then reappointed King Bhumibol Adulyadej to political power. Other military coups and counter-coups have occurred under his reign until they all blend together into chaos.

Beyond all the clouds, smoke, and fog surrounding his existence, it cannot be denied that Bhumibol Adulyadej is a colorful character living some exotic kind of life. Perhaps even he, himself, could not accurately describe his circumstances and the events which happen around him.