His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn was born on July 28, 1952, in the Ambara Villa of the Royal Dusit Palace in Bangkok. He is the second of four children, and is the only son of Their Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej the Great and Queen Sirikit.
The Crown Prince received his primary schooling at Udorn Hall of the Dusit Palace and attended secondary school in Sussex and Summerset, England. In August 1970, the Crown Prince attended the King’s School, Paramatta, Sydney, Australia and in 1976, he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Military Studies at the University of New South Wales. HRH the Crown Prince also attended the Royal Thai Army Command and General Staff College, graduating in 1978, and later received a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Sukhothai Thammatirat University in Bangkok in 1987. In 1990, he successfully attended the Royal College of Defense Studies in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Pattaya Mail Media Group joins the Kingdom of Thailand in humbly offering our best wishes to HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on the occasion of His Royal Birthday Celebration, July 28. (Photo courtesy Bureau of the Royal Household)
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej conferred his son with the title of “Somdech Phra Borama Orasadhiraj Chao Fah Maha Vajiralongkorn Sayam Makutrajakuman” on December 28, 1972, making him the Crown Prince and Heir to the throne.
HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn attended numerous military training courses in Australia and the United States, with observation tours in England, Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. A long list of military courses attended by the Crown Prince includes helicopter and high performance aircraft flight training, special warfare training, demolition training, parachute training, and courses in small arms and other weapons used in modern warfare.
Some assignments include Commanding Officer of the King’s Own Bodyguard Regiment and Command; Commanding General of the Royalty Security Command; and Instructor Pilot of the F-5 E/F. Intermittently, he engaged in actions for counter-insurgency purposes in the North and Northeast areas of Thailand as well as for protective purposes in areas around Cambodian refugee camps at Khao Lant, Trat Province.
HRH the Crown Prince opens the ceremonial curtain, to reveal the RVYC signboard inaugurating the new clubhouse in 2005.
The Crown Prince has continued the Royal Family’s assistance programs to underdeveloped areas around the country and visited depressed urban areas around Bangkok distributing food and necessity items to people in need. Another impressive undertaking was his participation in a fertilizer preparation project in Suphan Buri Province using natural ingredients to enrich the land in support of the country’s great agricultural pursuits. Farming is considered to be a highly significant and noble profession in Thailand and the Royal Family takes an active role in advancing the vital industry of agriculture.
HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and his Royal Consort Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasm are the proud parents of HRH Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, born on April 29, 2005, at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. It is the couple’s first child.
Also in 2005, HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn officially opened the splendid multi-million baht new Royal Varuna Yacht Club, built on its choice seaside property at Kasetsin Beach, South Pattaya. Before an assembled crowd of ministers, Royal Thai Navy officers, Palace and Pattaya City officials, and a large number of Royal Varuna members, including a number of past club commodores, HRH the Crown Prince activated the ceremonial curtain, revealing the Varuna logo, thus officially opening the club.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn goes through pre-flight preparations before takeoff on a special Buddhist Pilgrimage Flight he piloted to India.
In February 2010, HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and his Royal Consort Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasm personally donated one million baht to help quake-hit victims in the Caribbean country of Haiti. The donation was made via the “Sai Yai Rak Haeng Krob Krua (Family’s Bond of Love)” project under the royal patronage of HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn.
In March 2010, HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn showed his continued support of promoting Muay Thai as an Olympic sport when he granted an audience to officials in charge of promoting Muay Thai, offering guidance and encouraging them to continue their efforts.
Last year, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn graciously piloted a special Buddhist Pilgrimage Flight, departing Bangkok for Gaya, India on November 13, 2010, and attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Srirasm, Her Royal Highness Princess Bajarakitiyabha, and His Royal Highness Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti. Part of the proceeds from the special prices to be invited to be on this flight went to His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn’s Scholarship Foundation. Set up in 2009, this program was established to create scholarship opportunities for young Thai students with financial hardship but who attained exceptional academic performance in school and exhibited determination in learning, good behavior and morals. Qualifying students are granted scholarships for study in high school, undergraduate university education to earn a Bachelor’s Degree or the equivalent, and through to the highest level of post-graduate study. Students who are awarded this scholarship are considered the future of Thai society, whereby there is no commitment to pay back the equivalent value of scholarship through service. Two students (one of each gender) from each province who fit the criteria are selected. The first academic class in 2009 had 152 scholarship recipients, while the total currently throughout Thailand is at 300.
In April this year, HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and his Royal Consort HRH Princess Srirasm gave flood and mudslide victims utensils in Krabi’s Khao Phanom district. Some Bt700,000 of donated money from the Dipangkorn Rasmijoti Fund was spent to buy the utensils, while the rest was given to flood and mudslide victims in six districts of Krabi, including Khao Phanom.
The Pattaya Mail Media Group humbly joins the Kingdom of Thailand in offering our best wishes to HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on the occasion of His Royal Birthday Celebration, July 28.
