Bridge To Bhutan

November 25: The 4th International Conference on Gross National Happiness began in the capital yesterday. More than 90 participants from 25 countries are participating in the three day conference. The Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley graced the opening of the conference.

Addressing the participants at the opening, the Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y. Thinley said the conference is taking place at a time when Bhutan is celebrating three significant events; the centenary celebration of the monarchy, the coronation of His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the successful institution of parliamentary democracy in the country. (more…)

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Nov 13th 2008 | THIMPHU: In the mountainous forests above the Thimpu valley, the end-point of a five-day, guided trek through Bhutan for rich foreign tourists, lies the only big construction site in the capital of the isolated Himalayan country. The world’s youngest democracy is building houses for its parliamentarians. The former king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, shocked his people in late 2006 by stepping down, decreeing the establishment of democracy and handing over to his son, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk. Most Bhutanese would have preferred to preserve royal rule, but loyally obeyed the king’s order to rule themselves. (more…)

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THIMPHU: He was supposed to look on regally from on high as warriors, monks and masked dancers celebrated his coronation, but Bhutan’s new Dragon King instead showed royal star quality by descending to mingle with the crowds on Friday.

The 28-year-old Oxford educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who assumed the Raven Crown on Thursday, spent most of the afternoon among the 20,000 spectators, chatting, joking, and greeting old friends, ordinary people, and tourists.

“He is very gracious and he has amazing charisma,” said 36-year-old Patty Wu from San Francisco, after the king stopped to jokingly enquire if her friends were wearing suncream, and to talk about California. (more…)

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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

THIMPHU, Bhutan (AP) — Tradition in this Buddhist Himalayan kingdom says that the people pay homage to a new king by lining up with the gift of a white scarf. Their new monarch, however, was having none of it.

Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, a Western-educated bachelor with the good looks of a young Elvis and an easy charm, came down from his throne to his people after a ceremony Thursday that saw him become Bhutan’s first king since its transformation to democracy.

Moving through some 20,000 Bhutanese near the Tashichho Dzong, a 17th-century white-walled fortress where the coronation was held, the king bent low to take the scarves and in return handed out coronation coins. (more…)

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