I know that many New Mandala readers have been waiting for the re-appearance of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in the news.
He still doesn’t seem to have been out in public but I did notice that the Bangkok Post announced the graduation of his youngest daughter, Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana, from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts. She reportedly graduates with First Class Honours, a Gold Medal and a 3.93 GPA.
Princess Sirindhorn had similarly outstanding results during her undergraduate history degree, as did Princess Chulabhorn in science and Princess Bajrakitiyabha in political science. Has a senior Thai royal ever received Second Class Honours? Some more minor royals, such as Bangkok Governor M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra (check him out on Facebook), certainly have (which is, I might add, a very impressive achievement).
In the United Kingdom, Prince William famously took a 2:1 at St. Andrew’s University (details on the British degree classification system are available here). He was, you may recall, “delighted” with the result which was better than his father’s 2:2 at Cambridge.
We don’t tend to get many royals (Thai or otherwise) enrolling at the ANU. But I know that other Universities do. Perhaps some New Mandala readers who know more about royal degrees could provide some further insight.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Nudi Samsao // Jun 24, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I also recall that King George VI of Great Britain had a mediocre record as a naval student at the Naval Academy, and that whenever he visited his alma mater, he would have his record read to the student body and join in the laughter that followed. That to me was a noble deed!
The phenomenon of first-class honors tendered to high-ranking members of the royal family is simply a tradition of fawning observed by Thai universities of late. It is something that does nothing but lower the dignity of both the royal family and the universities. To some extent this also applies to honorary degrees, which have been distributed in such abundance that they become worthless. The whole thing is very much a farce, which is an apt description of what the Kingdom of Thailand is!
2 Thorn // Jun 24, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Well, Princess Bajarakitiyabha actually also got an undergraduate law degree from Thammasat with “second” class honours. This degree, I think, is more associated with her than her pol.sci degree from Sukhothai Thammatirat.
3 Real Demon // Jun 24, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Hey Nudi, you can’t only blame Thai universities. Don’t you know that those Thai elites also get the honour degree from many prestigious universities in US or UK.
4 Somsak Jeamteerasakul // Jun 25, 2009 at 1:47 am
Thorn:
Well, Princess Bajarakitiyabha actually also got an undergraduate law degree from Thammasat with “second” class honours. This degree, I think, is more associated with her than her pol.sci degree from Sukhothai Thammatirat.
Students at Thammasat Law Faculty very, very rarely get the First Class honor degree. The course there is very tough. Second class honor is usually considered equivalant to, if not more than, First Class honor in other Faculties. That the Princess received Second Class honor was – shall we say – quite “exceptional” indeed.
5 Ralph Kramden // Jun 25, 2009 at 11:10 am
I don’t think anyone has ever claimed that the crown prince was an Einstein. I could be wrong. Was always amused that a 4th rate university in Western Australia gave him an honorary degree.
6 crocodilexp // Jun 25, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Knowing how even minor elites (i.e. just plain rich people) get preferential treatment in Thailand, I doubt those degrees/honors are worth much at all as an indicator (even if well-deserved).
It would be more interesting to look at degrees Thai elites have from *reputable* foreign universities, as well as their other achievements outside of Thailand.
Given how H.M. is with no doubt intellectually brilliant and gifted in many diverse areas, it would not be surprising at all for his descendants to have high academic acchievements.
Too bad that the system of unquestioning sycophancy prevents the true recognition of their talents.
7 Dang // Jun 26, 2009 at 3:25 am
We have heaps of these high flyers .Many of them are interviewed by
Thai magazines of the secret of their successful life,plus showing thier threasure i.e brand name watches,bags,shoes ,suits etc.But …why we are in such a bad shape .They are only in the newspaper and magazines .
8 Nudi Samsao // Jun 26, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Real Demon: I deliberately left out foreign universities because I believe they act in good faith when they award an honorary degree to a foreign potentate, e.g., for the cause of good international relations, and not out of a desire for sycophancy. But your mentioning of an honors degree reminds me of a Thai youth with an honors degree from a reputable British university who has demonstrated that academic performance and political performance are indeed two separate things.
9 Ralph Kramden // Aug 21, 2009 at 8:02 am
The Bangkok Post has a story on yet another honor for the king. A Dutch farmer is calling his new tulip ‘Bhumibol’. The story mentions Klaas Koedijk, a Dutch farmer and owner of FA.P. Koeddiik & Zn company. Googling the bits of this produce nothing but Thailand stories. Anyone know anything about the farmer or his company?
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