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The first event saw countless Thais gathering to pay their respects and love to Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra at her royal cremation ceremony on November 15. I was fortunate to be allowed an opportunity to be part of the Grand Procession of Honour, which allowed me to witness the true expression of loyalty of a lot of Thais for the late Princess along the procession route. Actually, my car passed that route at 5.30 in the morning and I found that both sides of the Sanam Luang ceremonial ground were already packed. I was told that some of them had occupied the space since late afternoon on Friday and sat up there for the whole night. Many of them came from upcountry specially for this ceremony. I don't think anyone can witness such loyalty anywhere in the world except in Thailand.

When the time came to start the procession, people along both sides of the route were excited to see, for the first time, the Royal Carriage, carrying the Royal Urn, constructed and decorated exquisitely, a perfect piece of work in honour of the late Princess. People who witnessed the royal procession along the route and on television told me that the procession moved beautifully, graciously and really looked magnificent. Being part of the procession, I missed the overall picture of the procession, but instead I could see greater things. They are the innocent expression of loyalty on the faces and in the body language of the people along the route. As soon as the Royal Carriage moved past them, everyone automatically raised his or her two hands in a gesture of paying full respect. Their eyes were on the Royal Urn on the Royal Carriage which was passing by. Their total expression was one of true loyalty. Tears came down some cheeks and tears moistened some eyes. They were tears of loyalty and delight to see the person they loved and respected being highly honoured.

The ceremonies in the late afternoon, evening and night were carried out perfectly as required by the ancient royal tradition as could be seen on television and need not be repeated here. However, I would like to write about what I witnessed with my own eyes from the viewpoint of the person who stood on the ground right in front of the royal crematorium. It was between 10.30pm and midnight, when the cremation fire was burning that there occurred a natural phenomenon called lunar corona over the city of Bangkok as was witnessed by all. However, to me, standing right in front of the Royal Crematorium, I saw the lunar corona floating right over it. The moonlight seemed to come right down to the Royal Crematorium which, looked like a linkage between the Royal Crematorium and the moon. After that, clouds moved across and hid the moon for a while. Until around 1am, when His Majesty was about to get into his car to leave, it started drizzling lightly for about 3-4 minutes before it completely stopped and the sky opened again, allowing us to see the beautiful lunar corona again. It seemed to me that the rains that came down lightly for a very short period of time were actually waters of blessings from the sky. After the people who attended the ceremony were all blessed by the water, the sky opened again to let us admire the beautiful lunar corona. My chauffeur, who was also nearby, believed the late Princess had already gone to heaven. I also personally believed so as the light around the moon, which floated over the royal crematorium, appeared like the gateway to heaven. I also learnt later that the Latin root of the word corona means crown, which can, in itself, explain all. Some readers may think that I believe in superstition. I, however, believe in the willpower of thousands of people who had gathered in the ceremonial place and many millions more who offered sandalwood flowers at various monasteries around the country. These millions of people had the very same wish that the late Princess, who had sacrificed a lot for the people and assisted a lot of those in need, should be rewarded to rest in the place she deserved and belonged to called heaven. Her righteousness, together with the power of mind of millions of people focusing towards the very same end, would become the great force to make their wish come true.

Another piece of pleasant news for Thais is the announcement that His Majesty is the first recipient of the WIPO Global Leaders Award, in recognition of his remarkable contribution to intellectual property both as an inventor and as an active proponent of intellectual property as a tool for development and for the betterment of the people's lives. His Majesty has granted permission to WIPO to present him with the award on December 1. Moreover, the IFIA has approved the proclamation of February 2 each year as International Inventor's Day in honour of His Majesty, whose patent for the Chaipattana Aerator was granted on February 2, 1993 by the Department of Intellectual Property, Ministry of Commerce of Thailand. Earlier, several organisations related to intellectual property presented him with medals and certificates. However, this Global Leader Award gives special recognition to the leader of the country who creates intellectual property for the benefit of the people. The designation of the day he was awarded a patent as International Inventor's Day is a real world recognition for his inventions.

When I cast my mind back to my childhood, I still remember how excited I was when I heard of the 'artificial rain' that His Majesty invented to solve the shortage of water in the dry season. Later on the name was changed to "royal rain", which is more appropriate. The royal rain has been beneficial to Thai peasants for decades and will forever be.

Later on, I heard of the 'Klaeng Din' project or 'Aggravating the Soil' project which is the reactivation of acid sulfate soil. His Majesty suggested a technique of repeatedly switching the soil from soaked wet to dry to make it extremely acid, then, revitalise this extremely acid soil for cultivation. Afterwards, I learned about the 'Chaipattana Aerator', which is a paddle-wheel machine in the form of a floating buoy that helps add oxygen to wastewater with the concept of "good water chases bad water". It helps alleviate the polluted rivers, canals and swamps, which then protect the ecological system there. When we thoroughly study his activities, we all clearly see that His Majesty is a developer king who is very patient and possesses high ingenuity, and exceptional vision, in working arduously for the benefit of his subjects, and not his own by any means.

What I mentioned here is only a few examples of what he has done for the nation's benefit. There are also several development projects particularly in rural and remote areas. I can confidently say that there is no other head of state who considerably feels for the subjects and designs or makes inventions that generate concrete benefit for them as much as he has done. He is the real Global Leader in invention for his subjects' better living.

Until next Monday.