Portal:Monarchy/Selected king/8
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thai: ภูมิพลอดุลยเดช; IPA: [pʰuːmipʰon adunjadeːt]; Royal Institute: Phumiphon Adunyadet; listen ) (born Monday, December 5, 1927 in the Year of the Rabbit), is the current King of Thailand. Publicly acclaimed "the Great" (Thai: มหาราช, Maharaja), he is also known as Rama IX. Having reigned since June 9, 1946, he is the world's longest-serving current head of state and the longest-serving monarch in Thai history.Although Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch, he has several times made decisive interventions in Thai politics, including the 2005-2006 Thai political crisis. He was credited with facilitating Thailand's transition to democracy in the 1990s, although in earlier periods of his reign he supported some military regimes. Most recently, he endorsed the military junta which had overthrown the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra during the September 2006 coup. A billionare, Bhumibol used part of his great wealth to fund over 3,000 development projects, particularly in rural areas. He is immensely popular in Thailand, and is revered as a semi-divine figure by a number of Thais.Bhumibol was born in the United States and educated primarily in Switzerland. Bhumibol is also an accomplished musician, artist, and sailor.Bhumibol was born at the Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. He was the younger son of HRH Prince Mahidol Adulyadej and Mom Sangwal (later Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara Boromaratchachonnani).
