The royal seeds that prosper

BEFORE THE FIRST RAYS of dawn appear in the skies over Dusit Palace, the team at the Royal Chitralada Dairy Farm is hard at work most days, transporting the fresh milk from the cows to an adjacent plant where it’s pasteurised and put into cartons. 

It’s a routine that’s been in place since 1962, when His Majesty the King was presented with several head of cattle. Always interested in agriculture, the King invested his personal funds into establishing a dairy herd of some 40 cows for demonstration purposes.

Today the herd produces between 200 and 300 litres of milk a day, and while some of the milk and milk products are sold to create a revolving fund, much of it is delivered to schools, where it nourishes thousands of children. 

Throughout his reign, His Majesty dedicated his efforts to accumulating knowledge, committing personal resources to advance the wellbeing of the people of Thailand. 

The transformation of his private residence, Chitralada Villa, which is part of Dusit Palace, into experimental plots began in 1961 and has helped the King find solutions to a variety of problems affecting farmers.

A recent talk organised by the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary and the Pid Thong Lang Phra Foundation at Chitralada Villa’s Sala Mahamongkol focused on His Majesty’s lifelong journey to help his subjects develop the skills and know-how to combat health problems and poverty and become self-reliant. 

“As a building, His Majesty’s home is smaller than those of many of our richest men,” said Thanpuying Putrie Viravaidya, the King’s deputy principal private secretary.

“Chitralada Villa has just two floors, and the main hall is where His Majesty welcomes guests and sometime dines. Otherwise there are just bedrooms and a study, like in any regular house. The compound of the palace is large and houses many departments that work for the King, including the kitchen, the pages, the security guards and physicians. 

“When they were on their own Their Majesties used to run at least three kilometres around Dusit Dalai pavilion in the grounds,” Thanpuying Putrie recalled. “His Majesty always said he had to be strong in order to help others.

“Local folk knew when Their Majesties would be visiting their palaces upcountry. I remember people queuing in front of the palace from very early in the morning to see the doctors. When I asked them why they didn’t go to the nearby hospitals, they told me they wanted the medicinal envelope that featured the royal emblem.

“The homes of His Majesty – here at Chitralada Villa, Klai Kangwon Palace in Hua Hin, Bhuping Palace in Chiang Mai, Thaksin Ratchaniwet Palace in Narathiwat and Phu Phan Palace in Sakhon Nakhon – all house development projects designed to help the people,” she said.

Each May at the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, the rice seeds cultivated on experimental plots at the Royal Chitralada Projects are brought to Sanam Luang and sown into a furrow ploughed by two oxen. Farmers attend the ceremony and go to great lengths to obtain samples of the rice seeds, which they consider the best available. Right now 49 different varieties of rice are being grown for experimental |purposes. 

Chitralada Villa is currently home to 36 projects, both non-commercial (geared towards long-term improvements) and semi-commercial. All surplus funds from sales are invested in further development. 

In addition to the agricultural experimental plots and milk production, the Royal Chitralada Projects team carries out energy conservation, |alternative-fuel production and fish farming. 

The most spectacular of the projects is the Demonstration Forest, which His Majesty set up to study tree species after observing a large number of dipterocarp trees being felled for timber. 

Aware of the ecological need to preserve a rainforest, the King planted dipterocarp seeds at Klai Kangwon Palace and later had saplings transferred to Chitralada Villa, as well as other species from different parts of the country. 

In 2011 this demonstration forest – with more than 1,000 saplings – marked 55 years as a thriving forest, with its own localised climate that induces rainfall over the villa. 

A fundamental part of the King’s vision was for each of the royal development study centres (RDSCs) to become “models of success” where farmers and others could learn through example and guidance. 

Officials who have served His Majesty on different occasions proudly shared their memories during the talk. 

Songsak Wongpumiwat, chairman of the Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, recalls the numerous visits by the King while he was working for the Royal Initiative in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Nong Phlap sub-district. 

“The area was suffering from extreme drought, and every time we saw clouds of dust rising through the air, we knew right away it was a big caravan of vehicles and His Majesty was coming to inspect the soil survey,” he said. 

In the North, a large number of Royal Initiative Projects have been introduced, one of them focusing on nature’s own defensive barrier to soil erosion – vetiver grass. 

“His Majesty recommended to his mother, Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother, that she cultivate vetiver grass to conserve soil and thereby water on the steep slopes of Doi Tung, Chiang Rai province,” said forestry specialist Pinit Sornlamp. 

“Later, when the Royal Family was together, the Princess Mother said her vetiver grass grew better than that of the King, developing roots more than three metres long in just nine months. The trick, she noted, was to plant the grass with a tilt of three degrees.” 

Another useful initiative in the North, the Huai Hong Khrai RDSC, was established in Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district in 1982 at the King’s initiative, as a result of droughts and forest fires caused by extensive tree-felling.

“His Majesty told me I should look forward, not just five years but 50 years,” recalled Viriya Chuaybamrung, a specialist in natural resources and the environment. 

“He told me, ‘When the land leeches come, you’ll know your work has succeeded.’ Now, 33 years later, we have land leeches. I’m so proud!”

Chaiwat Sitthibus, a land-development specialist, remembered the King’s visits to Thaksin Ratchaniwet Palace in Narathiwat between 1973 and 1996.

“His Majesty would stay at his southern palace for one to two months. One rainy day, without any advance notice, he visited the Pikun Thong RDSC, which was in charge of the Klaeng Din project to study the natural acidification caused by deep layers of pyrite in peat swamps. I’m a specialist in soil, and yet I’d never thought of monitoring the research during the rainy season before. It made a lot of sense. His Majesty wanted to see how vetiver grass works in the rain,” Chaiwat said. 

Today, His Majesty’s selfless efforts can be measured in more than 4,000 royal development projects undertaken for the benefit and happiness of the Thai people. 

“I’ve been serving His Majesty for more than four decades and I’ll turn 75 soon,” Thanpuying Putrie said. 

“His Majesty used to say that his work would never come to an end, that it was a ‘work in progress’. The more the development, the more benefit, and the greater the sustainability for the future. 

“You do what you can, for the individual, family, society and the nation. With a good foundation, the prosperity from development will benefit future generations, and we should do it with unity and generosity.”