Ananda Mahidol

Ananda Mahidol (20 September 19259 June 1946) was the eighth King of Siam (later Thailand) from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VIII. At the time he was recognised as king by the National Assembly in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in December 1945, but six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot dead in his bed. Although at first thought to have been an accident, his death was ruled a murder by medical examiners, and three royal aides were later executed following very irregular trials. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death have been the subject of much controversy. Name Ananda Mahidol is his given name, and is one word in Thai. King Vajiravudh, his uncle, sent a telegram on 13 October 1925 giving him this name, which means "the joy of Mahidol". When he held his birth rank of Mom Chao—the lowest rank of Thai princes—he used the surname Mahidol, his father's given name. His full name and title was thus Mom Chao Ananda Mahidol Mahidol. With his accession, he became known as Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua Ananda Mahidol. Somdet Phra Chao Yu Hua is the title of a Thai king prior to coronation. After his death, King Bhumibol Adulyadej posthumously renamed him to elevate his title to that of a crowned king. He was posthumously renamed again in 1996, so as to give him an auspiciously long name similar to the names of Mongkut, Chulalongkorn, Vajiravudh, and Prajadhipok. Nowadays, Thais refer to him officially as Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha Ananda Mahidol Phra Atthama Ramathibodindara, an abbreviation of the name given to him in 1996.