Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927) was declared king of Thailand in 1946 and formally crowned four years later. He represented the Chakri Dynasty that has preserved the independence of Thailand for more than 200 years.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, born on December 5, 1927, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is the only Thai monarch ever to be born abroad. He was the youngest son of Prince Mahidol of Songkhla, and the direct grandson of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), noted for the widespread reforms he introduced into Thailand.