Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej (5 December 1927 – 13 October 2016), conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great, was the ninth king of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama IX, from 1946 until his death in 2016. His reign of 70 years and 126 days is the longest of any Thai monarch, the longest of an independent Asian sovereign and the third longest verified reign of any monarch of a sovereign state in history after Louis XIV and Elizabeth II.

Born in the United States, Bhumibol spent his early life in Switzerland, in the aftermath of the 1932 Siamese Revolution which topped the centuries' old Thai absolute monarchy ruled by his uncle King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). He ascended to the throne in June 1946, following the death of his brother King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), who died under mysterious circumstances. Bhumibol oversaw Thailand through the Cold War as an important US ally and oversaw the Thai economic boom of the late 20th century; between 1985 and 1994, Thailand was the world's fastest growing economy according to the World Bank and many international journalists in the 1990s proclaimed Thailand as the next "Asian Tiger", which ended due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and Thai political instability since the 2000s. Bhumibol's reign saw the emergence of a Thai urban middle class and the emergence of mass political participation in Thai electoral politics. Under Bhumibol's rule, between the 1940s and 2010s, Thailand experienced periods of gradual democratization accompanied by frequent military coups, the last of which occurred in 2014.

Forbes estimated Bhumibol's fortune—including property and investments managed by the Crown Property Bureau, a body that is neither private nor government-owned (assets managed by the Bureau were owned by the crown as an institution, not by the monarch as an individual)—to be US $30 billion in 2010, and he headed the magazine's list of the "world's richest royals" from 2008 to 2013. In May 2014, Bhumibol's wealth was again listed as US $30 billion.

After a period of deteriorating health which left him hospitalized on several occasions, Bhumibol died on 13 October 2016 at Siriraj Hospital. He was highly revered by the people in Thailand—some saw him as close to divine. Notable political activists and Thai citizens who criticized the king or the institution of monarchy were often forced into exile or suffered frequent imprisonments, yet many cases were dropped before being proceeded or were eventually given royal pardon. His cremation was held on 26 October 2017 at the royal crematorium at Sanam Luang. His son, Maha Vajiralongkorn, succeeded him as King Rama X of Thailand.