Queen Sirikit, Thailand’s “Mother of the Nation,” Passes Away at 93

Thailand's Queen Mother Sirikit, revered for her humanitarian efforts and whose August 12 birthday is celebrated nationwide as Mother's Day, passed away on Friday at the age of 93 in a Bangkok hospital. The Royal Household Bureau announced that she had been battling a blood infection since October 17, with her condition deteriorating despite intensive medical intervention. Sirikit, who had withdrawn from public duties in recent years due to health concerns, leaves behind a legacy of compassion and cultural preservation. Her death comes eight years after that of her husband, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in 2016, and recent palace photos from her 88th birthday depicted her son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and other royals visiting her at Chulalongkorn Hospital, where she received long-term care.

Born Sirikit Kitiyakara on August 12, 1932, into Bangkok's aristocratic elite—the same year Thailand transitioned from absolute to constitutional monarchy—she was connected to the Chakri dynasty through both parents. Educated in wartime Bangkok amid Allied bombings, she later accompanied her diplomat father to France and studied music and languages in Paris, where at 16 she met the young Crown Prince Bhumibol. Their bond deepened after his near-fatal car accident, leading her to Switzerland to support his recovery; he wooed her with poetry and a composed waltz titled "I Dream of You". The couple wed in 1950, vowing at his coronation to "reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese people," and raised four children: King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Princesses Ubolratana, Sirindhorn, and Chulabhorn.

As queen consort, Sirikit transformed the monarchy's role from ceremonial to actively engaged in national welfare, particularly from the 1970s onwards amid rural poverty, opium issues in hill tribes, and a communist insurgency. With impeccable style and a penchant for global diplomacy, she and Bhumibol travelled extensively as goodwill ambassadors, forging ties with world leaders, before focusing domestically—conducting over 500 annual ceremonies and rural tours where villagers affectionately called her "daughter". She personally addressed thousands of petitions on matters from marital disputes to illnesses, bridging urban-rural divides. In a 1979 Associated Press interview, she reflected on countering perceptions of neglect toward countryside folk by immersing herself in remote areas, emphasising the monarchy's enduring "magic" in Thai society despite academic critiques of its relevance.

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Sirikit's initiatives, often personally supervised, championed sustainable development and cultural heritage, earning her the moniker "Green Queen". In 1976, she founded the SUPPORT Foundation to empower impoverished villagers through training in silk-weaving, jewellery, ceramics, and other vanishing crafts, boosting rural incomes while safeguarding traditions. Environmentally, she established wildlife centres, open zoos, sea turtle hatcheries, and projects like "Forest Loves Water" to highlight forest preservation's economic benefits. Though her influence drew scrutiny during Thailand's turbulent decades of military coups and protests—highlighted by her attendance at a demonstrator's funeral—her portraits adorned homes and offices nationwide, symbolising maternal benevolence. Her passing prompts national mourning, underscoring the monarchy's pivotal, if evolving, place in a nation grappling with modernisation and political flux.

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