IT IS well known that His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away on October 13, spent much of his childhood and adolescence in Switzerland. In all the King lived in Switzerland for 17 years and always regarded the alpine country as his second home.
The longest reigning monarch in the world, the King had a deep love for his country and for all Thai people. He was not just a man of ideas but worked hard and continuously to put his ideas into practice for the benefit of his subjects. His belief that the development of the country was based on human empowerment has been reflected over the years through countless exhibitions of photos, letters and postcards.
Now a new documentary is looking back on his early days as a child in Switzerland. Produced by the Government Savings Bank, “Following His Majesty the King’s Footsteps in Switzerland” is a series of 30 five-minute episodes that will start to air on the MCOT Channel on November 14 every Monday to Friday at 8.55am.
The bank is also holding a photo exhibition under the same name until November 15 on the fourth floor of Central Embassy. It features photographs of His Majesty the King, the Princess Mother, and other Mahidol family members during their 17 years in Switzerland, most of which have not been shown to the public before. The exhibition also explores His Majesty’s work in his early years, reflecting his intentions and ideas behind various projects.
Several VIPs turned out for Tuesday’s opening ceremony including GSB president Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office ML Panadda Diskul, and the Swiss ambassador to Thailand Ivo Siebar.
In his speech, ML Panadda spoke at the grief of the Thai people at their loss and, on a lighter note, mentioned how impressed his late father has been during his tenure as ambassador to Switzerland at the way the Princess Mother ensured the young royals enjoyed an ordinary childhood.
Chatchai added that the documentary had been produced to express deepest gratitude to His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
“The exhibition also featurse rare pictures of important places where the King used to reside and what they look like today. These best portray the places that groomed our beloved King in his childhood.”
The documentary features images of His Majesty registering for class at University of Lausanne and the wooden piano at the Thai Embassy in Bern, which graced the family home from April 1934 to July 1935. It also looks at the background of the Chitralada School milk project, which was inspired by his childhood experience in the Canton of Vaud, where free milk was given to children.
The Princess Mother took her young family to Switzerland in 1933. At the Royal residence, Villa Vadhana, near Lake Geneva in Lausance, the young princes and princess grew up surrounded by fresh clean air; snow-topped mountains, green hills, and the quiet lake. They cycled to school and explored the countryside.
“The years of education shaped the young people’s wisdom and experience. They went to the market on the weekends, they participated in the traditional school holiday camp which took the students skiing for one week. They travelled on the train,” Siebar said.
“In Switzerland the passing of His Majesty has deeply touched and saddened all friends of Thailand and particularly the sizeable number of Thais living in my home country.
“Switzerland was truly honoured to be the home of His Majesty and his family. The impression that His Majesty left is lasting and his testimony can be found in numerous places – at school, at the University of Lausanne, where he pursued his studies and in the Thai Pavilion on the shore of the lake of Geneva. The bonds were further strengthened when His Majesty the King returned to Switzerland with Her Majesty the Queen in 1960 on a state visit.”
“His Majesty spent quite a few years during the Second World War in Switzerland. Travelling was restricted and supplies were rationed. Even though Switzerland wasn’t involved in the fighting, it was a difficult time. I think that also shaped his thinking. We see a lot of similarities in His Majesty’s sufficiency economy and how we have developed out country, empowering people and making sure that the population is given viable opportunities to earn a living,” he says.