The Jordanians may have the glamour, but Thailand’s royals come up trumps on matters green. The environmental blog Grist has a list of the 10 greenest royals. My favourite, Charles, tops the list. He is an endangered species in his own right and deserves the highest recognition.
But run your eye down the list (gentlemen, move on past Jordan please) and you will find that Thailand has two of the greenest members of the world’s royal elite.
There may be some shock and disappointment that the king and the queen (As the King is the water, I shall be the forest – Queen Sirikit) do not themselves feature (I am sure they would round out the green dozen). But given that generational change is in the air it is only appropriate that Princess Chulabhorn Walailak and Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn take the honours (in positions 6 and 9 respectively).
Chulabhorn has been honoured for, among other things, “studying the health risks that air pollution poses to traffic police in Bangkok” (motorcades?). Sirindhorn earns ninth spot for helping with “preserving the biodiversity of plant life”. She is pictured showing how plant ecosystems and daily attire can be practically combined.
I have seen some mean-spirited talk by the internet chattering classes about the so-so environmental credentials of these hi-so mo-so royals (I stole that line), but that sort of sarcasm should be treated with the contempt it deserves.
13 responses so far ↓
1 david w // Aug 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Wouldn’t it be nice to know what the carbon footprint of the palace was? Both direct and indirect (the carbon cost of the traffic snarls produced by those motorcades would be interesting, I bet). Those are busy folks, constantly traveling around the country, well except for the King now. Maybe they could use some of that wealth for some carbon offsets.
2 Frank // Aug 21, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hero worship of overconsuming and overassuming hi-so will never stop rising sea-levels. Modern day Canutes?
3 David // Aug 21, 2009 at 6:46 pm
I thing the Thai Royal have done very well with the environment. what about when they had the airport closed? A huge saving on carbon with no planes taking off. On the downside the tanks sent onto the streets in the last coup and the carbon footprint left, was very bad. But overall the royals balance out with their greenness (more a light yellow), not unlike the yellow shirts we have seen worn by PAD, I think.
4 Ralph Kramden // Aug 21, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Kid’s stuff, written by an intern, based on a Google search that turns up propaganda by the royals themselves (and not just in Thailand).
5 David // Aug 22, 2009 at 1:14 am
Ralphy Baby !
The man knows what he is talking about. He has been writing about the subject for years.
Trust him.
David
6 Ralph Kramden // Aug 23, 2009 at 12:22 am
David: who do you refer to? The Grist article is attributed to an intern.
7 Mr. Wrigley // Aug 23, 2009 at 3:01 am
Like the comment about the airports (chuckle) If we can get the yellows in full command then Thailand’s pollution levels will fall dramatically (induced by economic collapse caused by the North Korea Plan). “Vanessa Kerr is an editorial intern at Grist”
8 out of grade school // Aug 23, 2009 at 5:20 am
Vigorous debate, high-quality, original contribhutions, pithy, cheeky, eccentric this is not, (except for perhaps original and cheeky “high-quality” grammar or spelling worthy of a high school writer).
Repetitive, unimaginative point scoring and idle abuse is pretty much all New Mandala seems to be.
You should be embarrassed by any claim that this drivel contributes anything to anyone.
9 Hugh // Aug 23, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Green royals ? The notion would be funny if it wasn’t so bizarrely pathetic. Do I hear “sufficiency economy” anyone ?
10 Nick Nostitz // Aug 23, 2009 at 5:30 pm
“out of grade school”
Thank you for your “contribhution”.
11 David // Aug 23, 2009 at 6:53 pm
MY apologies Ralph. I will read more carefully next time.
David
12 David // Aug 23, 2009 at 7:01 pm
“sufficiency economy” as purported by his Royal highness the King. Where every body lives within their means. A problem if you have NO means. As I said before no problem if you are the world richest Monarch with wealth in excess of 35 Billion Dollars. How does one accumulate 35 billion dollars ? Good Salary as a King?Just try to live within your means. NOT easy!
13 Wally Bimghamton // Aug 24, 2009 at 9:11 am
Might not be the right link for this, but ardent royal watchers might be interested in this:
http://www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/ThaiPrincess/index.htm
Sirindhorn was shown on Thai television leaving for the United States and then returning, but not what she did while away. This was said to be a private trip. Who paid?
One thing she did was to visit Sage College in (see http://www.sage.edu/newsevents/news/?story_id=266970) where President Susan Scrimshaw and her father, Nevin Scrimshaw are “family friends of the Thai Royal Family, having collaborated on projects to improve nutrition and health in Thailand.”
She also spent several days at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in a visit organized by its business school.
The business school has long dealt with Thailand’s royalist elite, and had its consulting arm in Bangkok, set up in part by USAID funding (see http://www.kiasia.org/En/Timeline.asp?GroupTierId=9&SubGroupTier_ID=16), the Kenan Institute Asia, chaired by Anand Panyarachun. These connections are well-illustrated at: http://www.kiasia.org/En/Trustees.asp?GroupTierID=9
As well as the usual group of hangers-on/followers from he was accompanied by former university president and scientist Associate Professor Sumonta Promboon, who is a member of the royal supported International Peace Foundation (peace-foundation.net.7host.com/_partners/network_in_thailand.html) and president of the Science Society of Thailand (under the patronage of the king).
Also on the trip was Pasinee Limatibul, a businesswoman, socialite (see http://www.bangkokpost.com/life/family/21359/ferrari-s-fast-and-furious-new-force) and Pong Sarasin’s daughter (see http://www.nationmultimedia.com/sunday/20050710/index.php?news=column_17983666.html). She was part of the board of directors of Intercontinental Hotels in Thailand. Siam Paragon was built on the former location of the Siam Intercontinental Hotel, which was torn down in 2002 at the end of its lease. The site, leased for 30 years, is Bureau of the Crown Property land and at one time was the royal parkland of the Srapatum Palace.
Also on the trip was Valliya Pangsrivongse of the property group Kasemkij (see http://www.kasemkij.com/index.html).
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Please note: New Mandala encourages vigorous debate. However, for the moment we will only be publishing high-quality comments that make original contributions to discussion. There will, of course, still be space for pithy, humorous, eccentric and cheeky input. Short and sweet will usually trump long and involved. Repetitive ranting, unimaginative point-scoring and idle abuse will not be entertained. Comments which carry a real name are also more likely to be approved. Thank you for your ongoing interest and contributions.