The king who smiled on Thailand
Bhumibol is a consitutional monarch with limited powers and has only very occasionally, but crucially and wisely, interfered in matters of government.
Successive dictators who ruled Thailand since 1946 before democracy came to the country have alternately glorified or downplayed the importance of the king according to their whims and ambitions.
A testing time for Bhumibol was in 1973 when a wave of pro-democracy student demonstrations crippled Thailand. Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn, who ruled the country at the time, tried to brutally squash these protests. The king made it abundantly clear that he did not approve of the general's regime and opened the doors of his palace to the students, offering them refuge. Kittikachorn went into exile and Bhumibol appointed a new prime minister.
Above: Bhumibol harvests rice at his royal initiated project in Thailand's eastern province. The project involves growing rice seedlings for distribution to farmers.
Photograph: Pornchai Kittwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images
Earlier slide show: Remembering Nehru's legacy