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HRH Prince Mahidol
of Songkla
The Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand My Fond Memory of Prince MahidolDr. Sawai Mungkalee, 100 years old, is one of surviving medical doctors
who had first-hand experience with Prince Mahidol.
Dr. Sawai Mungkalee,100 years old, is one of surviving medical doctors who had first-hand experience with Prince Mahidol. Dr. Sawai tells of his fond memory of Prince Mahidol: "I first met His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol when I was a student at Chulalongkorn University. The Prince came to use the laboratory at our campus. I was studying at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences then, before moving to the Royal Medical College at Siriraj Hospital. My group was the last to receive the graduation certificate, before the system changed them to degrees. Then I saw Prince Mahidol every day. At noon, his wife, the Princess Mother, would come to see him and they would leave together. "After I moved to the Royal Medical College at Siriraj Hospital, Prince Mahidol looked after my group, consisting of about 10 students. The college was then under the care of Prince Chainart-narenthorn, the Royal Medical College Chief. A number of professors who taught us was personally selected from America by Prince Mahidol and the Rockefeller Foundation.
We also had a monthly salary of 20 baht then. Our responsibilities, apart from studying, included military preparation at Sanam Chandra with King Vajiravudh (Rama VI), and we were in charge of general public health tasks, such as food, water and garbage. "Prince Mahidol was a person who mixed freely with commoners. He enjoyed the company of his students and was not one to put himself above anyone. Once, when Prince Mahidol was taking a trip on a train, I was told that he had already left for the station. He left a message with the school that if his students returned from their classes, they were to be sent over to the train station. So I rushed to the jetty and jumped into the boat, to cross the river from Siriraj Hospital to the mainland. The boat took a long time because it was manually operated. I got to the station at the very last minute, running along to jump on the departing train. After I managed to get on the train, the Prince handed me two oranges for having reached the train in time. Others got only one orange. I got more because I had to run and because I was physically smaller than the others.
"At the time, Prince Mahidol, Prince Chainart-narenthorn and Phraya Paet Pongsa (Sunn Sunthoravej), the medical doctor to the royal palace, were the three chiefs who looked after the students. Prince Mahidol was very concerned about us. He would look to see if we were properly tucked in. We were all touched by this gesture. The Prince looked after himself well. For example, he would put away his own laboratory equipment, without bothering the staff. He was very conscientious with his research and it is was unfortunate that he did not live long to pursue them. "Prince Mahidol was a highly disciplined and moral person. He told us: 'I don't want you to be only a doctor, but I also want you to be a man'. This meant that we should not only study to be a doctor and cure people, but we should also be compassionate and giving. His words still echo in all of us at Siriraj Hospital today." |
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