Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 192713 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great (officially conferred by King Vajiralongkorn in 2019), was the ninth King of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IX.

Bhumibol was born at Cambridge Hospital (now Mount Auburn Hospital) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, on 5 December 1927.

He was the youngest son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla, and his commoner wife Mom Sangwan (later Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother).

His father was enrolled in the public health program at Harvard University, which is why Bhumibol was the only monarch to be born in the US.

Bhumibol had an older sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana, and an older brother, Prince Ananda Mahidol.

Bhumibol came to Thailand in 1928, after his father obtained a certificate from Harvard.

His father died of kidney failure in September 1929, when Bhumibol was less than two years old.

He briefly attended Mater Dei school in Bangkok, but in 1933 his mother took her family to Switzerland, where he continued his education at the École nouvelle de la Suisse romande in Lausanne.

In 1934 Bhumibol was given his first camera, which ignited his lifelong enthusiasm for photography.

When Bhumibol's childless uncle Prajadhipok abdicated in 1935, his nine-year-old brother Ananda Mahidol became King Rama VIII.

However, the family remained in Switzerland and the affairs of the head of state were conducted by a regency council.

They returned to Thailand for only two months in 1938.

In 1942, Bhumibol became a jazz enthusiast, and started to play the saxophone, a passion that he kept throughout his life.

He received the baccalauréat des lettres (high-school diploma with a major in French literature, Latin, and Greek) from the Gymnase Classique Cantonal de Lausanne, and by 1945 had begun studying sciences at the University of Lausanne, when World War II ended and the family was able to return to Thailand.

Reigning from 1946 until his death in 2016, he is the third-longest verified reigning sovereign monarch in world history after King Louis XIV and Queen Elizabeth II, reigning for 70 years and 126 days.

His reign of over 70 years is the longest reign of any Thai monarch, and the longest native rule of any Asian sovereign.

Bhumibol ascended the throne following the death by gunshot wound of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, on 9 June 1946, under circumstances that remain unclear.

While an initial government statement stated that Ananda had accidentally shot himself, an investigation committee ruled this was virtually impossible.

In December 1946, the Siamese government allocated several hundred thousand dollars for the ceremonial cremation of the remains of the late King Ananda, a necessary preliminary to the coronation of Bhumibol who was required by religious custom to light the funeral pyre.

In Bhumibol's name, Prince Rangsit acknowledged a military coup that overthrew the government of Thamrongnawasawat in November 1947.

On 4 October 1948, while Bhumibol was driving a Fiat Topolino on the Geneva-Lausanne road, he collided with the rear of a braking truck 10 km outside Lausanne.

He injured his back, suffered paralysis in half of his face and incurred cuts on his face that cost him the sight of his right eye.

Both the royal cremation and coronation had to be postponed once more.

The regent also signed the 1949 constitution, which returned to the monarchy many of the powers it had lost by the 1932 Revolution.

Unsettled conditions in 1947 following a coup d'état resulted in a postponement, and court astrologers determined that 2 March 1949 was the most auspicious date.

While doing his degree in Switzerland, Bhumibol visited Paris frequently.

It was in Paris that he first met Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara, daughter of the Thai ambassador to France (Nakkhatra Mangala) and a great-granddaughter of King Chulalongkorn and thus a cousin of Bhumibol.

She was then 15 years old and training to be a concert pianist.

Three palace aides (Chit Singhaseni, But Patthamasarin, and Chaliao Pathumrot) were eventually convicted of regicide, and were executed by firing squad on 17 February 1955, after their appeals for clemency were rejected by Bhumibol.

A third possibility, that Bhumibol accidentally shot his brother while the brothers played with their pistols, was never officially considered.

Bhumibol succeeded his brother, but returned to Switzerland before the end of the 100-day mourning period.

Despite his interest in science and technology, he changed his major and enrolled in law and political science to prepare for his duties as head of state.

His uncle, Rangsit, Prince of Chainat, was appointed Prince Regent.

Forbes estimated Bhumibol's fortune – including property and investments managed by the Crown Property Bureau, a body that is neither private nor government-owned (assets managed by the Bureau were owned by the crown as an institution, not by the monarch as an individual) – to be US$30 billion in 2010, and he headed the magazine's list of the "world's richest royals" from 2008 to 2013.

In May 2014, Bhumibol's wealth was again listed as US$30 billion.

After a period of deteriorating health which left him hospitalized on several occasions, Bhumibol died on 13 October 2016 in Siriraj Hospital.

He was highly revered by the people in Thailand – some saw him as close to divine.

Notable political activists and Thai citizens who criticized the king or the institution of monarchy were often forced into exile or to suffer frequent imprisonments, yet many cases were dropped before being proceeded or were eventually given royal pardon.

His cremation was held on 26 October 2017 at the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang.

His son, Maha Vajiralongkorn, succeeded him as King.