Story by Peter
Cummins
Photos courtesy of the Bureau of the Royal Household
On the fifth of May, 1950, King Bhumibol
Adulyadej was crowned King of Thailand and his first official
proclamation was to elevate his bride of just one week, the Thai
Ambassador to London’s beautiful daughter Sirikit - the name
appropriately meaning beauty and honour - to become Queen Somdej
Phranang Chao.
 The
new King of Thailand, in turn, gave to the Thai people a beautiful
and loving Queen who has spent a lifetime contributing to their
welfare.
Early in their reign, when visiting remote areas,
the Royal Couple were disturbed by the plight of the rural people,
the lack of educational and medical facilities and, not the least,
poor nutrition which aggravated all other problems. The King
determined to take positive action to help the farmers, while Her
Majesty focused on “the home”, seeking ways to enable the
women-folk to earn cash to help alleviate the grinding and
debilitating poverty.
The
SUPPORT Foundation
Almost coinciding with Her Majesty’s 70th
birthday this week is the 26th anniversary of the founding, on 21
July 1976, of the Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques,
popularly known by the acronym SUPPORT. The foundation was
established to place, on a more formal basis, the activities started
by the Queen, using her own funds, to establish cottage industries
for village and farm women, “without the necessity of leaving
home.”
From her own personal funds, Her Majesty supplied
weaving looms and materials to make fabrics, clothing and soft
goods, as well as providing equipment to produce other marketable
items. Having lived in Europe for many years, the Queen was
conversant with the enormous diversity of European arts and culture
and thus recognized the variety of crafts and styles distinctive to
different regions of Thailand: hand-woven fabrics, basket-ware and
rattan products, utensils and a myriad other artefacts.
Her Majesty is justifiably famous for her clear
perception and this rose to remarkable heights with her outstanding
vision for making SUPPORT into a viable proposition. She brought
back from retirement former court artisans to teach presumably lost
crafts to a ‘new generation’ - even grandmothers.
The Queen’s advice to the ‘retirees’ was
that, “Before they urged the villagers to make anything, they must
be certain that the end-product is marketable - and not made for
charity alone which does not provide a real livelihood. SUPPORT is
designed to make the villagers self-reliant,” the Queen
emphasized.
 Particular
stress was placed upon bringing physically-handicapped people to
work at SUPPORT projects, raising their confidence and creating a
satisfaction for each person who was, thus, achieving a level of
self-reliance by being able to earn an income - and not having to
rely on charity or handouts to survive.
Mudmee Silk is but one of the Queen’s legacies
to the Foundation. It was Her Majesty who ‘resurrected’ this
almost-forgotten weaving craft, indigenous to the northeast. Mudmee,
meaning literally ‘tied threads’, is an intricate ‘tie and
die’ process which produces brilliant colours, each piece being
unique and the pattern is the individual imagination of the weaver -
there are no blueprints to follow. Due to Her Majesty’s guidance,
as well as to her wearing of mudmee at official functions in
Thailand and abroad, mudmee silk is universally known as a
distinctive, exotic and outstandingly beautiful Thai artefact.
This writer had the good fortune to visit the
Silk Museum, adjacent to the Community College, Ban Kookard, in Khon
Kaen Province, when undertaking an educational assignment
commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
recently. It was a journey into a hall of beautiful, shimmering and
intricate design, carefully laid out.
Many
projects to raise living standards
Although probably best known for the SUPPORT
project, the Queen’s great determination to raise the living
standards and improve the quality of life for the Thai people has
led to many other projects, beneficial to the people and Nature
equally. For example, there are the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden,
The Forest Loves Water and The Little House in the Big Forest
Projects.
 28
February 2001. Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by His Royal
Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, observing products grown
by villagers in the Royal Project, during a visit to the Royal Ang
Khang Highland Agricultural Research Station, Fang District, Chiang
Mai Province.
During Her ongoing visits - often with the King
and other members of the Royal Family - to the remotest and poorest
areas of the country, Her Majesty soon realized that it was
preservation and wise use of the natural resources and environmental
protection which were the imperative components in striking a
balance between the welfare of human settlements and Nature.
The Queen was most disturbed by the deterioration
of these vital elements, particularly the water resources, which she
observed on each visit, were either becoming depleted or badly
degraded. The end result was a further blow to the well-being and
improved way of life for even her least subjects.
The Queen encouraged the people, “To bond
together in order to protect the forests which are sources of the
watershed and natural food,” and at the same time, “Encouraging
the people to use natural resources properly and efficiently, to
achieve sustainable benefits.” The Queen also urged the people to
become self-reliant and, “To grow food and garden crops, to
undertake a comprehensive cultivation of herbal plants and raise
animals as a food source.”
 1
June 2001. Her Majesty the Queen presiding over the Unveiling
Ceremony of the Royal Statue of King Naresuan the Great, Phra Nakhon
Si Ayutthaya District, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya Province.
One outcome of this loving care for even the
least of her subjects has been the establishment in 1996 of the
Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, located at the Mae Rim District in
Chiang Mai Province.
The Garden was opened to serve as a Thai plant
conservation centre where botanical research and study is undertaken
to maintain the vast biodiversity of Thai flora. This includes
collection and propagation of indigenous, rare and endangered
species of flora. Thai orchids, herbal plants and a vast array of
native woods are conserved here, as part of the Queen’s legacy to
present and future generations.
In 1997 and 1998, the Queen initiated a project
to establish three demonstration farms, two of which are in Chiang
Mai Province at Baan Khun Tae, Moo 5, Chom Thong District and at
Baan Mae Tungting, Moo 5 Samoeng District. The third is located in
Chiang Rai province, at Baan Rom Fah Thong, Moo 9, Viang Kaen
District.
H.M. the Queen regularly visits these remote
areas to see at first-hand how the quality of life is improving for
the farmers who now have secure occupations, are husbanding
different types of animals for food and, equally-importantly, are
now protecting the forest, wildlife and the watershed - in fact, the
environment as a whole - from any further degradation.
In Ubon Ratchathani, close by the border of Laos,
lies a natural forest called Dong Na Tham, a huge area covering some
50,000 rai (approx. 80 m sq. metres). The hardships and poverty of
the people in the surrounding villages had caused the villagers to
encroach on the natural reserve, with disastrous results to the
environment and ecology.
Based on His Majesty the King’s philosophy of a
“sufficiency economy”, the Queen initiated a number of
alternatives to the near-destitute farmers, with a most positive
change, both to the people’s lives and the surrounding
environment.
29
November 1999. Her Majesty the Queen conversing with the local
populace during a visit to Nong Kaen Village, Dong Luang District,
Mukdahan Province.
The Queen recently pointed out that, “The
forest is a water resource for the people. Without forests, or if we
keep destroying the trees, though we gain more land, we will lose
all water supply. The land...will become a desert. Forests should
exist to preserve life and water and maintain the rainfall which
helps us to a better living...”
These are just some of Her Majesty’s
initiatives which, over a lifetime of devotion and dedication to Her
people, have certainly improved the life of Her subjects.
This brief dedication could be summed up in Her
Majesty’s own words, emphasizing her humanity, goodwill and, not
the least, her humour. “Has HM the King encouraged you to
concentrate on work for the well-being of the people?” the Queen
was once asked in an interview. “He did not encourage me at all...
he ordered me to,” the Queen replied. “I will look after the
land and the farmers and you must look after their families,” the
King said.”
Happy Birthday Your Majesty from all of us at the
Pattaya Mail! |
