Professor Harald Zur Hausen, professor emeritus and former director of the German Cancer Research Centre, told a group of Thai reporters who visited the centre in Heidelberg on Thursday, that he had sought permission from the city's mayor three times before the German authority agreed to provide the copy of King Rama 8's birth certificate.

King Ananda Mahidol, or King Rama 8, was born at Heidelburg University's hospital on September 20, 1925, while Prince Mahidol, his father, was having a retreat in Germany.

Prince Mahidol, who was studying at Harvard University at the time, is regarded as Thailand's Father of Medicine.

A world-renowned cancer researcher who discovered that viruses could trigger the onset of cancer, Professor Zur Hausen was last year awarded the prestigious Prince Mahidol Award by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is the younger brother of King Rama 8.

Zur Hausen, whose discovery led to the prevention of cervical cancer among women around the world, said the city of Heidelberg had recently agreed to produce the authorised copy of King Rama 8's birth certificate on condition that he personally presents it to the King. Generally, the city does not allow persons other than members of the same family to obtain copies of birth certificates.

Professor Pornchai Matangkasombat, president of Mahidol University, who led the media trip to Heidelberg, said the authorised copy of the birth certificate in German with an English translation, would be presented to the King during the annual ceremony to bestow the Prince Mahidol awards to outstanding Thai and foreign scientists in various fields in January 2007.

Dr Thongchai Thavichachart, president of Thailand Centre for Excellence in Life Sciences (Tcels), who is familiar with the matter, said historians at Siriraj Hospital, which is affiliated to Mahidol University, had initiated the plan to compile important documents on King Rama 8.

HM King Bhumibol was also born abroad -in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 5, 1927.