Prajadhipok's reign was a turbulent time for Siam due to political and social changes during the Revolution of 1932.
26 Facts About Prajadhipok
2.
Prajadhipok is to date the only Siamese monarch of the Chakri Dynasty to abdicate.
3.
Somdet Chaofa Prajadhipok Sakdidej was born on 8 November 1893 in Bangkok, Siam to King Chulalongkorn and Queen Saovabha Phongsri.
4.
Prince Prajadhipok was the youngest of nine children born to the couple.
5.
Unlikely to succeed to the throne, Prince Prajadhipok chose to pursue a military career.
6.
Prajadhipok received a commission in the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army based in Aldershot.
7.
Prince Prajadhipok was by then commissioned in both the British Army and the Royal Siamese Army.
8.
Once home, Prajadhipok became a high-ranking military official in Siam.
9.
Prajadhipok lived a generally quiet life with his wife at their residence, Sukhothai Palace, next to the Chao Phraya River.
10.
Prajadhipok soon found himself rising rapidly in succession to the throne, as his brothers all died within a relatively short period.
11.
Prajadhipok was crowned King of Siam on 25 February 1926.
12.
Relatively unprepared for his new responsibilities, Prajadhipok was nevertheless intelligent, diplomatic in his dealings with others, modest, and eager to learn.
13.
Prajadhipok viewed his newly established Supreme Council as an institutional check upon the powers of an absolute monarch.
14.
In 1926 Prajadhipok wrote a lengthy memorandum to his American adviser Francis B Sayre titled "Problems of Siam" in which he set forth nine questions he felt were the most serious facing the nation.
15.
The fourth question asked whether Siam was ready for representative government, to which Prajadhipok answered "my personal opinion is an emphatic NO".
16.
The People's Party demanded Prajadhipok become a constitutional monarch and grant Thai people a constitution.
17.
Prajadhipok did not contest when his interpretation of Pridi's economic plan, which aim on land reform and seizure of royal land, was released with his signature.
18.
Prajadhipok played an active role in an anti-revolutionary network, which aimed to assassinate Khana Ratsadon's leaders.
19.
Prajadhipok continued to correspond with the government regarding the conditions under which he would continue to serve.
20.
Prajadhipok tried to retain some of the royal powers, such as power to veto law with no possible override.
21.
The People's Party rejected the ultimatum, and on 2 March 1935, Prajadhipok abdicated, to be replaced by Ananda Mahidol.
22.
Prajadhipok issued a brief statement criticising the regime that included the following phrases, since often quoted by critics of Thailand's slow political development.
23.
Prajadhipok spent the rest of his life with Queen Rambhai Barni in England.
24.
Prajadhipok led a peaceful life there, gardening in the morning and writing his autobiography in the afternoon.
25.
King Prajadhipok died from heart failure on 30 May 1941.
26.
Prajadhipok's cremation was held at the Golders Green Crematorium in north London.