Visit in Utanede
July 19, 1897, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (present-day Thailand) visited
Sweden and Ragunda municipality. He had got an invitation from the
Swedish/Norwegian King Oscar II to the International Art and Industry
Fair in Stockholm and he accepted.
Northern Sweden
King Oscar also wanted him to see other parts of Sweden than Stockholm,
and since the Swedish sawmill industry was interesting for King
Chulalongkorn, he chose the middle part of northern Sweden. There was
beautiful scenery with bright summer nights and impressive waterfalls.
King Chulalongkorn was also interested in the modern Swedish traffic,
both on water and on land.
Memorial Buildingg
Almost exactly one hundred year later, the construction of a memorial
building in honour of the King was commenced.
Loved and admired King
In 1868, King Chulalongkorn ascended the throne of Siam. He was a loved
and admired King, not least because he abolished slavery in his native
country. King Chulalongkorn was the fifth king of his dynasty and was
therefore called ”Rama V Chulalongkorn of Siam”.
Early
morning
Already 08.30 local time we arrives to Utanede. Of course we must have a
cup of coffee before we went down to the Thai Pavilion. We turn on the
VHF- and the shortwave equipments. Now we are ready for the visitors.
Ceremony
At
09.55 local time the traditional procession to the statue of King
Chulalongkorn starts. There is the governor of Jamtland County Ms. Maggi
Mikaelsson, The Thai ambassador in Sweden Mr. Apichart Chinwanno and
Deputy Permanent Secretary for Culture Mr. Vira Rojpojchanarat.
Dance
Lot
of very beautiful flowers and gifts are put in front of to the statue of
King Chulalongkorn. And then there was dance outside the Thai Pavilion.
”The
White House”
During the day some hams visited us in “the White House” and many of the
visitors in the park paid us a visit.
Celebrated visit at SI9AM
At
14.30 local time we got at celebrated visit at SI9AM. There were:
The Thai ambassador in Sweden, Mr. Apichart Chinawanno
The Deputy Permanent Secretary for Culture in Thailand Mr. Vira
Rojpojchanarat
Minister Counsellor, Mr Thanavit Sinhaseni.
Senior Cultural Officer, External Relations Division, Mrs. Suttinee
Yavaprapas,
Interior Designer, Fine Arts Department, Ms. Vimonrat Siriyuvasak,
The
executive director of Ragunda Municipality, Anders Andersson
The
president of SI9AM, SM3CVM/Lars gave a background for forming SI9AM while
the vice president SM3FJF/Jörgen had a radio contact on på 14 MHz with
