Ananda Mahidol ( th, พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรมหาอานันทมหิดล; ; 20 September 1925 – 9 June 1946), posthumous reigning title Phra Athamaramathibodin ( th, พระอัฐมรามาธิบดินทร), was the eighth
monarch of Siam (1935-1939) and Thailand (1939-1946) from the
Chakri dynasty as Rama VIII. At the time he was recognised as king by the
National Assembly in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in December 1945, but six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed. Although at first thought to have been an accident, his death was ruled a murder by medical examiners, and three royal
pages were later executed following very irregular trials. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death have been the subject of much controversy.
Name
"Ananda Mahidol" ( th, อานันทมหิดล) is one word in Thai and is his given name. King
Vajiravudh, his uncle, sent a telegram on 13 October 1925 giving him this name. It is pronounced "Ananta Mahidon" and means "the joy of
Mahidol". When he held his birth rank of
Mom Chao
The precedence of Thai royalty follows a system of ranks known as ''thanandon'' ( th, ฐานันดร), which are accompanied by royal titles.
The Sovereign
There are two styles which can be used for a king in ordinary speech, depending on ...
—the lowest rank of Thai princes—he used the surname "Mahidol", his father's given name. His full name and title was thus, "Mom Chao Ananda Mahidol Mahidol" ( th, หม่อมเจ้าอานันทมหิดล มหิดล).
With his accession, he became known as "Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua Ananda Mahidol" ( th, สมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัวอานันทมหิดล). Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua is the title of a Thai king prior to coronation.
After his death, King Bhumibol Adulyadej posthumously renamed him to elevate his title equal to a crowned king. He was posthumously renamed again in 1996, this time into an auspiciously long name similar to the name of King
Mongkut,
Chulalongkorn,
Vajiravudh, and
Prajadhipok. Nowadays, Thais refer to him officially as "Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha Ananda Mahidol Phra Atthama Ramathibodindara" ( th, พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรมหาอานันทมหิดลฯ พระอัฐมรามาธิบดินทร);
RTGS: ''—Ananthamahidon Phra Atthamaramathibodin''), an abbreviation of his name given in 1996.
Early life
Prince Ananda Mahidol was born in
Heidelberg, Germany. He was the first son of Prince
Mahidol Adulyadej of Songkla (son of King
Rama V
Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...
) and
Mom Sangwan
Sangwan is a surname of Indian origin.
Notable people with the name include:
*Kishan Singh Sangwan (born 1948), Indian politician, member of the 14th Lok Sabha
*Pradeep Sangwan
Pradeep Sangwan (born 5 November 1990) is an Indian cricketer, ...
(last title Somdej Phra Sri Nakarindhara Borommaratchachonnani) who were studying there at the time. He was the first Thai King to be born outside of the country.
He went with his parents to
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
, and then to
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
, when in 1927, his uncle, King
Prajadhipok, issued a royal edict elevating him to the higher princely class of
Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao (this edict also benefited other "Mom Chao" who were the children of
Chao Fa
Chao-Pha (; Tai Ahom: 𑜋𑜧𑜨 𑜇𑜡, th, เจ้าฟ้า}, shn, ၸဝ်ႈၾႃႉ, translit=Jao3 Fa5 Jao3 Fa5, my, စော်ဘွား ''Sawbwa,'' ) was a royal title used by the hereditary rulers of the Tai peoples of ...
and their commoner wives, among them his elder sister Mom Chao
Galyani Vadhana and his younger brother who was born later that year
Phra Worawong Ther Phra Ong Chao Bhumibol Adulyadej).
The family returned to Thailand in 1928 after Prince Mahidol finished his medical studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. Prince Mahidol died at age 37 in 1929, when Ananda Mahidol was just four years old. His widowed mother was thus left to raise her family alone.
He briefly attended
Debsirin School in Bangkok before the
revolution in 1932 ended the absolute monarchy and raised the possibility that King
Prajadhipok might abdicate.
Queen Savang Vadhana, his grandmother, was concerned about Prince Ananda Mahidol's safety, since he was one of the likely heirs to the throne. It was then suggested that Mom Sangwal and her children return to
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
, and when they did so in 1933, the official reason given was for the health and further education of the princes.
Prince Ananda Mahidol spent most of his youth in Switzerland. However, when King Prajadhipok's abdication appeared imminent, the prince's mother was approached by a member of the government, asking for her opinion about Ananda Mahidol succeeding as monarch.
Circumstances of succession
King
Prajadhipok (
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
VII) abdicated in 1935 due to political quarrels with the new quasi-democratic government as well as health problems. The king decided to abstain from exercising his prerogative to name a successor to the throne. By that time, the crown had already passed from Prince Mahidol's line to that of his half-brother's when his eldest full brother,
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
Maha
Vajirunhis, died as a teenager during King
Chulalongkorn's reign. A half-brother, Prince
Vajiravudh (as the next eldest) replaced Prince Vajirunhis as the crown prince. He eventually succeeded to the throne in 1910 as King Rama VI. In 1924 the king instituted the
Palace Law of Succession in order to govern subsequent successions. The law gave priority to the children of his mother Queen Regent
Saovabha Phongsri over the children of King Chulalongkorn's two other royal wives. The law was enacted on the death of King Vajiravudh in 1925 and the crown passed to his youngest brother, Prince
Prajadhipok of
Sukhothai.
Offering the throne to Prince
Prajadhipok was not without a debate. In doing so, another candidate was bypassed: Prince
Chula Chakrabongse
Chula Chakrabongse ( th, จุลจักรพงษ์; ; 28 March 1908 – 30 December 1963), was a member of the family of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand and of the House of Chakkraphong. He was the only child of Prince Chakrabongse Bhuva ...
, son of the late Field Marshal Prince
Chakrabongse Bhuvanath of
Phitsanulok
Phitsanulok ( th, พิษณุโลก, ) is an important, historic city in lower northern Thailand and is the capital of Phitsanulok Province. Phitsanulok is home to Naresuan University and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, as well a ...
, who before his death had been the heir-apparent to King
Vajiravudh. It was questioned whether the Succession Law enacted by King Vajiravudh actually barred Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanath (and for that matter, Prince Chula Chakrabongse) from succession on the grounds that he married a foreigner (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
). However, his marriage had taken place before this law was enacted and had been endorsed by King Chulalongkorn himself. There was no clear resolution, but in the end the many candidates were passed over and Prince Prajadhipok was enthroned.
When King Prajadhipok later abdicated, since he was the last remaining son of Queen Saovabha, the crown went back to the sons of the queen whose rank was next to hers: Queen
Savang Vadhana, mother of the late Crown Prince Vajirunahis. Besides the late crown prince, she had two more sons who survived to adulthood: Prince Sommatiwongse Varodaya of
Nakhon Si Thammarat, who had died without a son in 1899, and Prince Mahidol who, although deceased, had two living sons. It thus appeared that Prince Ananda Mahidol would be the first person in the royal line of succession.
Nevertheless, the same debate over the half-foreign Prince Chula Chakrabongse occurred again. It was argued that King Vajiravudh had virtually exempted the prince's father from the ban in the Succession Law, and the crown might thus be passed to him.
However, since the kingdom was now governed under a constitution, it was the
cabinet that would decide. Opinion was split on the right to succession of Prince Chula Chakrabongse. A key figure was
Pridi Phanomyong, who persuaded the cabinet that the Law should be interpreted as excluding the prince from succession, and that Prince Ananda Mahidol should be the next king. It also appeared more convenient for the government to have a monarch who was only nine years old and studying in Switzerland. On 2 March 1935, Prince Ananda Mahidol was elected by the National Assembly and the Thai government to succeed his uncle, King
Prajadhipok, as the eighth king of the Chakri dynasty.
Reign
As the new king was still a child and was still studying in Switzerland, the National Assembly appointed Colonel Prince Anuwatjaturong, Lieutenant Commander Prince
Aditya Dibabha, and
Chao Phraya Yommaraj (Pun Sukhum) as his regents.
In 1938, at age thirteen, Ananda Mahidol visited Siam for the first time as its monarch. The king was accompanied during his visit by his mother and his younger brother,
Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram was prime minister at the time and during most of Ananda Mahidol's brief reign (Pibulsonggram is remembered for being a military dictator and for changing the name of the country from Siam to
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
in 1939).
World War II
On 8 December 1941, Thailand was invaded by Japan. Despite fierce fighting in Southern Thailand, the fighting lasted only five hours before ending in a ceasefire. Thailand and Japan then formed an alliance making Thailand part of the Axis alliance until the end of World War II. King Ananda was away from the country, as he had returned to Switzerland to complete his studies, and
Pridi Phanomyong served as regent in his absence. From 24 January 1942,
Thailand became a formal ally of the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...
and a member of the
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
* Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
. Under
Plaek Pibunsonggram, Thailand declared war on the
Allied powers. The regent refused to sign the declaration and it was thus legally invalid. Many members of the Thai government, including the Siamese embassy in Japan, acted as ''de facto'' spies in the
Seri Thai underground on the side of the Allies, funnelling secret information to British intelligence and the US
Office of Strategic Services. By 1944, it was apparent that Japan was going to lose the war.
Bangkok suffered heavily from the Allied bombing raids. These, plus economic hardships, made the war and the government of Plaek Pibunsonggram very unpopular. In July, Plaek Pibunsonggram was ousted by the
Seri Thai-infiltrated government. The National Assembly reconvened and appointed the liberal lawyer
Khuang Aphaiwong prime minister. Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, and Allied military responsibility for Thailand fell to Britain.
Post-war
Only after the end of World War II could Ananda Mahidol return to Thailand. He returned for a second visit in December 1945 with a degree in law. Despite his youth and inexperience, he quickly won the hearts of the Thai people, who had continued to revere the monarchy through the upheavals of the 1930s and 1940s. The Thai were delighted to have their king amongst them once again. One of his well-remembered activities was a highly successful visit to
Bangkok's Chinatown
Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. It was founded in 1782 when the city was established as the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, and served as the home of the mainly Teochew immigrant Chinese population, who ...
Sampheng Lane (), which was intended to defuse the post-war tensions that lingered between Bangkok's ethnic
Chinese and
Thai people.
Foreign observers, however, believed that Ananda Mahidol did not want to be king and felt his reign would not last long.
Louis Mountbatten, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, the British commander in Southeast Asia, visited Bangkok in January 1946 and described the king as "a frightened, short-sighted boy, his sloping shoulders and thin chest behung with gorgeous diamond-studded decorations, altogether a pathetic and lonely figure". At a public function, Mountbatten wrote: "
s nervousness increased to such an alarming extent, that I came very close to support him in case he passed out".
Death
On 9 June 1946, the king was found shot dead in his bedroom in the Boromphiman Throne Hall (a modern residential palace located in the
Grand Palace), only four days before he was scheduled to return to Switzerland to finish his doctoral degree in law at the
University of Lausanne.
Events of 9 June 1946
Keith Simpson, pathologist to the British
Home Office and founding chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at
Guy's Hospital in London, performed a forensic analysis of the king's death and recounted the following sequence of events on the morning of 9 June 1946:
* 06:00: Ananda was awakened by his mother.
* 07:30: His
page
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
, But Patthamasarin, came on duty and began preparing a breakfast table on a balcony adjoining the king's dressing room.
* 08:30: But Patthamasarin saw the king standing in his dressing room. He brought the king his customary glass of orange juice a few minutes later. However, by then the king had gone back to bed and refused the juice.
* 08:45: The king's other page, Chit Singhaseni, appeared, saying he had been called to measure the King's medals and decorations on behalf of a jeweller who was making a case for them.
* 09:00: Prince
Bhumibol Adulyadej visited King Ananda. He said afterwards that he had found the king dozing in his bed.
* 09:20: A single shot rang out from the king's bedroom. Chit Singhaseni ran in and then ran out along the corridor to the apartment of the king's mother, crying "The King's shot himself!" The king's mother followed Chit Singhaseni into the king's bedroom and found the king lying face up in bed, bloodied from a wound to the head.
Aftermath
An initial radio announcement on 9 June surmised that the king was accidentally killed while toying with his pistol.
Soon after the death, the
Democrat Party spread rumours that left-wing prime minister
Pridi Banomyong was behind the death.
[Sulak Sivaraksa, "Powers That Be: Pridi Banomyong through the rise and fall of Thai democracy", 1999.]
Following the change of prime minister, in October 1946, a Commission of Inquiry reported that the king's death could not have been accidental, but that neither suicide nor murder was satisfactorily proved.
In November 1947, Field Marshal
Plaek Pibulsonggram staged a coup against the elected government of Pridi, appointed Democrat Party leader Khuang Aphaiwong as Prime Minister, and ordered a trial. King Ananda's secretary, Senator Chaleo Patoomros, and the pages, But and Chit, were arrested and charged with conspiracy to murder the king. After the coup, former Prime Minister Luang Thamrong privately confided to US Ambassador
Edwin F. Stanton that the evidence gathered during investigations of the regicide implicated King Bhumibol in the late king's death.
The trial began in August 1948. Prior to the trial, Pibulsonggram admitted to U.S. Ambassador Edwin F. Stanton that he was doubtful that the trial would resolve the mystery of Ananda Mahidol's death.
The prosecution's case was supported by 124 witnesses and such voluminous documentary evidence that defence counsel asked for an adjournment to give them time to consider it. When this was refused the counsel resigned, and new counsel was found. Later, two of the defence counsel were arrested and charged with treason. Of the remaining two, one resigned, leaving only a single young lawyer for the defence, Fak Na Songkhla. Towards the end of the case he was joined by Chaleo Patoomros's daughter, who had just graduated.
The lengthy trial finally ended in May 1951. The court ruled that King Ananda had been assassinated, but that Chaleo had not been proved guilty and that neither of the pages could have fired the fatal shot. However, they found Chit guilty of being party to the crime. The charges against Chaleo and But were dismissed and they were released.
Chit appealed against his conviction, and the prosecution appealed against the acquittal of Chaleo and But. After fifteen months of deliberation the Appeals Court dismissed Chit's appeal, and also found But guilty.
Chit and But appealed to the Supreme Court, which deliberated for ten more months before finally upholding both convictions, and this time convicting Chaleo as well.
The three men's petitions for clemency were rejected by King Rama IX (Bhumibol Adulyadej) on 17 February 1955 and they were executed by firing squad the next day.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej later said that he did not believe they were guilty.
The King was cremated at Royal Crematorium,
Sanam Luang
Sanam Luang ( th, สนามหลวง, ; lit: 'royal turf') is a open field and public square in front of Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand. Sanam Luang is in the Phra Nakhon District, the historic center of Bangkok ...
, Bangkok, Thailand on 29 March 1950, four years after his death.
Alternative explanations of the death
The king's death is still seen as a mystery. The subject is never openly discussed in Thailand in the mainstream media, though the subject is not taboo and numerous books have been written about it in Thai. All the principals known to be related in any way to the death are now deceased.
Bhumibol Adulyadej
On 15 June 1946, American
Chargé d'affaires Charles Yost met with Foreign Minister
Direk Jayanama, who had just had an audience with the new king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. In his report to the US State Department, Yost noted,
King Bhumiphol... informed the Foreign Minister that he considered the idely circulatedrumors n the late King's deathabsurd, that he knew his brother well and that he was certain that his death had been accidental... What the King said to Direk does not necessarily represent what he really believes, it is nevertheless interesting that he made so categorical a statement to the Foreign Minister.
In 1948, Pinit Intaratood, who had just been appointed as the police officer in charge, went to the Villa Vadhana in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
to question King Bhumibol. During the inquiry, the king looked gloomy, so Pinit decided to ask for forgiveness. The king was smiling and says:
However, in a 1980
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary, Bhumibol stated that although the court ruled that the death was 'proven' not an accident, "one doesn't know." He noted in English:
, a prominent conservative and monarchist, wrote that Pridi's role in the event was he protected a wrongdoing royal, and prevented an arrest of a person who destroyed the evidence.
He wrote a Facebook post in 2015 claiming: "in truth, the murderer of King Rama VIII is not Pridi Banomyong. That person is still alive, even though not intending in doing so."
spread rumours that Pridi was behind the death. Yost noted in a US State Department communication:
After overthrowing Pridi Banomyong in a coup, Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram told US Ambassador Edwin Stanton that he "personally doubted whether Pridi was directly involved for two reasons: firstly, ... Pridi is a very clever politician and secondly, ... he has a 'kind heart'." Pibul concluded to the Ambassador that "he did not think
would cause anybody to be murdered. Pibul's wife, present in the meeting, seconded her husband's observations. However, Pibul noted that it was possible that Pridi had covered up or destroyed some of the evidence to protect the successor, Bhumibol Adulyadej.
, a forensic pathologist who investigated the king's death, found it highly unlikely that the death was due to suicide, noting that:
*The pistol was found by the king's left hand, but he was right-handed.
*The direction of bullet fired was not inward towards the centre of the head.
*The wound, over the left eye, was not in one of the elective sites, nor a "contact" discharge.
*The king was killed while lying flat on his back. Simpson noted that in twenty years' experience he had never known of any suicide shooting while lying flat on the back.
's ''The Revolutionary King'', written with the co-operation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This account exculpates those executed and suggests that Ananda Mahidol was murdered by
. Masanobu was a former Japanese intelligence officer who had been active in Thailand during the war and, at the time of Ananda Mahidol's death, was hiding out in Thailand for fear of being prosecuted for his war crimes.
Stevenson's account is that Ananda Mahidol could not have killed himself, either by suicide or by accident. He was found lying on his back in his bed, not wearing his glasses, without which he was almost blind. He had a small bullet wound in his forehead and a somewhat larger exit wound in the back of his head. His pistol, an
given him by a former US Army officer, was not nearby. The M1911 is not especially prone to accidental discharge; it will fire only if considerable pressure is applied to the
at the back of the butt at the same time as the trigger is depressed. It is a heavy pistol and awkward to use by an untrained person. It would have been almost impossible for Ananda Mahidol, a frail 20-year-old, to lie on his back and shoot himself in the forehead with such a weapon. Had he done so, the impact, according to forensics experts, would have blown his skull apart, not caused the small wounds seen by many witnesses. Stevenson writes that no cartridge case was found, and subsequent inquiries ordered by King Bhumibol, but suppressed by later governments, found that the Colt had not been fired.
Another account, which concluded that Ananda Mahidol's death was the result of suicide, was explored by journalist
''.
The book is banned in Thailand. However, a website by a Thai writer has provided a summary of Kruger's arguments, and it links to other material about the death. Kruger, who had unprecedented access to members of the inner circle of the Thai royal family (although these contacts had to remain unidentified), drew the conclusion that Ananda's death was most probably an 'accidental suicide'. Thus, said Kruger, it appears the sad, most likely accidental, death of the young king was exploited for the purposes of a political vendetta, and that three innocent victims were executed to maintain the façade.
Paul Handley, author of a biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, wrote that either suicide or an accidental shooting by Prince Bhumibol was responsible for the king's death: "I have no idea whether Ananda shot himself or was killed by Bhumibol, the two possibilities most accepted among historians. If the latter, I clearly term it an accident that occurred in play".