The Resilient Queen Rambhai Barni of the Seventh Reign: Her Contributions to Education, Social Development and Gender Equality
Ever since she became Queen Consort to H.M. King Prajadhipok in 1926, Queen Rambhai Barni had shown herself to the world as a charming modern lady of Siam, thereby helping to establish Siam’s place in the world amidst economic, social and political changes after the First World War.
She endured with him, after his abdication, the dangers and the rationing during the Second World War in England. She stayed on there after his demise and served as a volunteer at a medical facility in London.
Having returned to Thailand in 1949, the Dowager Queen set up her orchard and farm at Suan Baan Kaew in rural Chanthaburi province.
There, she adapted many things she witnessed abroad for use. These were to do with agriculture, workers’ and children’s welfare, and innovations to the local craft of rush mat weaving by women. Recognizing the importance of further education, she sold Suan Baan Kaew to the Ministry of Education so that a teacher’s training college could be established there. The college has since become Rambhai Barni Rajabhat University of today.
She also had an operating theatre building put up in 1953 for the then dilapidated provincial hospital. This paved the way for the government to expand the hospital and rename it Prapokklao Hospital, today’s most well-equipped hospital to serve the Eastern Region.
About the speaker
M.R. Prudhisan Jumbala, though trained in Sociology, was an Associate Professor at the Department of Government, the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, until his retirement in 2008. At present, he serves as the Deputy Chair of the King Prajadhipok and Queen Rambhai Barni Memorial Foundation and Committee Member and Secretary-General of the Prajadhipok-Rambhai Barni Foundation.
As a result of his experience of being involved in the King Prajadhipok Museum for many years, he turned himself into an amateur historian in the area of “King Prajadhipok Studies”
Among his English language publications is the nearly 100-page article edited by Suchit Bunbongkarn and Prudhisan Jumbala, “Prajadhipok: The King at the Transition to Constitutional Monarchy in Siam” in Monarchy and Constitutional Rule in Democratizing Thailand, Bangkok: Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 2012, pp. 106-202. The article was then turned into a book in Thai, with the simple title of Prajadhipok Prachathipatai, Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press, 2017.
He was also involved in preparing the English language rendition of a book, รัตนราชนารีคู่บารมีพระปกเกล้า The Jewel on King Prajadhipok’s Crown, Bangkok: King Prajadhipok Museum, December 2007, a souvenir of the exhibition that was put up there at the time.
Importantly, his account of Queen Rambhai Barni’s biography and character, based mainly on some 100 interviews given by those who knew her, was published in Thai as กุลสตรีศรีสยาม สง่างามทุกกาลสถาน (A Lady of Siam: Ever Serene Everywhere) by the King Prajadhipok’s Institute (sic.) in 2017 and republished in 2024.
When
Saturday, 23 August 2025 at 14:00
Where
Admission
Members and Students (to undergraduate level) — Free of charge
Non-Members — THB 300
สำหรับข้อมูลเพิ่มเติม กรุณาติดต่อ
To book your place, please contact Khun Pinthip at 02 661 6470-3 ext 203 or pinthip@thesiamsociety.org
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