THE HUMBLE HOME OF HISTORY

Thais living in the United States continue to honour His Majesty the King by bringing to the American public's attention his and his family's time spent there.

Most recently, on October 18, the King of Thailand Birthplace Foundation unveiled a bronze plaque on the façade of 63 Longwood Avenue in Brookline, Massachusetts, another locale on the "Trail of Thai Royalty" that stretches across the Atlantic state.

The trail comprises historic sites in the state capital, Cambridge, Gloucester and Brookline and on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The aim is to foster international friendship and show visiting Thais where His Majesty was born and where his family lived and worked.

The family lived in one of the three apartments in the Longwood Avenue building from 1926 to 1928 - Prince Mahidol and his wife, Princess Srinagarindra, and their young children, Princess Galyani Vadhana, Prince Anandha (who became King Rama VIII) and Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Prince Bhumibol was born at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge on December 5, 1927, the first monarch of any nation to be born in the continental United States.

While living on Longwood, Prince Mahidol graduated with a master's degree from Harvard Medical School and the Princess Mother studied nursing and household economics at Simmons College and local hospitals.

In July 1928 the family returned to Thailand.

Prince Mahidol was a son of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and Queen Savang Vadhana. He was the first Siamese royal to study in the US. His elder brothers were King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and King Prajadhipok (Rama VII).

This was Mahidol's young family's second stay in Massachusetts. Their apartment was on the first floor of the three-storey building and had six rooms and a sun porch.

The flat became a gathering place for Siamese students, who dubbed it "the Brookline Palace". Prince Mahidol offered them advice and financial aid and his wife often cooked them meals.

They were joined by other foreign students, some of whom also benefited from Mahidol's generosity. He helped finance the education of a Mexican medical student, Francisco Vella, for example, with $100 per month.

Local newspapers and the faculty at Harvard mentioned that Prince Mahidol lived in an unpretentious apartment and wished to be called Mr Songkla rather than Prince Songkla.

Dozens of Siamese students studied in the US on government scholarships in those days. Most completed their study and returned home, but some remained. One, Wad Yamprayoon (later Luang Waj Vittayavathna, recalled paying a surprise visit to Prince Mahidol in 1926.

"I rang the electric bell near the name plate 'Mr M Songkla' and spoke loudly through the brass horn, informing him that I was a Thai student and had come to have an audience with Prince Mahidol.

"The door was immediately unlocked. I walked into a small room and saw Prince Mahidol sitting near a small desk waiting for me."

Staying at the Boston YMCA in 1926, Mahidol signed a lease on a house, only to see the landlord withdraw it when he learned of the children. The family remained in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Prince then had to travel to Siam for the funeral of his brother, King Vajiravudh, and soon after his return to Boston, the family joined him.

In 1929, following Prince Mahidol's death, Harvard Medical School's dean, Dr David Edsall, wrote of his admiration to Francis Bowes Sayre, who was the second American to receive the title "Phraya Kalyan Maitri" from King Vajiravudh. Sayre included the letter in his memoir, "Glad Adventure".

"I have been so very much impressed by the whole character of Songkla and all the fine feeling he left behind him here as well as wherever he went," Edsall wrote. "His extraordinary combination of gentleness, sweetness, intelligence and democracy in a person who came from such high position is one of the most striking things I have ever seen."

Prince Mahidol initially arrived in Massachusetts in August 1916 and stayed in Gloucester before attending Harvard, where he met his future wife.

The New York Times interviewed him that September, and the Prince expressed his goals and hopes for his countrymen:

"I am not likely to reach the throne, but that doesn't worry me. My ambition is to lead a life of usefulness.

"I could live comfortably and honoured as His Majesty's brother, but I think it is very silly that I should be honoured simply because I happen to be whom I am. If I am to be honoured, I wish it to be because I have earned my honours."

Boston's Daily Globe also spoke with the modest Siamese aristocrat that same month:

"I do not want to be treated one bit differently from anybody else while I am here. I am not here to enjoy myself - although I expect to derive much pleasure from my experience here - or to spend money, but to study hard and to apply my knowledge to the best interests of my country.

"I do not want to be known as 'Prince' while I am here. Plain 'Mr Songla' will suit me a great deal better. You see, one of my titles is 'Duke of Songkla', and while I am here I prefer to use that name with the American prefix 'Mr'."

Prince Mahidol went on to work with the Rockefeller Foundation to finance medical education in Thailand, resulting in a better health-care system and better-quality practitioners.

Prince Mahidol died in the prime of life, age 37, on September 24, 1929 after serving briefly as a resident at McCormick Hospital in Chiang Mai.

Cholthanee Koerojna is president of the King of Thailand Birthplace Foundation, a project funded by individuals with goodwill toward Thailand to preserve this segment of Thai history.

   MONUMENTAL

Find out more about the King of Thailand Birthplace Foundation at www.Thailink.com/KTBF or call the US numbers (781) 365 0083 or (781) 351 1885.