สำนักงานราชบัณทิตยสภา

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume IV - 2012 10  Queen Sirikit on Her Majesty’s State Visits in 1960 and 1962 Pornsan Watanangura 1 Abstract The appointment of the two queens to be Queen Regents in Thai history, indicates the con fi dence of the incumbent Kings in the ability of their royal consorts. It also highlights a new era for Thai women and their role in society. The accompaniment of Her Majesty, with King Rama IX of Thailand, as the youngest monarchs in the world, on of fi cial State Visits in 1960 and 1962, proved to be a new and highly signi fi cant in fl uence, both on a small country in Southeast Asia, post the crisis of World War II and also on how the country was to be perceived internationally thereafter. The state visits of the twentieth century have some similarities with the state visits made to Europe, for the fi rst time, by King Chulalongkorn in 1897. The royal tours of both Kings took place during a background of political turmoil internationally; in both cases the monarchs, King Chulalongkorn and King Bhumibol, gained tremendous acknowledgement and respect internationally. The visits strengthened the already existing ties between the Siamese Court and some of the leading countries of the Western democratic world. This research paper, beginning from the onset of the fi rst visit to Europe of King Chulalongkorn in 1897, but concentrates on the state visits of Queen Sirikit in 1960 and 1962. It will illustrate the signi fi cant impact on diplomatic, political and cultural aspects internationally, at such a critical time. The presence of Queen Sirikit accompanying King Bhumibol, without doubt, increased the success of the visits and helped shape Thai-Asian and Western relations in the long term. Keywords: Queen Sirikit on State Visits 1 Prof. Dr. Pornsan Watanangura, Associate Fellow, The Royal Institute of Thailand, Academy of Arts, Comparative Literature; Emeritus Professor of German Language and Literature, Department of Western Languages, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University; Project leader of the research project Buddhism in World Literature, Excellence Centre for Language, Linguistics and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. Queen Sirikit on Her Majesty’s State Visits in 1960 and 1962