SB SPCL @ ARL $ARLX014
ARLX014 King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej, HS1A (SK)

ZCZC AX14
QST de W1AW  
Special Bulletin 14  ARLX014
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  October 14, 2016
To all radio amateurs 

SB SPCL ARL ARLX014
ARLX014 King of Thailand Bhumibol Adulyadej, HS1A (SK)

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), HS1A, died on October 13,
after a long period of declining health. Born in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, while his physician father was at Harvard University,
the king, whose name translated as "strength of the land,
incomparable power," was 88.

According to noted DXer Fred Laun, K3ZO/HS0ZAR, the king "was never
very active on the air, and, to my knowledge, the only QSOs he ever
made were from a handheld on 2 meter FM." He said HS1A was often
"pictured using a handheld." He also was pictured with a camera, as
photography was one of his passions, and he was a jazz enthusiast,
who played the saxophone.

The Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST), the country's IARU
member society, said on its website that the king was "presented the
call sign HS1A by the Ministry of Communications at Chitrlada
Palace" in 1989 in a ceremony witnessed by RAST officers. He was the
ninth monarch of the Chakri Dynasty, having ascended to the throne
in June of 1946, and was the world's longest-reigning monarch.
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