Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was born in 1955 to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama IX, and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand.
From the very beginning, Her Royal Highness showed an excellent aptitude for learning. After completing a Bachelor Degree of Arts, first class honour, at Chulalongkorn University in 1976, Her Royal Highness continued studies in two graduate programmes concurrently, obtaining an MA in Oriental Epigraphy (Sanskrit and Cambodian) from Silpakorn University in 1978, and an MA in Pali and Sanskrit from Chulalongkorn University in 1980. She enrolled in a doctoral programme in development education at Srinakharinwirot University in 1981 and graduated in 1987.
Her Royal Highness started academic career teaching history at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy in 1980. The Department of History was formally established in 1987 and Her Royal Highness has become the Director of the Department until her retirement in 2015. She has taught courses in Thai Studies, Thai history and Southeast Asian history, East Asian history, and contemporary world history.
Imbued with a sense of responsibility and caring, Her Royal Highness went on to foster several significant initiatives : providing basic education for school children in remote border areas, promoting plant genetic preservation and gene bank projects, instituting IT efforts to assist people with disabilities to achieve independent living, promoting occupations for villagers in remote villages, and developing nutritional campaigns to improve the well-being of Thai people.
Her Royal Highness oversees several philanthropic organisations and foundations. She is Executive Vice-President of the Thai Red Cross Society since 1977; Executive Chairman of the Chaipattana Foundation, Ananda Mahidol Foundation, the King Rama II Foundation; and the President of the Prince Mahidol Award Foundation.
Since 1990, Her Royal Highness has led educational and nutritional programmes in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Bhutan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Bangladesh. Her Royal Highness is widely and internationally recognised for her dedication for the welfare of the deprived in Thailand’s rural areas as well as international cultural exchange. She is the recipient of as many as 54 national and international prizes, and honorary titles from academic institutions all over the world.
