Biography bhumibol adulyadej
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Asia Art Archive
in America
The first independent biography of Thailand’s monarch, whose image as a benign Buddhist god-king masks one of the world’s most politically powerful thrones Thailand’s Bhumibol Adulyadej, the only king ever born in the United States, came to the throne of his country in 1946 and at the time of his death, in October 2016, was the world’s longest serving monarch. The King Never Smiles, the first independent biography of Thailand’s monarch, tells the unexpected story of Bhumibol’s life and sixty-year rule–how a Western-raised boy came to be seen by his people as a living Buddha, and how a king widely seen as beneficent and apolitical could in fact be so deeply political and autocratic. Paul Handley provides an extensively researched, factual account of the king’s youth and personal development, ascent to the throne, skillful political maneuverings, and attempt to shape Thailand as a Buddhist kingdom
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Bhumibol Adulyadej
King of Thailand from 1946 to 2016
"Adulyadej" and "Rama IX" redirect here. For his father, see Mahidol Adulyadej. For the ruler of Cochin, see Rama Varma IX.
Bhumibol Adulyadej[b][c] (5 December 1927 – 13 October 2016), titled Rama IX, was King of Thailand from 1946 until his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any Thai monarch, the longest on record of any independent Asian sovereign, and the third-longest of any sovereign state.[7][8]
Born in the United States, Bhumibol spent his early life in Switzerland, in the aftermath of the 1932 Siamese revolution, which toppled Thailand's centuries-old absolute monarchy, ruled at the time by his uncle, King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). He ascended to the throne in June 1946, succeeding his brother, King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), who had died under mysterious circumstances.
In the course of his rule, Bh
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His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej
His Majesty the King was born on Monday the 5th of December 1927, at Mount Auburn Hospital, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., being the third and youngest child of Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess Mahidol of Songkla.
His Majesty attended the Ecole Nouvelle dem la Suisse Romande, Chailly sur Lausanne. Later on he moved to the Gymnase Classique Cantonal of Lausanne from where he received his Bachelier s lettres diploma. He then chose to enter Lausanne University to study science, but the sudden death of his elder brother, King Ananda Mahidol, in Bangkok on the 9th of June, 1946, changed the course of his life completely, for the Law of Succession bestowed on him the arduous but challenging function of the Thai Crown. The Government on behalf of the people came to ask the Princess Mother for her other son to be their King. As he had not finished his education, His Majesty decided to go back to Switzerland for ano