A Step Towards Sustainability
When the Princess Mother started making regular visits to villagers, officials, soldiers and police in the Thai border areas in 1966, the scene from her helicopter showed barren hillsides devoid of trees, with occasional shifting crops, weeds and opium poppies. From these visits, she learned of the nomadic lifestyles of the villagers who had to grow crops through slash-and-burn cultivation methods which unwittingly destroyed the natural environment and the watershed forests, resulting in upsetting the ecological balance.
"I shall plant forests on Doi Tung." With those words, a royal initiative was found, launching an attempt to revert the mountain to its original state. The Princess Mother was also determined to improve the quality of life of the villagers, provide education and health services, means of a regular income, and an awareness of the need to preserve the environment.
Acting on this inspiration, the government under Prime Minister General Prem Tinsulanonda set up the Doi Tung Development Project in 1988 as a joint project between 7 ministries. The Princess Mother was approaching her 90th birthday, and the Thai people were concerned that her annual sojourns in Switzerland were becoming too taxing for age. A house on Doi Tung would be the perfect solution; its location at 1,000 metres above sea level, with temperatures ranging between 17 and 24 degrees Celsius, its climate and the surrounding scenery were not unlike the cool, mountains setting of Villa Vadhana in Lausanne.
The two-story house is nestled against a steep incline. The upper floor is divided into 4 sections – the private quarters of the Princess Mother. Princess Galyani Vadhana and Thanpuying Dhasanawalaya Sornsongkram, and the reception hall.
Reflecting the Princess Mother’s deep interest in astronomy, the ceiling in the reception hall is carved in the image of the solar system, with clusters of the different star signs. Instead of the usual chandelier, the room is lit with bulbs representing the stars in the system. Walls are lined with Thai silk embroidered with flowers. Other decorative items are carvings of elephant herds in the forest, while the Thai alphabet lines the stairway to the lower level.
Behind the palace is a long balcony lined with flowers boxes. It is here that the Princess Mother spent many a happy hour tending to the flowers herself. The lower level are living and working quarters for countries. In front is a wide lawn with flower gardens, which affords a wonderful view of the mountain range that stretches as far as the eye can see.
The Princess Mother took up residence at the Doi Tung Royal Villa on 23 November 1990. "This is my home," she said. After all, her other palaces had been official royal residences. It was her first true home and, sadly, her last.
Just a decade later, as the smell of fragrant flowers waft on the breeze toward the palace, visitors can see the changes in Doi Tung. The hillsides are lush with watershed forests, commercial forests, and botanical gardens. Planting the seeds of awareness and responsibility in the people to help replant the forests and regenerate the environment on Doi Tung, as inspired by the Princess Mother, has achieved its goal. Apart from being the site of an experimental agricultural project, Doi Tung is now said to be one of the leading tourist destinations in Thailand.
Read more about this topic: Srinagarindra
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“There is only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte (17691821)