Royally-initiated Projects

All these Royal Initiative Projects on Water Resources Management, established since His Majesty the King was titled as the Crown Prince, include reservoirs, weirs, Kaem Ling or Monkey’s Cheek reservoirs, drainpipes, and rotation system. Not only do these projects cover maintenance and improvement of reservoirs, weirs, regulators, drainpipe systems, levees; they also deal with water resource provision for agricultural and household uses, and integrated development of the areas. These 61 Royal Initiative Projects on Water Resources Management are spread across all regions listed as follows:

• In Northern Thailand, there are six projects in two provinces, which are Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.
• In Northeast Thailand, there are 12 projects in six provinces, which include Ubon Ratchathani, Mukdahan, Buriram, Sisaket, Udon Thani, and Sakon Nakhon.
• In Central Thailand, there are six projects in Ratchaburi province.
• In Southern Thailand, there are 37 projects in three Southern Border Provinces, which are Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat.

One of royally-initiated projects that has shown His Majesty’s graciousness towards disadvantaged patients suffering from pain and diseases is “Kanjanabaramee Project” : the first comprehensive cancer treatment center of Thailand. His Majesty the King, founder and president of the center, established the center as a tribute to His Majesty the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of accession to the throne. The center has been alleviating people’s difficulties in commuting to receive treatment.

“Cancer” is one major Public health issue in Thailand and tends to be prevalent among Thais. While the number of cancer patients skyrocketed, availability of hospitals or treatment center is limited as cancer treatment requires a lot of time and consistent treatment. To ensure effective and goal-oriented implementation, His Majesty the King graciously allowed the project committee to establish Kanjanabaramee Foundation on 15 July 1997 (B.E.2540).

In addition to the objective of helping disadvantaged cancer patients, Kanjanbaramee Foundation is also aimed to promote prevention and control of cancer by emphasizing physical and mental treatment as well as providing scholarships for education and research studies related to cancer. The center is also intended to support operations, activities, and human resources development in other organizations including Maha Vajiralongkorn Thanyaburi Center, National Cancer Institute of Thailand, and Regional Cancer Prevention and Control Center within responsible areas while collaborating with other charitable organizations.

At present, Maha Vajiralongkorn Thanyaburi Center is upgraded to Maha Vajiralongkorn Thanyaburi Hospital offering modern and hi-tech service and treatment to patients with all kinds of cancer. Each year, there are averagely 2,000 patients receiving treatment from the hospital. These include patients with breast cancer, thyroid cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, and colon cancer. Radioactive iodine treatment is also available for Thyroid cancer treatment and has been successful in curing 90% of patients whose life expectancy has been 5 years longer.

Royally-initiated Nong Ueng Development Project , founded in Mueang district, Yasothon province, is able to provide holistic solutions to people in 7 villages. With cooperation from people in 7 villages of Nong Ueng areas, this implementation of holistic solutions ranges from water resources improvement, soil improvement, flood relief, products and income increase, career development, and forest and environmental restoration and conservation.

The areas that used to be cleared out for shifting cultivation until ruined have been restored to Dong Man Community Forest covering 3,006 rai. Throughout their mutual effort and contribution, the areas have been restored and enabled a harmonized co-existence between humans and forests yielding products that improve villagers’ quality of life and increase their income.

History of this project dated back to a royal visit on 28 November 2000 (B.E.2543) when Her Majesty Queen Sirikit along with His Majesty the King, then the Crown Prince, were at Ban Kham Nam Sang village in Kho Nuea subdistrict, Mueang district, Yasothon province, which was affected by the floods, to advise relevant agencies to provide help and supports for these disadvantaged groups of people.

On the same day, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, then the Crown Prince, also visited Nong Ueng areas in Ban Tha Yiam village, Kho Nuea subdistrict and graciously granted initiatives on the development and improvement of the areas with an aim to improve people’s quality of life. Initiatives given can be listed as follows.

1. Dredging Nong Ueng swamp to maintain it as water resources
for agriculture and fish breeding
2. Improving the areas and soil conditions around Nong Ueng
by planting vetiver grass and trees to prevent soil erosion
3. Ensuring overall forest restoration and conservation so that
people and forests can live in harmony

With His Majesty the King’s strong determination to create opportunities for young people who will grow as a significant force of the nation, Royally-initiated Project on Education has greatly made contributions to children and youth at all levels. His Majesty initiated the use of His Majesty's royal property and property donated to His Majesty’s charity fund to make contribution to educational opportunity enhancement for disadvantaged students who can have the opportunity to further their education continuously. Therefore, His majesty the King graciously established “The Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn Scholarship Fund” in 2009 (B.E.2552), which later developed into “The Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn Scholarship Foundation” officially founded on 4 February 2010 (B.E.2553) and chaired by His Majesty the King (then the Crown Prince). The Crown Prince Scholarship fund is provided for disadvantaged students with excellent academic performance, good behavior, and good moral character so that they can pursue their higher education in the field that is consistent with their knowledge, ability and needs without any financial obligations to the fund. Upon their graduation, they are also given opportunity to voluntarily work as courtier.

Regarding operation of scholarship program, His Majesty has given the principle to distribute the fund in every province while proceeding with screening and recruitment process until qualified candidates can be identified. Each province is entitled to receive 2 scholarship funds per year and candidate genders are equally distributed. For upper secondary school, scholarship fund of 18,000 baht is given per year while scholarship fund of 22,000 baht is provided for vocational schools or higher education comparable to college level. By equally allocated 58,000 baht for each recipient per year, the fund covers tuition fees, dormitory expense, cost of living, and textbooks or educational necessities. Since 2009 (B.E. 2552) until 2018 (B.E.2561), there have been 7 batches of scholarship recipients so far. In 2018 (B.E.2561), there are 1,059 current scholarship recipients in total. There are 474 scholarship recipients in upper secondary school and 585 scholarship recipients in college or comparable level of institutions.Total amount of funds that have already been financed is 318,336,524 baht. Since 2016 (B.E.2558), students ranging from upper secondary school to undergraduate education have been continuing their study through this scholarship funds for which 70 million baht have been budgeted each year. His Majesty emphasized that:

As a result, the Crown Prince Scholarship recipients have all been receiving continuous support in all areas which include education, living condition, and encouragement for them to become an individual with a giving heart and leadership characteristic, who can continue to contribute to the benefit of society or their hometown.