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| Queen Sirikit on a visit to Russia in 2007 |
On August 12, 2012, Queen Sirikit of Thailand will turn 80 years old. Thailand will celebrate her birthday with the usual fireworks and government sponsored celebrations. Queen Sirikit and her husband King Bhumibol Adulyadej will perform religious rites according to the Buddhist and Brahmin traditions. The majority of the nation will celebrate, not because it is customary, but because most of the people of Thailand genuinely wish to honor their king and queen for what they have done for the people and the nation for over 60 years. King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit have earned the honor and love of the people through hard work and dedication to the welfare of the Thai people from all walks of life and in every corner of the nation, even the remote border areas.
Queen Sirikit, just 17 years old, married young king Bhumibol when she was known as just Princess Sirikit Kitiyakara, the daughter of the Thai Ambassador to France.
Most westerners have the idea that kings and queens spend their time on thrones surrounded by adoring sycophants who immediately fulfill their every wish; or they have the impression that royals jet-set here and there to Monte Carlo or other exotic and exclusive resorts. For the king and queen of Thailand, nothing could be further from the truth. From the time the new 17 year old bride of the king returned with him to Thailand, Queen Sirikit has lived a life of dedication to the social and cultural development of her people. Both have spent many days in remote mountain and border provinces where the poorest of the poor scratch out a living from the forests and upland rice and garden plots.
I personally have been with both the king and queen while they were visiting their development projects in mountain villages. I have sat on a bamboo floor and watched Queen Sirikit, also seated on the bamboo floor, spend hours without a break, speaking to women about their problems and hopes and dreams, while inspecting their needlework or hand-made and hand-dyed traditional silks produced under her sponsorship. I have walked with the king, visibly worn out from visiting a remote village high in the mountains in order to talk to village elders.
One time King Bhumibol encouraged my wife Gloria and me to learn to pace ourselves. He said, “Remember, the mountain will always be there.” For the king and queen, the mountain of their responsibilities has always been there – and continues to be there. They have only been successful in continuing to combat poverty and ignorance because they have learned to pace themselves. Recently the king and queen took a boat trip up the Chao Praya River to inspect flood damage to villagers’ homes. This is only the second time that the king, now 86, has left the hospital to continue what he does best; inspect the problems of the people at the grassroots level and find solutions. Queen Sirikit is always at his side and uses these visits to discover more about the problems facing the wives, mothers and children of the disaster struck areas. It is teamwork at its best. And they have been doing this together for over 60 years.
It is abundantly clear that they care for their people more than they care for themselves. When other monarchs may have retired to rest themselves in old age, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit continue to serve the people as long as they have the strength to do so.
So, now Queen Sirikit turns 80 and I don’t think she is considering retirement. How can she when the mountain is still there? She is a wonderful example of servant leadership. She may be slowing down – but she never stops chipping away at the mountain. We can all learn from her example.
Leon Sexton
Chiang Mai, Thailand.
