To celebrate the 150th anniversary to the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Savarindira, the Queen Grandmother of Thailand, and recognised by Unesco last year as one of the world's great personalities, a number of projects will be under way during the 12 months beginning today, the actually anniversary of the late queen's birth.
Queen Savang Vadhana, the Queen Grandmother.
First and foremost is a major fundraising drive that aims to overhaul the structure and operations of the Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital in Sriracha district, Chon Buri.
The Queen Grandmother, or Queen Savang Vadhana of the fifth reign, was a daughter of King Mongkut, Rama IV, and a half sister of King Chulalongkorn, Rama VI. Her life was beset with tragedy as six of her eight children passed away one after another, including Crown Prince Vajirunhis who died at the age of 17.
It was through her youngest son _ Prince Mahidol _ however, that her legacy lived on. Both of Prince Mahidol's sons became kings, namely King Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, and King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the present monarch.
A box set of commemorative medallions.
The Queen Grandmother lived a long and fruitful life, and contributed much to the welfare of the people. Her royal initiatives covered medicine and public health, education, culture and social welfare.
She initiated the first mobile medical unit that travelled around in ox carts, bringing medical personnel and treatment to villagers in remote areas. The Queen was also instrumental in setting up the Thai Red Cross Society, presiding on the committee until her death in 1955.
The seaside town of Sriracha became a retreat for her when her health suffered as a result of the deaths of her children. Realising that there was a need for a proper medical facility for the people, she established the Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital in 1902, originally named Somdetch Hospital by King Rama V. In its early days, it was a small two-storey structure built into the sea. Through the Queen Grandmother's own privy purse, the hospital was moved to its current location and gradually expanded.
After 110 years, however, the hospital is in need of major renovations. It is crowded, and its infrastructure is in a state of disrepair, with insufficient capacity and equipment in its treatment rooms, emergency and surgery units. The operations system is dated, and staff quarters are substandard. The hospital has been operating on a limited budget for decades.
To mark this auspicious anniversary of its founder, the Queen Savang Vadhana Foundation, chaired by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, has initiated a fundraising drive to make the hospital a leading medical hub in the eastern region. This comprises the construction of a new building that will be a general medical centre, a well-equipped emergency unit, and a centre for industrial medicine, at a cost of 3.5 billion baht.
Improving the infrastructure of the entire hospital _ its water treatment system, infectious waste furnaces, medical gas supplies, security systems, and other support buildings _ will require an additional 1.7 billion baht.
When combined with another 800 million baht for new medical equipment, the project is looking at a budget of 6 billion baht in total. The project will begin as soon as there is an available budget, and is estimated to take seven or eight years to complete.
Other projects to mark this special occasion are an exhibition on the Queen's life and achievements at the Unesco headquarters in Paris in November, as well as the Chicago History Museum from September next year to March 2014.
A series of books on the Queen's life will also be published, while the government will also issue a series of souvenir items including coins, medallions, postage stamps and other mementoes.
Small sets of medallions in individual silk envelopes.
The late Queen is escorted down the stairs at the Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital.
