Sirindhorn

Sirindhorn was born on April 2, 1955, at Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall, Dusit Palace, the third child of King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit. As the royal couple has only one son, the Thai constitution was altered in 1974 to allow for female succession. This made Sirindhorn second-in-line to the throne (after Vajiralongkorn) until the birth of Princess Bajrakitiyabha in 1978.

Sirindhorn attended Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary at Thailand's most exclusive school: The Chitralada School which was established for the children of the Royal Family and Palace staff.[6]

She ranked first in the National School Examinations in primary level (grade 7) in 1967, in upper secondary level (grade 12) in 1972, and fourth in the National University Entrance Examination in 1975.[7]

In 1975 she enrolled in the faculty of arts at Chulalongkorn University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, first-class honours and a gold medal in history in 1976.[7]

From 1976 she continued her studies in two graduate programs concurrently, obtaining a Master of Arts in Oriental epigraphy (Sanskrit and Cambodian) in 1980[7] and also archaeology from Silpakorn University in 1980. From October 1977, she studied Sanskrit in Bangkok for two years under the tutelage of renowned Sanskrit scholar Satya Vrat Shastri.[8] In 1978, she obtained a Master of Arts in Pali and Sanskrit from Chulalongkorn University.[6]

In 1981 she enrolled in a doctoral program at Srinakharinwirot University, and was awarded a PhD in developmental education in 1987.

In 1984 she earned a certificate from the Asian Regional Remote Sensing Training Centre at the Asian Institute of Technology where she studied for two months.[9]

In April 2001 she won a scholarship in Chinese culture at Peking University in China where she studied the course for a month.[10]

• General, Admiral and Air Chief Marshal[18]

• Volunteer Defense Corps General[19]

• Professor of Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy[20][21]
• Professor of Srinakharinwirot University[22]

•  Austria: Grand Cross of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria[23]
•  China: Recipient of the Order of Friendship[24]
•  India: Padma Bhushan[25]
•  South Korea: Grand Cross of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit[26]
•  Malaysia: Honorary Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia[27]
•  Mongolia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star[28]
•  Pakistan: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crescent of Pakistan[29][30]
•  Spain: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic[31]
•  Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Seraphim
•  United Kingdom: Honorary Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order

•  Austria: International Union of Nutritional Sciences Award[32]
•  China: Chinese Language and Culture Friendship Award[33]
• Chinese Literature Foundation of Chinese Writers Association: Understanding and Friendship International Literature Award[10]
•  India: Indira Gandhi Prize[34]
•  Philippines: Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service[35]

National

• Chiang Mai University: Geography[36]
• Chiang Mai University: Thai language[37]
• Asian Institute of Technology: Technology[9][38]

Foreign

•  China:
  •  Hong Kong – The University of Hong Kong: Doctor of Letters[39]
  • Peking University: Chinese language[40]
•  Japan – Tokai University: Engineering[41]
•  Philippines – University of the Philippines Los Baños: Law[42]
•  United States:
  •  California – Pomona College: Doctor of Humane Letters[43]
  •  Indiana – Indiana University Bloomington: Doctor of Humane Letters[44]
  •  Illinois – Northern Illinois University: Doctor of Humane Letters[45]
  •  Maryland – Johns Hopkins University: Doctor of Humane Letters[46]
  •  Massachusetts – Bay Path University: Doctor of Humane Letters[47]

•  China: People’s Friendship Ambassador[48]
•  United Nations: Special Ambassador of the World Food Programme for School Feeding[32]
•  UNESCO: UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for "Empowerment of Minority Children through Education and through the Preservation of Their Intangible Cultural Heritage"[32]

A number of academic and research institutions in Thailand are named after her:

• Princess Sirindhorn's College, Mueang Nakhon Pathom, Nakhon Pathom Province.
• Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre[49]
• Mahachakri Sirindhorn and Boromrajkumari Building, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok.[50]
• Somdech Phra Debaratana Medical Center, Ramathibodi Hospital, Bangkok.[51]
• Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Music Library, Mahidol University, Bangkok
• Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), Thammasat University, Bangkok.[52]
• Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok.
• Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Natural History Museum, natural history museum, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai Campus, Hat Yai, Songkhla Province.
• Sirindhorn Observatory, Chiang Mai University, Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai Province.
• Princess Sirindhorn Neutron Monitor, a Galactic cosmic ray detector at Thailand's highest mountain, Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai Province.
• Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Medical Center Archived June 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Srinakharinwirot University, Onkarak Campus, Nakhon Nayok Province

• Sirindhorn Technology and Culture Exchange Center, Peking University, Haidian District, Beijing, China.[10]
• Mianyang Xianfenglu Sirindhorn Primary School, Mianyang, Sichuan, China.

• Sirindhorn MRT station of the Bangkok MRT Blue Line
• Amphoe Sirindhorn of Ubon Ratchathani Province
• Sirindhorn Dam stops the Dom Noi River in Sirindhorn, Ubon Ratchathani Province.
• Sirindhorn Museum Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (Phu Kum Khao Dinosaur Museum), Phu Kum Khao Dinosaur Research Center, Sahatsakhan, Kalasin Province.
• Sirindhorn Observatory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University
• Princess Sirindhorn Stadium, is a sports stadium in Si Racha, Chonburi Province.

Several fauna species are named after her, including:

• Eurochelidon sirintarae (Princess Sirindhorn bird or white-eyed river martin), a critically endangered swallow first described in 1968.
• Phricotelphusa sirindhorn (panda crab). It was described in Crustaceana in 1989.
• Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae, a sauropod herbivore dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period. It was described in 1994.
• Sirindhorna khoratensis, a hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was described in 2015.
• Acanthosquilla sirindhorn (panda mantis shrimp). It was described in Crustaceana in 1995.[53]
• Tarsius sirindhornae, an ancient primate.[54]
• Streptocephalus sirindhornae, a freshwater fairy shrimp. It was described in the Journal of Crustacean Biology in 2000.
• Macrobrachium sirindhorn, a freshwater prawn. It was described in Crustaceana in 2001.
• Trigona sirindhornae, a bee.
• Sirindhorn thailandiensis (princess moth).
• Loxosomatoides sirindhornae, a freshwater kamptozoan. It was described in Hydrobiologia in 2005.
• Aenictus shilintongae Jaitrong & Schultz, 2016[55])
• Oligoaeschna sirindhornae Ngiam & Orr, 2017[56]
• Chironephthya sirindhornae Imahara, Chavanich, Viyakarn, Kushida, Reimer & Fujita, 2020[57]

Numerous plant species have been named after her:

• Sirindhornia spp., orchids:
  • Sirindhornia pulchella can only be seen in Doi Chiang Dao National Park, blooming from April to June.
  • Sirindhornia mirabilis can only be seen in Doi Hua Mot in Tak Province, blooming during May and June.
  • Sirindhornia monophyla can be seen in Doi Hua Mot in Tak Province from March to June, as well in Myanmar and China.
• Other plant species include:
  • Bauhinia sirindhorniae (sam sip song pra dong), a vine of the pea family. It was described in the Nordic Journal of Botany in 1997.
  • Magnolia sirindhorniae (Princess Sirindhorn's magnolia)
  • Thepparatia scandens Phuph. or Khruea thepparat malvaceae. Thepparat is a part of her royal title. It was described in the Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) in 2006.[58][59]
  • Impatiens sirindhorniae Triboun & Suksathan, 2009. It was described in Gardens' Bulletin Singapore.