HM the King

Royal review

Photo courtesy of Bangkok Post

Ask any Thai national about the King, and they will all say that they love His Majesty and know pretty much everything about him. On the auspicious occasion of His Majesty the King�s 80th birthday, let�s find out some things you may not know about our great King.

His Majesty the King studied at Mater Dei School in Bangkok when he was 5 years old.

His Majesty the King used to study science at the Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland, but had to switch his major to Political Science and Law to prepare himself to be King.

His Majesty the King is short-sighted, so he started wearing glasses when he was 9 years old.

His Majesty the King has been interested in the principles of forestry, soil conservation and irrigation since he was 10 years old.

During World War II, His Majesty the King regularly rode a bicycle as a means of transport, because of the serious shortage of fuel.

On October 4, 1948, His Majesty the King had a major car accident near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. He was driving a car that crashed into a truck.

On October 22, 1956 His Majesty the King entered the monkhood at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew) and spent 15 days in the monkhood at Wat Borvornnives Wiharn. During that time, he was named Bhumibalo Bhikku.

His Majesty the King and his family moved from his residence at the Grand Palace to Chitrlada Palace in 1957.

His Majesty the King has composed more than 40 songs, mostly jazz. �Saeng Tien (Candle Blues)� was his first blues song.

His Majesty the King was proclaimed the Great Maharaj by popular accord on May 5, 1987.

His Majesty the King surpassed King V as the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history on July 2, 1988.

Kings and queens from 29 countries around the world were invited to Thailand�s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King�s accession to the throne in June 2005.

Exercises

1. Where did His Majesty the King and his family move from in 1957?

2. When did His Majesty the King start wearing glasses?
a. When His Majesty the King was 10 years old.
b. When His Majesty the King was 9 years old.
c. After the car accident.

3. Why did His Majesty the King switch his major to Political Science and Law?

	auspicious (adj): showing signs that something is likely to be successful in the future short-sighted (adj): able to see things clearly only if they are very close to you irrigation (n): the act of supplying water to an area of land through pipes or channels so that crops will grow compose (v): to write music proclaim (v): to publicly and officially tell people about something important