Muantae : Chiang Mai, Thailand - HSH Prince Bhisatej Rajani

Images of HSH Prince Bhisatej Rajani

His Serene Highness Prince Bhisatej Rajani, Chairman of The Royal Project Foundation, is widely recognized among Thais and foreigners for his devotion to The Royal Project works initiated by His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Prince Bhisatej recently gave us an exclusive interview about his life and work. At the age of 84 years, one may wish to retire and pursue one's own hobbies, but not the dynamic Prince Bhisatej who is still very actively involved in supervising The Royal Project Foundation works.

Prince Bhisatej, who looks younger than his age, reveals a simple anti-ageing secret that "I don't get stressed, and I have always enjoyed several kinds of sports such as athletics, sailing, windsurfing, horse riding and trekking ever since my younger years".

He explained that it all began during his studies at Dulwich College in England where he played rugby, tennis and squash. Keep running many races in a day, young Prince Bhisatej finally won the Victor Ludorum gold medal (a Latin word for a winner of the games) at the annual Thai students in the U.K. meeting.

He recalled that when he joined the British Army in 1943, he was trained to walk up the hills with a rifle and heavy back pack. "At the age of 21, I trekked along the Himalayan Mountains for two weeks with an army friend from Darjeeling Hill Station in India to a trade route of Nathula Pass in Tibet". After the tough army training, Prince Bhisatej joined the underground movement against Japanese called "Free Thai" during the Second World War.

The sports and army experiences benefit him when he joined The Royal Project as Director in 1969, and his early years involved development works in remote hilltribe villages. "I worked with The Border Patrol Police in their schools along the northern Thai border".

"His Majesty the King told me to keep a low profile when associating with the hill people. I usually trekked on the highlands to visit hilltribe villages. One of my longest walks with my assistant took seven days from Mae La Noi District of Mae Hong Son to meet Lua hilltribe villagers. I carried my own backpack which contained some canned food and two sets of clothes including a sleeping bag during the trip. We stayed at the headman's hut. The Lua headman cooked delicious Lua food and we shared our food with him". Upon reaching a highway, on the last day, Prince Bhisatej and his companion tried hitch-hiking but no motorists picked them up. So they had to walk till they reached Mae Sariang District.

On another occasion, the Prince also appreciated the Hmong hospitality at Ban Mae Tho in Chiang Mai where he started trekking from Hod District to visit the Hmong village with a red kidney beans cultivation project. "I spent the night at a village headman's exotic earthen cottage". He recalled with a smile, "There was a cooking fire in the middle of the house, and I tucked myself into a sleeping bag and slept well on the earthen floor".

Prince Bhisatej's favourite sports in Chiang Mai used to be windsurfing and horse riding, but it has been years since he has practiced any. The Prince fell from a horse back three times and he broke three ribs during one of those falls.

Nowadays, his exercises mostly relate to walking while inspecting his numerous agricultural centres on the highlands. "There are 37 agricultural centres and I have visited all of them", he proudly added.

Prince Bhisatej told about his most serious illness after he attended a Kachin paying respect ceremony held at Ban Nong Khiew on December 3rd last year to honour His Majesty the King on his December 5th birthday. "During a ceremony, I had to hold a sword and stamp my feet for about 5 minutes. I later suffered a severe pain in my left leg and was admitted to Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok during which the doctors diagnosed blood clots".

Fortunately, there was a heart surgeon from Los Angeles who came for an audience with His Majesty the King. A team of 8 doctors informed the Prince of two treatment solutions, either amputating his left leg or undergoing a balloon surgery which was extremely risky to his heart due to the very strong medicines to be used. Prince Bhisatej decided to take a risk with the balloon treatment. After His Majesty the King learnt about his illness, he provided the appropriate assistance and the Prince went through the operation successfully. Prince Bhisatej stressed with gratitude that "I have recovered from a serious illness because of His Majesty the King's Parami (accumulated spiritual good qualities)".

Not only his illness, but also The Royal Project works have been operating very successful without obstacles because of His Majesty the King's Parami. From a total of 2,436 staff members, there are 196 volunteers who are academics and experts contributing their efforts voluntarily at no cost for His Majesty the King.

While working in Chiang Mai, Prince Bhisatej lives in a very simple lifestyle. "I don't need much space at home because I prefer it to be similar to my student days in England when I had to be self reliant". Prince Bhisatej's hobbies now are reading, listening to music and photography. He loves to read novels and books about history and traveling to country side and villages telling about farmers' lives, especially in France and Spain. Prince Bhisatej regularly orders books from England and sometimes purchases them at book stores in Bangkok.

Some books he enjoys include "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, "Emperor, The Gods of War" by Conn Iggulden, "The Triumph of the Sun" (a novel of African Adventure) by Wilbur Smith, and "Downhill All the Way, Walking with Donkeys on the Stevenson Trail" by Hilary Macaskill and Molly Wood.

Prince Bhisatej is also an accomplished writer. He had contributed his writing to a women's magazine in Thailand. His most recent book in Thai entitled "Cheewit Chun Chun" published in 2002 under his pen name "Por Na Pramualmak" contains compelling details about his life in unpretentious and humourous style. Readers would also learn about Thai history some 100 years ago, and numerous classic words he used which are hardly heard of these days.

Young at heart, Prince Bhisatej loves all kinds of music from classic to pop. During our visit to the Prince's residence, we caught glimpses of David Bowie, Billy Joel and Radiohead CDs. In addition to these hobbies, he has been fond of photography since he was 14 years old. Prince Bhisatej at present enjoys taking pictures of flowers grown at The Royal Project Development Centres, particularly English roses at The Royal Agricultural Station Ang Khang, which are in full bloom in April.

His Serene Highness Prince Bhisatej is greatly respected among Thais for his dedication and long contributions for His Majesty King to achieve The Royal Project development strategies thus making him becomes an icon of The Royal Project Foundation. The Prince has frequently been invited to graciously preside over academic or international meetings and grand social events.

Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 March 2007 )

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