“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 underlines 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 ago. 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 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 is in doubt, the King will fly over a particular area, armed with aerial photographs and maps of the terrain, noting features as they pass underneath. But, being a good photographer himself, he also takes his own pictures and later juxtaposes them, to obtain a detailed image of the area of his concern which helps in his planning of specific development projects.

Throughout the more than five decades that the King has ruled Thailand, not only Thais, but people around the world have become accustomed to seeing His Majesty travelling to remote areas of the country. He works with and brings rational development to even the poorest and most disadvantaged groups. He is shown leading officials, farmers and many diverse groups up rough mountain trails, over bridges, punting along in small sampans, to initiate sustainable projects and ideas, aimed at helping the many who have been forgotten in the development process.

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.

The UNDP, particularly, as the world’s largest source of technical assistance aid, has been actively supporting many of the King’s initiatives, benefiting from his example and joining his efforts to improve human capacity, sustain livelihoods and, especially, to help regenerate the environment - this last being very close to His Majesty’s heart.

Starting very early in his reign and continuing to this day, the King, usually accompanied by the Queen and second daughter Princess Maha Chakri Sirindorn, travelled to the far corners of the kingdom to learn first-hand from the farmers and peoples of the rural areas about their problems. Again, as with all his other interests, the Monarch studies, observes, photographs and imbues himself with all the relevant knowledge and facts which he needs to move forward with recommendations, implementation of beneficial projects and follow-up.

The Thai Monarch is probably best known, universally, for his unbending resolve to improve the lives of each and every one of his people - a singular dedication to their welfare which has been acclaimed from all corners of the world. A lasting image of the King is that of a man, often kneeling or sitting on the ground, pouring over charts and topographical maps of the area, while
surrounded by local farmers and villagers discussing their problems.

It has been recorded that the King has spent more than 200 days per year, for more than three decades, in rural areas where he has initiated some 2,000 projects aimed solely at improving the well being of his people.

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 Hilltribes’ 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.”

The King sees no need to spare any sensitivities - if there are any - because he feels that the government approach is costly and authoritarian which is why it has “failed miserably to address the country’s problems.”

His own example has always been a great source of inspiration to athletes everywhere and every sailor knows that His Majesty is a Gold Medal helmsman, winning the OK Dinghy Class in the South East Asian Peninsular Games 34 years ago on the 16th of December 1967. This day is now celebrated as “National Sports Day” in the Kingdom.

This record is unlikely to be unequalled in the annals of sporting history, capping his nautical record with a land-based one, being the only person to have lit the torch opening the Asian Games on four occasions, last time being here in Bangkok, in 1998.

His Majesty is also well known as being highly-knowledgeable about many sports having, at various times, participated himself in skiing, motor racing, ice-skating, badminton, tennis, swimming and even a little golf.

As the then-president of the Thailand Olympic Committee, the late Air Chief Marshal Dawee Chullasapya emphasized when presenting the King with the highly-prestigious honour of The Insignia of the Olympic Order, at the Rajanives Hall, Chitralada Palace in December 1987, “The King is not just a world-class yachtsman, but he has also participated in and encouraged many other sports”.

“The Olympic award was made not only to recognize the King’s prowess as a dinghy sailor,” said ACM Dawee, “but also to acknowledge the leading role he has played in promoting all sports - in Thailand, in the region and internationally - always displaying a firm grasp on the history and the finer points of a multitude of sports,” Dawee added.

Another Olympic honour was bestowed upon His Majesty last year, when the International Olympic Committee presented him with the IOC’s Lalounis Cup. The Thai King is the only reigning monarch to be so honoured by the Olympic Committee.

During an audience granted to Professor Anwar Chowdry, president of the World Boxing Federation, Professor Chowdry was, “astounded at His Majesty’s knowledge of the evolution and technical details of boxing.”