QUEEN Sirikit, Thailand’s revered queen mother and widow of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, has died at the age of 93.
AP reported on Saturday that the Royal Household Bureau said she passed away on Friday in a Bangkok hospital, where she had been receiving treatment for a blood infection since 17 October. Despite the efforts of her medical team, her condition did not improve.
Sirikit, who had largely withdrawn from public life in recent years due to ill health, was one of Thailand’s most beloved figures. Her portrait adorned homes, offices and public buildings across the kingdom, and her birthday on 12 August was celebrated nationally as Mother’s Day.
Born in Bangkok on 12 August 1932 into an aristocratic family connected to the Chakri dynasty, Sirikit Kitiyakara came of age during a transformative period for Thailand, as the country shifted from absolute monarchy to constitutional rule.
Educated in wartime Bangkok and later in France, where her father served as ambassador, she met the young King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Paris at the age of 16.
Their friendship deepened when the king was injured in a car accident, and she moved to Switzerland to care for him.
The couple married in 1950, shortly before his coronation, pledging to “reign with righteousness for the benefit and happiness of the Siamese (Thai) people.” They went on to have four children: King Maha Vajiralongkorn, and princesses Ubolratana, Sirindhorn and Chulabhorn.
During their early years together, the royal couple travelled extensively as goodwill ambassadors, cultivating friendships with world leaders and representing Thailand on the global stage.
By the 1970s, their focus turned inward, addressing Thailand’s domestic challenges — including rural poverty, drug addiction and communist insurgency — through royal development initiatives.
The queen, known for her grace, elegance and compassion, spent much of her time visiting remote villages, listening to the concerns of ordinary Thais and helping to resolve their problems.
“Misunderstandings arise between people in rural areas and the rich, so-called civilised people in Bangkok,” she told the Associated Press in 1979. “People in rural Thailand say they are neglected, and we try to fill that gap by staying with them in remote areas.”
Her royal projects had far-reaching impact. In 1976, she founded SUPPORT — the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Techniques — to help rural communities preserve traditional crafts such as silk weaving, jewellery-making, painting and ceramics, while creating sustainable livelihoods.
Sometimes affectionately called Thailand’s “Green Queen”, Sirikit championed environmental conservation through initiatives such as wildlife breeding centres, open zoos and turtle hatcheries. Her ‘Forest Loves Water’ and ‘Little House in the Forest’ projects promoted reforestation and water conservation as essential to Thailand’s ecological and economic well-being.
While her life was not untouched by political controversy, particularly during Thailand’s turbulent decades of protests and coups, her popularity endured — especially among rural communities who viewed her as a compassionate advocate for the poor.
“There are some in the universities who think the monarchy is obsolete. But I think Thailand needs an understanding monarch,” she said in 1979. “At the call, ‘The king is coming,’ thousands will gather. The mere word king has something magic in it. It is wonderful.”
Sirikit’s death closes a chapter in Thailand’s modern royal history, marking the passing of a queen whose influence extended far beyond the palace walls — from the weaving huts of Isan to the forests and coastlines she fought to preserve. - October 25, 2025
