His Majesty's Royal Development Projects
His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has dedicated himself to development work for the well-being of Thais since his accession to the throne as a constitutional monarch. His first project fifty years ago was the construction of a road and a water reservoir in Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. Since then His Majesty's development projects have increased to more than 1,800 in number. The development projects cover these areas :
1) agriculture 2) environment 3) public health; 4) occupational promotion; 5) water resources development; 6) communications; and 7) social welfare and others.
At present, there are six Royal development centres located in different regions of the country. They serve as `demonstration models' and provide a `one stop service' which His Majesty called `A Living Natural Museum'. They also serve as coordinating points for various government agencies and the staff of the development projects.
The royally-initiated development projects have increased in number, creating the need for effective coordination of the government agencies concerned. Subsequently, a special committee called `The Royal Development Projects Board' was set up and chaired by the Prime Minister. The Office under the committee has the responsibility to implement, supervise, monitor and coordinate all Royal development activities.
The Royal development projects can be classified as :Projects in Keeping with His Majesty's Wishes They are projects that His Majesty the King implements and in which he conducts study, and experiments himself. They are based on the recommendations of experts and use his private funds. Once the projects have yielded satisfactory results, His Majesty passes them on to the government for further development.
Royal Projects They are private projects of Their Majesties the King and Queen, such as the crop substitution project and the preservation of watershed areas in the North. The crop substitution project has the objectives of stopping opium cultivation, deforestation and slash and burn methods used by the hilltribes. His Majesty has given advice and assistance to hilltribes on how to plant cool climate fruits and flowers, which yield a better income.
Royally - Initiated Projects They are projects which His Majesty initiates and then gives advice on to government agencies concerning necessary studies and implementation.
Projects under His Majesty's Patronage They are projects on which His Majesty gives advice and guidelines to the private sector which implements them using its own funds, technical and human resources.
These projects are : the Thai Encyclopeadia Project for Youth, the Dictionary Project; and the Din Daeng Cooperative Village Development Project
Most of His Majesty's development projects concern `water' : water for agricultural use, water for consumption, improvement of water quality, building water communication routes, prevention and treatment of water pollution and the increase of the water level in the Bhumibol and Sirikit dams for generating electricity.
His invention of rain making technology was a result of his concern about water shortage problems and the drought situation in the Northeastern areas. Another invention by His Majesty was an aerator, an oxygen-filling waste water treatment machine. This type of machine is called "The Chaipattana Aerator", one of the nine machines of this type to be patented in the world.
Condensed from "His Majesty the King Reigning in the Hearts of His Subjects" published by the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board