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people. King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit are follow–
ers and upholders of the Buddhist faith, yet perhaps no
finer examples could be found of Jesus' admonition
that "he who will be greatest among you should be
servant of all ."
They
serve!
Each year, the Royal Family travels thousands of
miles, by plane, helicopter, jeep and on foot to every
comer of their large kingdom. His Majesty tries to
spend as much t ime as possible meeting and listening
to the people who are the grass roots of Thai society–
the peasant farmers who form 80 percent of the popu–
lation. He makes it a point to visit even the remotest
areas of the kingdom, appraising himself of the needs
of even the humblest of his subjects. During their
reign, the King and Queen have initiated hundreds of
projects aimed at educat–
ing and improving the
well-be ing of all Thai
people. The King has met
much of the ex pense of
these projects from his
personal funds.
His Majesty's projects
are not designed t o
impress visitors and en–
bance prestige. There are
no monuments to vanity
that have so often been
the legacy of rulers trying
to impress. Neither does
the King encourage in–
dustrialization for its own
sake. He is not against
modernization, for he is
well acquainted with the
Western world an d its
ways. He was born in the
United States and com–
pleted his formal ed uca–
tion in Switzerland.
King Bhumibol care–
fully monitors his coun–
try's progress. As the
wealth of Thai land lies in
its land, it is to the land
that the King directs his
people's attention. His royal projects ar.e aJways care–
fully planned to fill a genuine need. Many developing
nations would do well to copy the Thai example, before
they collapse completely under self-imposed burdeos in
their efforts to catch up with the industriaJized world.
The King's projects range from irrigation of the dry
northeast of the country to flood prevention in the
south. They focus on agricultura! and animal husban–
dry projects that teach Thai farmers how to increase
productivity without abandoning traditional methods.
Farmers in one area, for example, were too poor to
own a water buffalo-essential for tilling the rice pad–
dies. King Bhumibol initiated a water buffalo "bank,"
that would loan a buffalo to a farmer until his plowing
was done. Another project introduced improved strains
of fish into the canals and waterways that bring water to
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the fields, thus providing an additionaJ supply of food.
Agricultura! research is even carried out within the
Palace grounds in Bangkok. The King will personaJly
plant rice grains selected for their s trength and hardi–
ness. The harvested seed g rains are sent to farmers
throughout the nation.
The King will often pay a personal visit to regions
where crops fail. Practica! help always follows, and the
King often makes a follow-up visit to be sure the
problem is solved.
The Queen serves alongside her husband. She is the
innovator of many projects designed to revive and
improve Thai art and handicrafts. She stresses respect
for traditional methods along with top quality work–
manship. In this way H er Majesty has fostered a
renewed interest in her
people's unique talents.
One of the most far
reaching and innovative
undertakings initiated by
the Royal couple are the
Royal Highland Hilltribe
projects.
The Hilltribes of
northern Thai land are
ethnically different from
the Thai people. They
have different languages,
customs and religion, and
have not had much social
contact with the lowland
Thai population.
U p until the middle of
the 1950s, little attention
was paid to these nomadic
tribesmen. But since
then , the government
found it necessary to con–
cero themselves with
these simple mountain
peoples for three impor–
tant reasons:
Fir st, they used a
des tructive method of
agriculture known as slash
and burn. ln a selected sec–
tion of mountain rain forest, the trees are slashed or cut
down and burned. This not only clears the Jand for
cultivation, but also provides ash tbat gives additionaJ
nutrients to the soil. Crops are tben planted and har–
vested repeatedly until the soil is exhausted five or seven
years later. The tribe then moves on to slash and burn
another area. Through slash and burn, Thailand's vast
teak forests and the land on which they stood were being
ruined. As the Hilltribe populations increased, more and
more upland forest land was destroyed . This caused a
change in the watershed patterns, which disrupted the
lowland rice cultivation and caused flooding.
Second, in the later part of the 1950s, rebel groups
began infiltrating the mountain regions of Thailand,
posing a potential threat to security as they attempted
to influence the Hilltribes.
The
PLAIN TRUTH