The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne in 1946 and was crowned as Rama IX in 1950, becoming the world’s longest-reigning monarch in 2016. Throughout his 70-year reign, he introduced great changes to his country with the ultimate goal to better the lives of his people regardless of their race, religion and socioeconomic status.
Against the backdrop a dramatically changing global landscape, King Bhumibol led his country by bringing change to needy areas nationwide and innovating to improve the well-being of millions of people, from the northernmost to the southernmost regions. His vision to change and innovate stands the test of time. It is a major part of the legacy he has left for us.
One of the first major changes our late monarch brought to people in Thailand had its origins in 1969 after he went to the hilltribe village of Ban Doi Pui near Bhubing Rajanives Palace in Chiang Mai province. King Bhumibol learned that the poverty-stricken hilltribe people in the village made a living by planting opium and persimmon. He also learned that the Doi Pui agricultural research station run by Kasetsart University had succeeded in producing a new variety of persimmon of better quality.
With this information in mind, King Bhumibol came up with the idea to replace opium cultivation in the northern mountains with cultivation of cool-climate fruits developed through agricultural research and experiments. He gave 200,000 baht as seed money to the agricultural research station to conduct more research on winter crops. The station, later known as the Royal Agricultural Station Angkhang, marked the beginning of more than 4,000 royal projects initiated by King Bhumibol. And the rest is history.
The change that King Bhumibol brought to the hilltribe people on Doi Pui nearly five decades ago has since transformed their lives in a way that they had never imagined. The story of the Doi Pui royal project exemplifies how change can turn life around for people, particularly the underprivileged, and drive success. We were blessed to have a leader like King Bhumibol to spearhead change in this country.
Furthermore, I believe there has been no monarch in the world who has innovated to solve problems for people the way King Bhumibol has done. He became known as the Father of Innovation in Thailand following his development of the klaeng din or “soil aggravation” initiative to tackle the serious problem of soil acidity, which had been holding back the development of agriculture in the southern regions of the country.
The Pikul Thong Royal Development Study Centre in Narathiwat province was later established to improve soil conditions, mainly by applying various techniques to de-acidify the soil, making it more suitable for growing crops. The klaeng din initiative has since been expanded to reduce soil acidity in farmland in other areas as well. In fact, there is no place on earth that has dealt with the problem of soil acidity as successfully as the Pikul Thong Royal Development Study Centre.
Perhaps the most famous innovation of King Bhumibol is the Chaipattana Aerator — the innovation that made him the first monarch in the world to be granted a patent. Developed to help reduce water pollution, the low-cost Chaipattana Aerator treats polluted water by adding oxygen to purify it. The aerator obtained a patent from the Department of Intellectual Property on Feb 2, 1993 and won a gold medal from the Belgian Chamber of Inventors at Brussels Eureka 2000, one of the world’s largest technology fairs, held in Brussels.
I have chosen to write about this topic to show you how King Bhumibol led this country through his dedication to change for the better. Throughout his seven-decade reign, he never stopped working for his people to bring about positive change with his creative and innovative ideas. We need more leaders with a vision for change like King Bhumibol to create a better world.
Thais will come together once again to bid our final farewell to the much-beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej during the Royal Cremation on Oct 26. May his life and work keep inspiring us and continue to be the guiding light to illuminate the future for us all.
Arinya Talerngsri is Chief Capability Officer and Managing Director at SEAC (formerly APMGroup) Southeast Asia's leading executive, leadership and innovation capability development centre. She can be reached by email at arinya_t@seasiacenter.com or www.linkedin.com/in/arinya-talerngsri-53b81aa
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